I made this cake because it came to my email box the other day, and it just sounded really good. Plus, it got the billing that it was one of the favorite recipes of all time on bon appetit‘s website. That claim surprised me a little because very few people have reviewed it (and it only gets three forks?!!) on their site, but having said that, what a fantastic recipe! I could tell by the ingredients that this cake had a lot going for it, and the best thing about it is that all the tastes are in great balance, sweet and salty and chocolatey. I made it in a 9″x 13″ pan instead of two circle pans, because it’s more of a casual cake in my opinion, but otherwise stayed true to the original. Delicious! Everyone was poking around the kitchen the next morning, hoping to find a little extra left for breakfast. Guess that just means we need to make it again!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Cake:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups mashed very ripe bananas
1 cup sour cream
1 10-ounce bag mini chocolate chips

Frosting:
2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, and chocolate kisses

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat cake pans with nonstick spray. Line bottom of pans with parchment; coat paper. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and brown sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions and occasionally scraping down sides and bottom of bowl. Beat in vanilla.

Add dry ingredients; beat on low speed just to blend. Add bananas and sour cream; beat just to blend. Fold in mini chips. Divide batter evenly among pans; smooth tops.

Bake cakes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes (50 minutes, if using 9×13). Transfer to wire racks; let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks; peel off parchment and let cool completely.

For frosting:
(Note: If using a 9×13 pan, a half recipe of the frosting is enough.) Using an electric mixer, beat first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl until a light and fluffy frosting forms, 2-3 minutes.

Place 1 cake on a platter. Spread 1 1/4 cups frosting over. Place remaining cake on top. Cover top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Garnish with chocolate chips and kisses. DO AHEAD: Cake can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.