Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

What Jessica Baked Next

9 years ago

Sweet and sticky banana cupcakes with classic tangy cream cheese frosting. A delicious treat topped with banana slices and milk chocolate chips!

Say hello to my new favourite cupcake recipe! Sticky, buttery, moist and with a gorgeous banana flavour in each and every bite! A great bake to make when you have leftover over ripe bananas sat in your fruit bowl. These are extremely good topped with my go-to fluffy cream cheese frosting and scattered with milk chocolate chips!

These are definitely some the moistest cupcakes I’ve ever eaten and made. I much prefer banana cupcakes to homemade banana bread – which can have a drier texture. These cupcakes are just 100 x lighter and more enjoyable – plus they’re SO much easier to make, quick to bake and they taste even better! The 1/2 tsp addition of ground cinnamon in the cupcake batter is secret for the most incredibly flavoured banana cupcakes. I can’t imagine any banana bake without cinnamon added!

My sister made me chuckle she enjoyed these cupcakes so much and exclaimed “because these have banana in, it makes them healthy right?”. I couldn’t agree with that any more – so lets just forget about all the frosting and chocolate chips…I’ll take the whole tray quite happily!

This cream cheese frosting is pretty delicious too, so much so I could totally eat it straight from the bowl with a spoon. (Anyone else guilty of that?)

It’s fluffy and airy! I’m really happy to finally perfect cream cheese frosting. Before this recipe I’ve tried others and I always seemed to end up with lumpy or runny frosting. But this frosting recipe is great and the bonus is you cannot go wrong with it! I piped beautiful swirls on each cupcake but you can also just spread the frosting on each cupcake with a knife! If you fancy a twist add some Nutella or other chocolate spread to the top of the cupcake before icing.

Ingredients:

Banana Cupcakes:

120g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

200g (1 cup) granulated or caster sugar

2 free-range eggs, at room temperature

120g (1/2 cup) sour cream – Greek yoghurt or buttermilk can be used too

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

180g (1 and 1/2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Cream Cheese Frosting:

60g (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

200g (1 3/4 cups) icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

400g (14 oz) cream cheese, softened

Banana slices

Fudge cubes, chopped nuts or chocolate chips

Method:

1. To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C / 160°C Fan / Gas Mark 4. Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with paper liners.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the softened butter, sugar and vanilla. Cream on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Now add the eggs one by one, making each egg is incorporated before you add the next.

3. Now add the sour cream and mashed banana and mix again until combined. In a small bowl mix together the sifted flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to the mixer and mix on a medium speed for 1-2 minutes.

4. Take an ice cream scoop and distribute the cupcake batter between the paper liners. Make sure you fill 2/3 of the way up. Bake in the oven for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out completely clean of any uncooked batter. Once cooked through allow the cupcakes to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then remove and leave to cool on a wire rack.

5. To make the cream cheese frosting: In a stand mixer add the softened butter. Cream on medium speed for about 2 minutes to soften. Now add the icing sugar and vanilla and starting on a low speed mix to combine. Continue to cream for 5 minutes or until really pale in colour – stop the mixer halfway through to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

6. Once creamed add the softened cream cheese. Turn the mixer up and beat on high speed for approx. 2-3 minutes or until the frosting is thick, smooth and creamy. Once ready, fit a piping bag with your favourite nozzle. Fill the bag with the homemade frosting. Pipe onto each cupcake or simply spread two tablespoons of the frosting on each cupcake, if preferred.

7. Finish by decorating the cupcakes with a banana slice, chopped nuts or some chocolate chips.

Banana cupcake recipe adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod