Maple Pecan Banana Bread Dump Cake
You know those bananas sitting on your counter that are way too ripe to eat but you keep telling yourself you’ll do something with? This is what you do with them. Mash them right in the baking dish, stir in brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg, pour dry butter pecan cake mix over the top, cover it with thinly sliced cold butter, and bake until the top is golden and crispy and the banana layer underneath is bubbling. It tastes like banana bread and a pecan crisp had a baby and it takes about ten minutes of actual work.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Maple Pecan Banana Bread Dump Cake
- Main Ingredients: 5ā6 very ripe bananas, brown sugar, pure maple syrup, Watkins Baking Vanilla, 1Ā½ teaspoons Watkins Cinnamon, ground nutmeg, Pinch salt, box butter pecan cake mix
- Why You'll Love It: This maple pecan banana bread dump cake layers mashed ripe bananas with brown sugar and maple syrup under a butter pecan cake mix and pecans topped with thin sliced butter and baked until golden and crispy.
The dump cake method is almost insultingly simple. No mixing bowls, no electric mixer, no creaming butter and sugar. Everything goes directly into the baking dish in layers and the oven does all the work. The melting butter draws down through the dry cake mix as it bakes and creates this incredible golden crunchy top that sits over a soft, sweet, deeply banana and maple filling underneath.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ten minutes of prep and the oven handles everything else for 45 minutes. This is the easiest impressive dessert you can make.
Those overripe bananas you were about to throw out are the best possible ingredient for this recipe. The blacker and spottier the better.
Butter pecan cake mix is already flavored with butter and toasted pecan notes that pair so naturally with banana, maple, and cinnamon. It’s a combination that tastes like it was designed specifically for this recipe.
Served warm with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of maple syrup this looks and tastes like something from a restaurant dessert menu.
Ingredients Needed To Make This Banana Bread Dump Cake
The Banana Base
Five to six very ripe bananas mashed directly in the baking dish make the sweet, fruity base. Brown sugar adds a caramel-like sweetness. Pure maple syrup adds a warm, slightly woody sweetness that pairs so naturally with banana and pecan. Watkins Baking Vanilla and Cinnamon are specifically great here … the quality of the vanilla and cinnamon comes through in the finished dessert. Ground nutmeg and a pinch of salt balance everything.
The Dump Cake Top
One box of butter pecan cake mix sprinkled dry over the banana layer without stirring. Chopped pecans scattered over the cake mix add crunch and nuttiness throughout the golden crust. Cold salted butter sliced as thin as possible and arranged over the entire surface melts down through the dry mix as it bakes and creates the golden, crispy topping.
How to Make Maple Pecan Banana Bread Dump Cake
1
Preheat the oven to 350Ā°F and grease a 9×13 baking dish. Add the ripe bananas and mash well with a fork right in the dish. Add the brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and stir together directly in the dish. Spread into an even flat layer.
2
Sprinkle the entire box of dry butter pecan cake mix evenly over the banana layer. Do not stir it in. Sprinkle the chopped pecans evenly over the cake mix.
3
Slice the cold butter as thin as you possibly can, paper thin if you can manage it. Arrange the slices over the entire surface of the cake mix leaving as few gaps as possible. The butter coverage is what determines whether the whole top turns golden or you end up with dry spots. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until the top is deeply golden and crispy and the banana mixture is visibly bubbling at the edges. If you spot any remaining dry cake mix areas near the end of baking add a small piece of butter over those spots and return to the oven.
4
Let the dump cake rest for 10 to 15 minutes before scooping. Serve warm with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of extra maple syrup over the top.
Maple Pecan Banana Bread Dump Cake
Ingredients
- 5ā6 very ripe bananas
- Ā¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons Watkins Baking Vanilla
- 1Ā½ teaspoons Watkins Cinnamon
- Ā¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Pinch salt
- 1 box butter pecan cake mix
- 2 oz bag chopped pecans
- 1.5 sticks salted butter cold and very thinly sliced
- Vanilla ice cream optional for serving
- Maple syrup optional for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350Ā°F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Add the bananas directly to the baking dish and mash well with a fork.
- Add the brown sugar, maple syrup, Watkins Baking Vanilla, Watkins Cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir everything together directly in the baking dish, then spread into an even layer.
- Sprinkle the dry butter pecan cake mix evenly over the banana mixture. Do not stir.
- Sprinkle the chopped pecans evenly over the cake mix.
- Slice the cold butter as thinly as possible and arrange the slices over the entire top, covering as much of the dry cake mix as possible.
- Bake for 40ā50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and crisp and the banana mixture is bubbling around the edges.
- If you notice any dry cake mix spots near the end of baking, add a small piece of butter over those areas and return to the oven until golden.
- Allow the dump cake to rest for 10ā15 minutes before serving.
- Serve warm on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of maple syrup.
