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Calling all banana lovers! This easy and delicious banana dump cake is moist and flavorful. Like a cross between a cinnamon streusel cake and a crisp or cobbler, the warm dessert is perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce.
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This dump cake with bananas is always a crowd-pleaser! It’s easy to assemble with a box of cake mix, chopped pecans, and plenty of fresh fruit. Plus, the warm, buttery, cinnamon streusel topping is tough to resist! Pair it with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, or vanilla ice cream to wow your friends and family.
Banana Dump Cake with Cake Mix
It doesn’t get much easier or more delicious than a banana dump cake! There’s no need for a mixer, and no fancy layers or frosting to contend with. Instead, you get the flavor and texture of banana bread, a banana crisp, or a banana cake combined with a rich, buttery cinnamon streusel topping. It’s the best dessert when you need a delicious treat in no time. Nobody will guess your secret (that you didn’t spend all day slaving over a hot stove)!
What’s a dump cake?
If you’re not familiar with “dump cakes,” then get on board! These easy dessert recipes only require about 5-10 minutes of hands-on prep time, while the oven does the rest of the work. There are minimal dishes necessary, with maximum flavor in the end!
While it starts with a box of cinnamon swirl crumb cake mix, this dessert is really more like a banana pudding, banana bread, banana crisp, or banana cobbler, because the nuts, cake mix, and streusel form a buttery crumb topping over the banana filling. The name of the dessert probably gives it away, but for a traditional dump cake, you basically just dump the ingredients into a cake pan and bake them together in the oven. That’s it!
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for a pan of banana bread dump cake. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step baking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Bananas: the riper the bananas, the sweeter and softer the filling!
- Pecans: add a nutty, crunchy, rich flavor and texture that pairs beautifully with the bananas. You can sub with other nuts like almonds or walnuts, or omit the nuts altogether.
- Evaporated milk: for moisture and rich flavor in the cake.
- Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake Mix: I use the Krusteaz brand coffee cake mix, but you can sub with another similar variety that includes a cinnamon streusel pouch. If you choose to use a regular white cake mix or yellow cake mix, see my notes below.
- Salted butter: the cold butter melts on top of the cake, creating a crisp, golden brown crust over the banana filling.
How to Make Banana Dump Cake
Just layer the ingredients in the baking dish and your job is done — no stirring or mixing required! I’ve included the detailed directions in the recipe card below, but here’s the quick version:
- Layer the sliced bananas and chopped pecans in the bottom of a baking dish.
- Pour evaporated milk over top, and sprinkle with dry cake mix and cinnamon streusel.
- Arrange the pats of butter in a single layer on top of the cake mix.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.
- Serve warm, and garnish with desired toppings. Grab a spoon, and dig in!
Serving Suggestions
The dessert is best served warm. Garnish each bowl with any of the following toppings:
- Vanilla ice cream
- Whipped cream
- Caramel sauce
- Chocolate sauce or hot fudge sauce
- Chocolate chips or white chocolate chips
- Shredded coconut
- Sliced fresh strawberries
- Extra banana slices
- Extra chopped pecans
- Peanut butter
Storage Tips
Leftover dump cake should be covered and stored in the refrigerator. The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Alternatively, you can freeze the cake for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Reheat individual servings in the microwave for 15-30 seconds, or just until warmed through.
Recipe Variations
- Instead of the cinnamon crumb cake mix, you can sub with white cake mix, yellow cake mix, or spice cake mix. If you use a 15.25-ounce box of cake mix, reduce the evaporated milk to just 1 cup. You’ll also want to sprinkle the bananas with about ¼ cup of cinnamon-sugar, and add another 2 tablespoons (or more) of cinnamon-sugar on top of the dry cake mix (since you won’t have a pouch of cinnamon streusel).
- Swap out the pecans and use chopped walnuts or almonds. Alternatively, you can omit the nuts altogether.
- Use just half or ¾ of the pouch of cinnamon streusel for a less-sweet dessert.
- Make it a banana split dump cake recipe by garnishing each serving with your favorite banana split toppings — like strawberries or strawberry sauce, whipped cream, maraschino cherries, chocolate and/or vanilla ice cream, chocolate or hot fudge sauce, and crushed pineapple.
- Drizzle with melted peanut butter for a sweet-and-salty combination.
Tips for the Best Banana Dump Cake Recipe
- Use very ripe or overripe bananas for the best flavor and texture.
