Kim's County Line: Banana Coffeecake: An Easter Morning Treat

Thursday, March 25, 2021

Banana Coffeecake: An Easter Morning Treat

I am picky about bananas. I prefer a little green tinge to the bananas I consume. Randy is less discerning. (Read less picky, if we're honest.) He'll cut up bananas that are way past their prime (in my humble opinion) for a swim in his cereal bowl.

But, I still seem to end up with bananas ripening on the counter, 90 percent of the time. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it seemed we were all a little more creative in using up leftovers and past-its-prime food.

It was only a year ago that meat cases were looking sparse at times. And let's not even talk about toilet paper.

Some of us remember standing side-by-side in the kitchen with our grandmothers. After a Sunday chicken and noodle meal, Grandma Neelly had us washing foil and plastic bags along with the pots and pans. In her mind, those "disposable" goods could be used again. Waste not, want not: I may have rolled my eyes at the time, but it was a good lesson to learn.

But back to the bananas: My languishing bananas often end up in Byers Banana Bread. I usually have enough bananas to double the recipe so that I can stash some small loaves in the freezer for another day.

But this time, instead of turning to my go-to banana bread recipe to re-purpose a bunch of aging fruit, I tried a new recipe - Chocolate Banana Coffee Cake. It would be the perfect addition to an Easter breakfast or brunch buffet.

The recipe is from Cake Mix Magic. I've had the cookbook on my shelves for quite some time now, and I've made other recipes from it multiple times (including Blueberry Coffee Cake.) But this time, I used a different page. (Yes, I'm perfectly capable of making a cake from scratch ... and I do, much of the time.)

But this shortcut is tasty, too. (Links to more Easter treats are at the bottom of this post.)

Chocolate Banana Coffeecake

From Cake Mix Magic cookbook

Cake:

1 pkg. yellow or white cake mix (I used yellow)

1 4-oz. pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3-4 large bananas)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Topping

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cooking spray in 13- by 9-inch pan.

For Topping: Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and chocolate chips. Set aside.

For cake: In a large mixer bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, mashed bananas and oil. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Spread half of the batter in prepared pan.

Sprinkle half of the topping mixture over the batter already in the pan. Top with the remaining cake batter, then the rest of the topping.

Bake 40-50 minutes (depending on your oven) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or cool.

Other ideas for your Easter weekend include: