Banana Cupcakes

Banana cake is a hot commodity around here. This is a cake my neighbor and friend started sharing out a year or so ago and it has been a smash success. Everyone who gets theirs paws on it loves it, and that includes me, who considers this close enough to a muffins to qualify for breakfast every now and again.

It's hard to tell whether this was a banana muffin recipe that went rogue, layered itself in some icing and decided to take over the dessert world, or a cake that took some notes from banana bread. Wherever this originated, it's a keeper. 

I'd never really considered making this on my own, as this had become her special. But I had a small get together I was going to and needed something new to bring. Every now and again, I hit a blank, or my brain is a bit lazy in creativity. So I reached out and asked if she minded sharing (and that I'd be posting about it). She said she was happy to share and texted me the deets.

As is my standard, I reviewed the recipe as I'd been eating it and almost fell over. Noting the massive amount of sugar in the original my friend shared with me, I promptly cut the amount of sugar in half; I knew the icing as heavy on the powdered sugar and it just wouldn't be needed.

I decided to use 3 bananas in this, and just mashed em up with a fork in a bowl and added the lemon juice.

It fell together like a normal cake. Butter and sugar creamed together first, followed by the eggs, dry ingredients, and last but not least: the main event. Bananas. I decided to throw in some nutmeg and cinnamon because they're kind of a dessert staple. Lastly, I added some milk to the batter. The original called for buttermilk, which is a moisture and flavor king, but I had coconut milk available so that had to do.

And since cupcakes are the best of all cake delivery methods, especially when sharing, I baked my little cake buds and topped them with a cream cheese frosting.

So much cuteness!

With a sweet, dense banana cake and a cream cheese top, the banana fans in your life will adore these.

The banana cake flavor and texture are delightful. Still sweet, but not to the degree of a toothache. And actually, they're quite good without frosting, too, so if you don't crave the cream cheese topping you can just as easily leave it off.

The sugar scale back was again a success, as bananas already are sweet as a fruit and the extra full cup of sugar simply wasn't needed. I proudly brought these beauties to my function and everyone was happy to get in on it. Of course, there was a very worthy dessert competitor present: someone made a pistachio pudding pie that I can't pretend I didn't fall in love with. We were all winners that day.

Banana Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:
3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs
3 bananas

1 teaspoon lemon juice

3 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup coconut milk

For the frosting: Use two full packages of cream cheese for more frosting

1 and 1/2 packages cream cheese, softened (8 ounce packages)

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon water (optional)

Instructions:

Heat oven to 275 degrees F. In a small bowl, add bananas and mash with a fork. Stir in lemon juice. In a large stand mixing bowl, whip butter and sugar together for about 2-3 minutes on high, until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract. Gradually add eggs, beating between each addition. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl, then gradually pour into the mixing bowl, stirring slowly. Mix in banana, then add milk or buttermilk. Add to a greased cake pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or add to a cupcake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

To make the frosting, add cream cheese and butter to a mixing bowl and use the whisk attachment to beat for about 3 minutes, until the ingredients are combined and look fluffy. Add vanilla, then gradually add powdered sugar. Add 1 tablespoon of water if the mixture begins to look crumbly. Frost cooled cupcakes.