Banana pistachio cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting

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Feel like you’ve tried every kind of banana bread in existence? How about a banana pistachio cake? Packed with pistachio nuts and smothered in a delicious white chocolate cream cheese frosting, this is a banana loaf with attitude!

Pieces of banana and pistachio loaf stacked on a blue spotty cloth

In search of the best banana cake

Banana bread… the cake that we all love to eat. And the cake that most of us feel confident making.

We like it because it works. It’s delicious. It’s easy to make. And it uses up the almost mouldy bananas that we all have regularly lurking in our fruit bowl.

I have my fair share of delicious banana cake recipes here on Scrummy Lane already:

banana pistachio loaf with white chocolate cream cheese frosting from above on a wooden board

So why make THIS banana bread?

  • It’s a unique take on a classic. Studded with pistachios and slathered in a delicious white chocolate cream cheese frosting, it’s a little bit special, don’t you think?
  • It looks pretty darn delicious, right, with all those green and pink tinged pistachios on top.
  • Thanks to both almond flour and yoghurt in the mixture, the loaf is moist but not at all heavy.
  • The frosting recipe makes enough for two cakes so you can freeze some for your next cake. Or use it to ice cupcakes, a layer cake, or brownies.
  • I originally made this recipe with gluten free flour, so it’s easy to adapt if you need your loaf to be gluten free.

How to make a banana pistachio cake

Collage of 2 images showing how to mix the ingredients to make a banana pistachio cake
Collage of 2 images showing the stages of making banana pistachio cake
These photos aren’t in the right order, but hopefully it helps you to ‘see’ how to make this yummy pistachio banana cake!

There’s a simple formula for making this cake:

Step 1: Cream together the butter and sugar either with a handheld whisk or in a food processor.

Step 2: Whisk in the eggs.

Step 3: Add the other ‘wet’ ingredients i.e. the banana and yoghurt.

Step 4: Add the ‘dry’ ingredients i.e. the flour mixture and ground nuts, then fold in the pistachios.

Step 5: Bake!

Step 6: Let cool. Make the frosting. Slather it all over the cake. Sprinkle with more yummy pistachios. Eat.

Pretty easy, right?

Collage of 2 images showing unbaked banana cake batter in a loaf pan next to the baked loaf in the same pan
Before and after – yum!
Closeup of a bowl of banana cake batter with pistachios sprinkled over the top
Look how colourful!

Ingredients for the white chocolate cream cheese frosting

This is a quick and easy 4 ingredient icing for banana cake – or any other kind of cake. All you need is:

  • cream cheese
  • butter
  • white chocolate
  • icing sugar / powdered sugar

As I’ve already mentioned, the recipe makes enough for two cakes so you can freeze the leftover frosting for another time.

closeup of the white chocolate cream cheese frosting for a banana pistachio loaf

Recipe variations

When I first made the frosting for this banana pistachio loaf, I could only find white chocolate with crispy rice bits in it at the supermarket. Surprisingly, it was delicious! Try it!

You could also try using milk or dark chocolate for the frosting.

You could use a different kind of nut instead of pistachios. How about hazelnuts, walnuts, flaked almonds or macadamia nuts? I think macadamia nuts would work especially well with the white chocolate frosting.

closeup of slices of banana and pistachio loaf with white chocolate cream cheese frosting

More easy morning or afternoon tea cake recipes

This frosted banana bread is the sort of cake you would make if you had friends coming over for a cup of coffee or tea.

Here are some other options from Scrummy Lane:

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Slices of banana pistachio cake sliced off the rest of the cake
5 from 3 votes

Banana pistachio cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting

A moist and flavoursome banana loaf full of pistachios and smothered with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting that will really have you licking your fingers! It'll quite possibly be the best banana bread you've ever eaten (or at least one of the best)!
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 5 minutes
Total: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients 
 

For the loaf

  • 8 tablespoons butter, chopped into pieces (1 stick)
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup ripe bananas, (2-3)
  • 4 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt
  • 1 cup plain flour , (substitute with gluten free flour if you like)
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • a large pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup pistachio nuts

For the frosting

  • ounces cream cheese
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • ounces white chocolate
  • 1 cup plus a tablespoon of powdered/icing sugar

Instructions 

For the loaf

  • Pre-heat the oven to 355F/180C and line a regular-sized loaf tin (approx. 23 x 13 x 7 cm) with baking paper.
  • Cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer or in a food processor, then add the eggs with the motor still running one at a time until well mixed in.
  • Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and add the banana and Greek yoghurt. Mix well.
  • Sift in the flour, almond meal, salt and baking soda and mix until just combined. Then fold in the pistachio nuts.
  • Pour the batter into the lined loaf tin and bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until a skewer or knife inserted into the loaf comes out clean. (Cover loosely with some kitchen foil after about 30 minutes to stop the loaf browning too much)
  • Leave to cool.

