Banana-Chocolate Chip Cake with Oat-Chocolate Chip Streusel

You might want to sit down for this one... Moist banana cake, studded with chocolate chips and roofed with a toasted, crunchy, oat-chocolate chip streusel that's laced with brown sugar and cinnamon. Like a marriage of moist banana bread and coffee cake, with semisweet chocolate on every level. And it's my favorite thing ever.

And I don't say that lightly. It's definitely one of the best things I've ever made, and I make a LOT of banana quick breads and cakes. If you follow my blog, you already know this. With each new batter, I make tweaks. My mantra: Never make the same recipe twice (goals people; even if it's weird to you, it's my thing). I've added different types of chips, Nutella, applesauce, yogurt, flax eggs, you name it. In this version, I bulked up the batter so I could make a 9x13-inch cake. And then I added the most wonderful, crunchy, cinnamon-laced streusel. It's like banana bread and coffee cake had a baby. And it's gonna blow your mind. 

I originally made this cake for breakfast... but we've been eating it throughout the day (mostly because we can't stop eating it). Obsessed might be the term. Breakfast is a great choice, but so is midmorning snack, mid-afternoon snack and dessert. My boyfriend has been enjoying his squares with a cup of coffee... and he drinks coffee all day. lol

Since this makes a nice-sized cake, you may end up with leftovers. That's GREAT news because you can freeze leftover squares (wrapped individually or in an airtight container) so you can grab a piece when sweet cravings strike. That's a happy moment right there.

Banana-Chocolate Chip Cake with Oat-Chocolate Chip Streusel

Cooking spray
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas, about 3 large bananas
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling over top
For the streusel topping: 
1 cup quick-cooking oats
2/3 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut up

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
To make the cake, in a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the sugar until blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the bananas and vanilla.
Beat in half of the flour mixture. Beat in the milk. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until blended. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the surface.
To make the streusel, in a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Mix well. Work the butter into the oat mixture with a pastry blender, two forks or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the streusel over the banana cake. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a wooden pick comes out clean or with little moist bits clinging to it. Cool the cake, in the pan, on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing. Cut into squares and serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container (room temperature for 2-3 days, refrigerated for 5 days, or freezer for 3 months).
Serves 12-16