Shortcut Banana Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake
There are a lot of secrets about the commercial baking and restaurant world. At my bakery, we made many things from scratch, but we also used mixes. There is no shame in this. I taught thousands of students over the years and although we put a superiority complex on scratch recipes, there are times when we didn’t inherit grandma’s secret bundt cake or dad’s marinara sauce, and that is okay.
So, take a deep breath, grab you a box of your favorite crumb cake mix, and get ready to have your socks knocked off by this recipe.
**You will notice I have a modification added. If you love bread pudding like I do, then you will want to add in the extra half cup of sour cream or Greek yogurt. The cake will have a denser wetter texter that lends to the gooeyness of a bread pudding. If you omit that, your cake will be fluffier in texture, similar to a traditional crumb cake, so you can’t go wrong either way!
Shortcut Banana Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake
Ingredients:
1 Box of favorite crumb cake – I love the Krusteaz Brand mix
2-3 old bananas (like, really old!)
1 tsp cinnamon
2/3 c Water
¼ c Oil – you can use coconut, vegetable, or avocado
1 egg
*Optional – ½ cup or Greek yogurt or sour cream (see note above**)
½ c Semisweet Chocolate Chips – I prefer mini
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9x9 or 9” round baking dish.
2. In a bowl, smash bananas until they are a thick paste.
3. To that bowl add the package of dry mix from the box (set the crumb mixture aside) egg, cinnamon, water, oil, and chocolate chips. If you are using Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream, add it as well.
4. Pour half of the mixture into your prepared dish. Sprinkle half of the crumb mixture on top and lightly swirl.
5. Repeat by pouring the second half of the batter and top with the second half of the crumb mixture. Spread the mixture evenly.
6. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If you used yogurt or sour cream, the cake will deflate slightly. This is best served warm.