Cinnamon Ricotta Banana Cake

I finally finished up the last couple of black bananas —yay! They were really ripe but that’s OK.  The recipe calls for ripe bananas! This cake has all my favorite ingredients —bananas, cinnamon, ricotta, and chocolate chips.  I added the pecans in here to give it texture but you can totally leave it out if you are not a nut person.

Had it for dessert after dinner and it was the perfect ending to the meal.  Of course, you can have it before dinner or for dinner if you choose to. I won’t judge. 🙂

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs
• 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 (15 ounce) container of ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 3 cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Filling:

• 1/3 cup of dark muscovado sugar
• 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon (I used Vietnamese cinnamon)
• 1 cup of pecans, chopped
• 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9″ x 13″-inch baking pan.

Using a stand or electric mixer (or mix by hand) cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Then add bananas, eggs, vanilla extract, ricotta cheese and milk.  Beat until well combined.  Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix until just moistened.

For the filling: In a separate bowl combine muscovado sugar, ground cinnamon, chopped pecans and chocolate chips.  Mix well and set aside.

Pour half of the batter in the greased baking pan.  Sprinkle with half of the filling.  Spoon the remaining batter over the top, using a spatula to spread evenly.  Sprinkle the remaining filling evenly.  Essentially, you are layering the batter and filling twice.  Bake for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick/tester inserted into the center comes out clean.  Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting into the pan.

Adapted from The Idea Room