Banana Cupcakes | Cookies & Cups

I can’t recover from the flavour in these smooth and fluffy banana cupcakes! They’re made with freshly mashed bananas and a touch of tangy buttermilk, topped with swirls of creamy peanut butter frosting and chocolate. 

If you happen to love the flavour mixture in these banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, attempt my peanut butter banana bread, too! And for one more straightforward cupcake recipe, attempt these strawberry cupcakes.

Why I Love This Banana Cupcakes Recipe

I’ve by no means met a cupcake that I didn’t like, however I’m unsure I’ve met a cupcake I LOVE greater than these ridiculously scrumptious banana cupcakes! I taste these buttery banana cupcakes with recent ripe bananas and a splash of buttermilk, and so they style identical to my favourite do-it-yourself buttermilk banana bread. The feel is far softer, nonetheless, like banana cake, topped with large swirls of peanut butter frosting. Right here’s why I really like them:

• Huge banana taste. Actual bananas fill these cupcakes with sweetness, whereas buttermilk provides a bit tang. The elements are easy however there’s loads of taste to go round.
• The very best texture. These banana cupcakes are tremendous moist and so scrumptious! Fluffy, and tender… they’re not possible to withstand. I sneak one (or two) even earlier than I add the frosting!
• Fast to make. When I’ve restricted time for baking, there’s no simpler cupcake recipe. The batter is prepared in minutes and the cupcakes bake simply as shortly.
• Deliciously adorned. I couldn’t resist frosting my banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and ending them off with Reese’s peanut butter cups and chocolate. The mix is NEXT LEVEL. Embellish them any approach you want for birthdays, events, or simply as a result of.

Cupcake Components

I’ve included a number of ingredient notes for these banana cupcakes right here. You’ll discover a printable recipe card beneath the publish with a full record and recipe particulars.

• Shortening – Shortening is my secret to a flaky and tender crumb in these banana cupcakes. It makes the feel lighter and cake-like, and fewer like a muffin or banana bread.
• Sugar – I take advantage of granulated sugar however gentle brown sugar additionally works.
• Eggs and Vanilla – Let the eggs come to room temperature and you should definitely use actual vanilla extract.
• Bananas – You’ll wish to use recent, ripe bananas. As with most baking recipes, it’s greatest if the bananas are a bit overripe, as they’ll have extra taste. These cupcakes are my excuse to make use of up any brown, spotty bananas in the home!
• Buttermilk – Buttermilk is one other necessary ingredient that makes these banana cupcakes further moist and tender, with loads of taste. I like to recommend bringing the buttermilk to room temperature. If you happen to don’t have any readily available, you may make a homemade buttermilk substitute with entire milk and vinegar (or lemon juice). 
• Flour – All-purpose is the only option for these cupcakes.
• Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and Salt – Verify the dates in your leavening elements to verify they’re as recent as potential. In case your baking soda and baking powder are expired, the cupcakes received’t rise.

For the Frosting

• Butter – Dropped at room temperature.
• Creamy Peanut Butter – Ensure that it’s the shelf-stable variety. Pure peanut butter (the sort you’ll must stir) accommodates an excessive amount of oil and tends to separate.
• Powdered Sugar – Sifted to interrupt up any lumps.
• Milk – This may be entire milk, 2% milk, or any milk you’ve gotten within the fridge. For a fair creamier frosting, use heavy cream or half-and-half.

The best way to Make Banana Cupcakes

These banana cupcakes are very fast and easy to make. It’s a 3-step course of! Comply with alongside beneath and scroll to the recipe card for printable directions.

• Combine the cupcake batter. Begin by creaming the sugar and shortening collectively, then beat within the eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, and bananas. Lastly, slowly combine within the flour, leavening, and salt.
• Fill the pan. Scoop the batter out into lined muffin pans. I often fill every liner about ⅔ of the best way full, so the cupcakes have room to rise with out overflowing.
• Bake. Bake these banana cupcakes at 350ºF for 15-20 minutes till they’re set. Afterward, let the cupcakes cool utterly earlier than frosting.