For the frosting

  • Whip the cream cheese and butter together, then melt the chocolate in 30-second spurts in the microwave (or in a bowl over simmering water). Let the chocolate cool slightly, then whisk into the cream cheese and butter mixture as well.
  • Add the powdered sugar and mix really well.
  • When the loaf is completely cool, use about half of the frosting to frost your loaf (you can freeze the rest). Decorate with the reserved pistachio nuts. Enjoy!

Notes

How long this cake keeps for

This lovely banana and pistachio loaf comfortably lasts for 4 or 5 days if kept wrapped up in the fridge – that’s if you don’t eat it all before then!

Nutrition

Calories: 543kcal, Carbohydrates: 62g, Protein: 9g, Fat: 31g, Saturated Fat: 15g, Cholesterol: 95mg, Sodium: 177mg, Potassium: 292mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 46g, Vitamin A: 707IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 127mg, Iron: 2mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

About Helen Schofield

Don't expect to find anything fussy or complicated here. Just QUICK, EASY & (mostly!) HEALTHY recipes from the Mediterranean and beyond. ENJOY!

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59 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This is the best banana cake I have ever made. We don’t have a sweet tooth in our family, so we didn’t make the frosting and reduced the sugar in the cake, but it was still delicious. I added a few more pecans and a handful of dark chop chips, it is a very versatile recipe. I also used whole meal spelt flour. Living in the UK I really appreciated the conversion option and so glad I found you, can’t wait to try some more recipes

    1. Hello Pat! What lovely feedback – thank you so much! It’s helpful to know the substitutions you made worked so well and also that you appreciate the UK conversions. I don’t know whether you have an air fryer at all but I also have another very popular recipe for an air fryer version of banana bread. I’ve had good feedback on that too! 🙂

    1. Hello, Ann! Glad you like the recipe! I actually haven’t tried making this without the frosting, but I don’t see why you couldn’t. I suppose it would taste a bit like regular banana bread, which I make all the time. Give it a go and let me know!

      1. Hi Helen, I made it with the frosting in the end, it tasted amazing! Thank you 😉

      2. Oh, really happy to hear it, Ann! I still have half of mine in the freezer – you’ve reminded me to fish it out! Thanks so much for popping back and giving me some feedback – really appreciate that! 🙂

  2. That looks gorgeous!! I can’t wait to try this recipe Helen! I would have NEVER guessed you weren’t a baker from THIS insanely gorgeous banana bread! 😀
    Once you get into baking, you may find you will need a separate area to store your NEVER ending baking tray collection! :p

    1. Hi, Dini! Thank you so much for the compliment. I’ve never made so many cakes since I started my blog, but to be honest I’m still more of a cook. Still, it’s good to have a few personal cake classics up your sleeve!

  3. Helen, this loaf look gorgeous! The white chocolate cream cheese sounds delicious!

    1. Thank you, Shiran! I take every opportunity to put white chocolate in my baking!
      Thanks so much for passing by as well. So great to ‘meet’ you! 🙂

    2. Thank you so much, Shiran! I take every opportunity to put white chocolate in my cakes! Thanks so much for passing by and taking a look at the blog as well. 🙂

    1. Merci beaucoup, Eva! Moi aussi j’ai envie de manger un bon morceau avec mon cafe … mais malheureusement c’est tout fini!

  4. This is amazing Helen! So beautiful and gluten-free too… love the recipe! I’ve pinned it to remind me to try it someday 🙂

    1. Hey, thanks, Aimee! It gives me a real thrill to know people are actually interesting in making my recipes … haha! Thanks for the pin! 🙂

  5. Yum, Helen this looks delicious! Beautiful photographs too. Those pistachios looks amazing! I love their color.

  6. Such a beautiful combination of colours in the photo. Banana loaf is such a classic – love your reinvention! x