Easy Banana Cake

These ratchet bananas made this really delicious cake. Brown bananas stay winning over here! You know what else stay winning over here? Brown butter! Brown butter is the winning-est! From pasta to frosting to ice cream...brown butter be on that thang!

For this super easy quick bread I used my own brown butter frosting recipe but the one listed is original to the recipe. Truth be told this cake is delicious without the frosting if you want to save on some calories!

Easy Banana Cake w/Brown Butter Frosting
Adapted from http://www.laurenslatest.com/banana-cake-with-walnuts-and-brown-butter-frosting/

What you need for the cake:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 cup plain applesauce {unsweetened}
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large bananas, mashed

What you need for the frosting:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans {optional}

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Spray an 8×8 square dish with non stick cooking spray and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, except the sugar. Stir to combine and set aside.
• In a different bowl, whip sugar, oil and applesauce together.
• Stir in eggs, vanilla and mashed banana.
• Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
• Pour into prepared dish and bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Cool completely.

To make the frosting

• Place butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
• Just after the butter melts, start swirling the pan in small circles.
• After about 45 seconds or so, the butter should start foaming and will turn an amber color and smell nutty.
• Remove from heat immediately and pour into a different container. Cool to room temperature.
• Once butter has cooled, whip together with vanilla, powdered sugar and cream until smooth and creamy.
• Spread over cooled cake and top with chopped walnuts, if desired.
• Store in an airtight container until ready to serve.