Secrets from the Cookie Princess: Banana Coffee Cake

Did you make the Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Chip Streusel that I made a couple weeks ago? If not, hold on. I've discovered something awesome. This coffee cake is moist and flavorful and turned out perfect. Plus it was easy to make. There is a lightness to this cake that I think comes from the cream cheese. And while I enjoyed the pecan topping, Dave and I agreed that the chocolate chip streusel paired with this cake would be a winner. It'd be the lovechild of two good recipes to make a great brunch addition, dessert or snack.

This recipe comes from allrecipes.com and was posted by Georgia Courtney. I made an addition to the batter, which is good because I also forgot something from the batter. I added a teaspoon of Penzey's Spices Baking Spice to the batter. But Georgia's recipe says to put half of the pecan topping into the batter. Oops. I forgot to read that bit until I already had the batter in the pan. In hindsight, though, I'm glad that happened because I don't think there would have been enough topping to cover the whole cake if I'd only had half. Below is the version I used, but play around with the toppings by either adding some to the batter or layering like my previous attempt. No matter what you try, it'll turn out good.

Banana Coffee Cake

Ingredients
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup bananas, mashed (about 3 small to medium bananas)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking spice (not pictured; you could also use cinnamon)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup pecans, chopped
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Continue beating and add 1 1/14 cups sugar, scraping sides of bowl as necessary.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the bananas and vanilla and mix until combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and baking soda. Swap the beater attachment for the paddle attachment on the stand mixer and gradually add the flour mixture, blending until combined.