Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Chip Streusel

I'm going to apologize in advance because I have like 16 bananas in my freezer and I really need to use them.  So, yeah, prepare for a bunch of banana recipes.  Like 4 or 5.  Sorry.

This coffee cake is so good.  It's relatively simple to put together and according to the internet (which never lies) the flavors and ratios make this very similar to something served at Starbucks.  I can't substantiate that claim because I don't go to Starbucks, but either way this is very tasty.  I really like the distinction of flavors between the banana cake and the chocolate/cinnamon streusel.

The recipe comes from Buns in My Oven, and the only thing I changed was to use vanilla almond milk instead of buttermilk (because I had one and not the other).  The cake is moist and flavorful and by layering it with the streusel, you get chocolate and cinnamon in each bite.   This ended up going to work for an informal coffee break, although the middle was a little undercooked.  It wasn't totally mushy dough, more like still moist from all the bananas. Next time I would bake it about 5-8 minutes longer or try it in a slightly bigger pan, like a 7 x 11 or 9 x 13.  The pieces from the 8 x 8 were thick so I don't think it would be sacrificing too much.

Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Chip Streusel

1 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 1/3 cup very ripe bananas, mashed (about 3 or 4 medium bananas)
3 Tablespoons almond milk or buttermilk

In a small bowl, stir together chocolate chips, brown sugar, walnuts and cinnamon until well blended and set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, beat sugar, butter and egg until light and fluffy.  Mix in mashed bananas and light cream.

Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir until blended.

Grease an 8 x 8 inch baking dish (or 7 x 11 inch for thinner pieces).  Spread half the batter into the dish and sprinkle with half the streusel topping.  Repeat with remaining batter and streusel.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes (for an 8 x 8 inch pan, you may need to add about 5-8 minutes.  For a 7 x 11 inch pan, 45 should be fine) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes, cut into 16 bars and serve.  Also tastes great when cooled completely and served.

Makes 1 cake with 16 servings.

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess

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