Straightforward Peanut Butter Frosting

This could be the best frosting to ever grace my kitchen. It’s a variation of classic vanilla buttercream flavored with creamy peanut butter. After I say it melts in your mouth, I’m not kidding! It’s tremendous creamy, fluffy, and pipable. Right here’s how you can make it:

• Cream butter and peanut butter collectively. Add the butter and peanut butter to a bowl and provides {that a} good whip on medium pace till it’s good and clean.
• Add powdered sugar and milk. Subsequent, step by step beat within the powdered sugar, then the milk, till you attain a pipeable consistency. It’s possible you’ll want so as to add a bit extra of 1 or the opposite to skinny out or thicken the frosting as wanted.
• Whip. Beat the peanut butter frosting completely till it’s gentle and fluffy. Afterward, fill a piping bag. I take advantage of an open-star piping tip to create the buttercream swirls you see within the pictures.

• Pipe a frosting swirl. Beginning within the middle of the cupcake, pipe the frosting after which slowly transfer the piping tip outward and upward to create a swirl (see pictures). Repeat with the remainder of the cupcakes. 

These cupcakes would even be scrumptious frosted with Swiss meringue frosting, do-it-yourself cream cheese frosting, or heritage frosting should you really feel like altering it up.

Ideas for Success

• Ripen bananas shortly. If you happen to solely have underripe bananas readily available however have a hankering for banana cupcakes (comprehensible), a straightforward method to ripen them shortly is to put the bananas on a baking sheet and bake them at 300ºF for about 20 minutes, till the peels are blackened. Let the bananas cool off absolutely earlier than you peel and mash them.
• Use room temperature elements. Any fridge-cold elements like eggs and buttermilk must be taken out half-hour or so forward of time in order that they will come to room temperature. This manner, they’ll combine extra simply into the batter.
• Don’t overmeasure. Overmeasuring elements like flour will result in dense, dry cupcakes. If you happen to don’t have a kitchen scale to precisely measure, use the spoon and sweep methodology: spoon the flour from the bag into the measuring cup and sweep the surplus away to stage it off. By no means scoop straight from the bag!
• Keep away from overmixing the batter. Overmixing is the main reason for dense, powerful banana cupcakes. Solely combine the flour into the batter till it’s simply mixed.
• Bake in batches. Relying on what number of muffin pans you’ve gotten, and the dimensions of your oven, it’s higher to bake in batches than danger overcrowding. If you happen to solely have one pan, simply cool the baked cupcakes for a couple of minutes earlier than shifting them to a wire rack, and reusing the pan for the following batch.

The best way to Embellish These Banana Cupcakes

There’s no mistaken method to adorn a cupcake! I garnish my frosted banana cupcakes with chopped Reese’s cups and a drizzle of Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup. These are another concepts:

• Sprinkles. If you happen to’re making these as birthday cupcakes, they want sprinkles! Use rainbow sprinkles, jimmies, nonpareils, or colourful sanding sugar so as to add a bit brightness and further sparkle.
• Chocolate chips. High these cupcakes with semi-sweet, darkish, or white chocolate chips. You may as well use peanut butter chips or butterscotch morsels. For one more straightforward variation, combine mini chocolate chips proper into the cupcake batter to make chocolate chip banana cupcakes.
• Caramel sauce. Drizzle over do-it-yourself caramel sauce as a substitute of chocolate syrup.
• Coconut. For a tropical twist, frost these banana cupcakes with vanilla buttercream or cream cheese frosting and mud the tops with toasted shredded coconut.
• Fruit. High every cupcake with a recent banana slice earlier than serving (like my bananas foster cupcakes), or add a maraschino cherry.
• Halloween. Give your banana cupcakes the spooky therapy and switch them into skeleton cupcakes or cauldron cupcakes for Halloween.

Make-Forward

These cupcakes are nice to bake forward of time, and you’ll cowl and refrigerate them till the next day while you’re able to frost them. 

I additionally prefer to make the peanut butter frosting a day forward because it shops effectively within the fridge. I’ll preserve it refrigerated hermetic and convey it again to room temperature earlier than I take advantage of it. I like to recommend giving the frosting a fast whip, too, earlier than you fill your piping bag.

The best way to Retailer

• Refrigerate. The frosted cupcakes are superb to remain at room temperature for a number of hours, however after that, I like to recommend conserving them within the fridge. Retailer them in an hermetic container, like a cake provider or comparable, in order that they don’t get squished. They’ll final for 2-3 days within the fridge.
• Freeze. The unfrosted cupcakes freeze nice! Let the cupcakes cool utterly, after which retailer them in a freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for as much as 2 months and thaw the cupcakes within the fridge earlier than frosting.

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