- I prefer a box of Krusteaz Cinnamon Crumb Cake and Muffin Mix for this recipe, but you can sub with another brand of cinnamon streusel coffee cake mix if you like. Just make sure that the box is about 21 ounces.
- If you choose to use a 15.25-ounce box of white cake mix, yellow cake mix, or spice cake mix, see my notes above for the appropriate adjustments.
- If the butter doesn’t melt to cover the entire top of the cake, you might notice powdery dry spots at the end. If this happens, just add some extra butter to the top of the cake in these dry spots and return the dish to the oven for about 2-3 more minutes.
More Dump Cake Recipes to Try
Aunt Bee’s 5-Minute 5-Ingredient Cherry Dump Cake
50 minutes mins
Apple Dump Cake
1 hour hr 20 minutes mins
Strawberry Chocolate Dump Cake for Two
35 minutes mins
Easy Banana Dump Cake
Ingredients
- 5 large (or 6-7 medium) very ripe bananas, sliced
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
- 1 (21 ounce) box Krusteaz Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake & Muffin Mix (or see my notes below to sub with yellow or white cake mix)
- ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) salted butter, thinly sliced into squares
- Optional, for serving: vanilla ice cream or whipped cream; additional sliced bananas; additional chopped pecans; caramel sauce; chocolate sauce or hot fudge sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Arrange the sliced bananas in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle chopped pecans over top.
- Pour the evaporated milk over the top of the bananas and nuts.
- Sprinkle the dry cake mix over the milk; do NOT stir. Top with the bag of cinnamon streusel (or use just ½ – ¾ of the streusel for a slightly less sweet dessert); do NOT stir.
- Arrange the sliced butter in an even layer over the top of the ingredients.
- Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. If there are still dry, powdery spots on top of the dessert, just add extra butter in those spots to cover. Return the dish to the oven for 2-3 more minutes.
- Serve warm, and garnish with desired toppings.
Notes
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- Instead of the cinnamon crumb cake mix, you can sub with white cake mix, yellow cake mix, or spice cake mix. If you use a 15.25-ounce box of cake mix, reduce the evaporated milk to just 1 cup. You’ll also want to sprinkle the bananas with about ¼ cup of cinnamon-sugar, and add another 2 tablespoons (or more) of cinnamon-sugar on top of the dry cake mix (since you won’t have a pouch of cinnamon streusel).
-
- Swap out the pecans and use chopped walnuts or almonds. Alternatively, you can omit the nuts altogether.
-
- Use just half or ¾ of the pouch of cinnamon streusel for a less-sweet dump cake.
- Recipe adapted from The Slow Roasted Italian.
Sounds delicious! About how many pounds of bananas would you say? Two?
Yes, probably 2 – 2 1/2 lbs. For this recipe, it doesn’t have to be exact!
Thanks for the banana weight. Bananas vary so much I needed a ball park figure. I was just looking through the dump cake recipes but I never thought of a banana one! I remember dump cakes developed when I was a teenager, in the 70s. They were great, we thought, and so easy. If I ever get a cake made nowadays, it better be a dump cake! And how wonderful that I can freeze portions! At the same time, in the 70s, there was another cake mix which was a little more elaborate. Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker. It came with a bundt cake mix, a can or pack of filling, and a pack of glaze mix. They were SO good. There was one with a cinnamon streusel filling, a lemon one with a blueberry filling and a chocolate with a coconut filling. You put half the batter in the pan, spread the filling, and then poured in the other half of the batter and baked. When the cake cooled, you put on the glaze. I don’t know why they took those off the market. You would have been very young then but I bet your mother, grandmothers, and Aunt Bee saw them.
Those mixes do sound good!
I am definitely going to put the banana dump cake on my list. I bought apple pie filling, a spice cake mix and pecans today to make my first dump cake in almost 40 years! The other fruit pie fillings were over 4 dollars a can. Twice as much as the apple. You can buy a lot of bananas for 4 dollars! I also want to try the pumpkin and apple versions. Do you have any recipes involving using fresh or frozen fruit for making fillings for strawberry, blueberry or cherry? Which could be used in a dump cake? Thanks!
Hi, Marion! No, I don’t have any other dump cake recipes with fresh fruit (besides this banana recipe and the apple recipe). 🙂
I mean I want to try your dump cake recipe using fresh apples.
Can I add blueberry , and if so how much can I add?
Hi, Myrda! Yes, I think that would work well! Maybe about 1 cup or so?