Banana Split Cake

square image of a slice of cake on a white square plate with a second slice behind it in the photo

4.54 from 28 votes

This Banana Split Cake is a no bake dessert with a graham cracker crust, followed by layers of sweetened cream cheese, sliced bananas, crushed pineapple, whipped cream, and delicious maraschino cherries on top.

Prep Time25

Cook Time0

Chill Time4

Total Time4 25

Servings: slices

Author: Miranda Couse

Ingredients

Crust

2 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter melted

Filling

16 ounces cream cheese room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 bananas peeled and sliced
2 20 ounce cans crushed pineapple well drained
16 ounces whipped topping thawed
16 ounces maraschino cherries drained
2 cups chopped pecans or peanuts
Fresh lemon juice or fruit fresh to coat bananas *see notes

Instructions

Crust

Add the 2 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs, ¼ cup granulated sugar, and melted 1 cup butter to a large mixing bowl. Stir until the butter coats all of the crumbs.
Firmly and evenly press the crust mixture into a 9x13-inch baking pan. Place in the refrigerator or freezer to firm up while working on the filling.

Filling

Add the 16 ounces cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth.
Add in the 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat until incorporated.
Spread the cream cheese layer evenly on top of the graham cracker crust.
Add the slices of 4 bananas in a single layer on top of the cream cheese mixture.
Add the drained 2 20 ounce cans crushed pineapple on top of the bananas until evenly distributed.
Add dollops of 16 ounces whipped topping all over the top of the crushed pineapple. Spread the whipped topping evenly and to the edges of the pan.
Add the drained 16 ounces maraschino cherries to the top and sprinkle with chopped pecans.
Loosely cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for about 4 hours to chill.

Notes

Once the bananas are sliced, sprinkle fresh lemon juice or fruit fresh over top of the bananas before layering them in the cake. This will keep them from quickly turning brown.

When draining the crushed pineapple, I liked to press my spatula against the pineapple while it’s in the fine mesh strainer to push out any excess juice. The juice will make the banana split cake soggy and fall apart when it’s cut. You can also squeeze the crushed pineapple while it’s wrapped in a couple of layers of cheesecloth to get the juice out.

Whipped Topping Substitution: You can substitute the whipped topping with 1 cup whipped cream and 2 tablespoons powdered. Beat with a hand mixer on medium until stiff peaks form.

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