bakingwithtradition.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a way for websites to earn advertising revenues by advertising and linking to recommended products. Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

These little mini gingerbread banana bread bundt cakes made from an easy to make banana bread batter enriched with sour cream with a ribbon of gingerbread spiced brown sugar walnut filling will disappear before you’re ready for it.

I know this because I went to go back for another mini wedge of one of the cakes only to see that my kids had descended upon them faster than I realized. Sad. The good news is that these little cakes are easy to make and so so pretty.

If you like making quick breads for easy Christmas gifts, using a mini bundt pan will make extra beautiful little loaves. Add some pretty packaging, and you’ll have a lovely giftable bread, which is a nice alternative to Christmas cookies.

And if you’re freaking out about getting these little guys out of the pan already, I have a rock solid no-fail method for getting perfect definition on all those amazing designs on a mini bundt pan.

Let’s mash some ripe bananas!

Mini Gingerbread Banana Bread Bundt Cakes

mini banana bread bundt cakes on plate, text overlay

Why you’ll love banana bundt cakes

Beautiful cuteness: Bundt cakes are always pretty, but you kind of need a crowd to finish off a full bundt cake. The nice thing about these cakes is that they’re just small enough to split with a friend
Gingerbread filling: There’s a ribbon of brown sugar, gingerbread spice, and walnuts all mixed together layered inside each cake. It adds some subtle spice and a little extra sweetness that makes this banana bread taste more like a banana cake. It’s probably the best thing about these banana bundt cakes!
Quick and easy: While it looks like a lot of ingredients here, this is a mix and go recipe requiring very little effort. Honestly, the toughest thing is prepping the pan, and as I said, I have my tricks for fool proofing this!

Ingredients for Banana Bread Bundt Cake

Banana bread batter

Bananas
Granulated sugar
Butter
Eggs
Sour cream
Vanilla paste or vanilla extract
All-purpose flour
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Salt
Breadcrumbs (for the pan)

Filling

Brown sugar
Gingerbread spice or cinnamon
Cocoa
Walnuts

Choosing a mini bundt pan

I’m a huge fan of Nordicware in general (It’s my baking equivalent of a fabric store that’s loaded with linen), and their bundt pans are no exception. They’re high quality bakeware that is still made in the US. When it comes to their mini bundt pans, the amount of options can be a little overwhelming.

I developed this recipe for a mini bundt pan with 6 cavities. My pan has 3 different designs, but all the mini bundt pans are beautiful. If you choose a larger pan, know that you’ll need to increase the baking time, and the opposite is true of a pan like their bundtlette pans and even less for the “tea cake” pans.

My advice if you’re interested in adding one of these pans to your kit is to look at thrift stores or Ebay (watch the shipping price though). You’d be surprised at how often you can find these pans at thrift stores. I saved about $10 on my pan buying it secondhand.

Use one of these other options if you don’t have a mini bundt cake pan

Bundt Cake Pan: for a full size bundt cake pan, increase the baking time to 45-50 minutes. See the recipe card for the right amount of batter for the pan.
Muffin pans: increase the heat to 400 F and decrease the baking time to 20 minutes for easy banana bread muffins.
Mini loaf pans: bake for 30 minutes for 6-8 loaves. See my Mini Banana Breads recipe for the best mix-in ideas
Loaf pan: increase the baking time to 50-55 minutes for traditional banana bread.

Must follow tips for the best mini bundt cakes

Breadcrumbs and butter: Brush the inside of the pan with melted and cooled butter. Dust the inside with BREADCRUMBS. Breadcrumbs are an old-fashioned way to dust your pan and God bless our Grandmas for knowing about this trick. The advantage of using breadcrumbs over flour is that because they melt back into the cake, leaving no visible cast on the outside of the cake that you sometimes see from flour. Breadcrumbs are ideal for dusting cake pans with intricate designs like bundt pans.
Use a cookie scoop: These pans are little and don’t require that much batter. As such, a small cookie scoop is helpful for portioning out the batter and helping you get it into the small space around the central cone. I used my favorite Vollrath black scoop!
Cool before inverting: Let the pan cool for about 15 minutes before you try to invert the cakes. This will give them time to firm up a little so that they don’t break on you when you try to get them out of the pan.

Frosting ideas for your banana bread bundt cakes

Dust with powdered sugar: this is the only way that I will ever serve these. Anything else is too much for me, personally, but I’m not you!
Add cream cheese frosting: Use the frosting recipe from Chai Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls and drizzle it on over your cakes.
Whipped cream frosting: Pipe it in rosettes or dollop it.
Cranberry whipped cream: use the cranberry whipped cream from Cranberry Tarts for a sweet tart and PINK frosting.

Mini Gingerbread Banana Bread Bundt Cakes

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Author: Elizabeth Farr
Total Time: 1 hour (including cooling time)
Yield: 6 mini bundt cakes 1x

Print Recipe

Description

Adorable mini bundt cakes of classic banana bread with a ribbon of gingerbread brown sugar walnut filling running through the center of each mini cake. Dust them with powdered sugar or top them with cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients

Scale

1/3 cup breadcrumbs for the pan (28 g)

Banana bread batter

1 cup of ripe bananas from 2 large bananas
2/3 cup granulated sugar (132 g)
1/3 cup butter, melted plus more for the pan (75 g)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup sour cream (57 g)
2 cups flour (260 g)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

1/4 cup dark brown sugar (53 g)
1 teaspoon gingerbread spice or ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped finely (32 g)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

How to make banana bread in a bundt pan

Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).
Brush every surface of the inside of the mini bundt pan molds with melted butter. Sprinkle breadcrumbs into the cavities of the pan and tip them around to coat the sides. If you notice any bare spots, brush a little butter over those and coat with the breadcrumbs.
Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Peel the bananas and smash them with a fork in a pie plate.
Melt the butter, and then pour it over the bananas and measure in the sugar and sour cream.
Crack the eggs into the pie plate and measure in the vanilla paste. Break the yolks with the fork, and then whisk them in gradually with the butter and bananas until the mixture is smooth.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, and then pour in the banana mixture. Use a spatula to mix everything until the flour disappears.
Mix the filling ingredients together in a small bowl.
Use a scoop to place about ¼ cup worth of batter into the bottom of each of the cake molds. Use a spoon to spread out the batter as evenly as you can around the bottom. Spoon a generous bit of the filling over the batter.
Top each cake with about 1/4 cup more of the batter and then use the spoon to spread out the batter, covering the filling.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean.
Cool the cakes for 15 minutes before inverting the cakes onto a wire rack.
Store cakes at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze wrapped well for up to 1 month.