Banana Cupcakes

Deliciously soft and fluffy Banana Cupcakes made from scratch. Filled with warm spices and topped with homemade cream cheese frosting, these cupcakes are sure to be fall favourite.

Perfect Banana Cupcakes ❤️

Soft and fluffy cakes made with real bananas, topped with luscious homemade cream cheese frosting. These cupcakes are perfect for parties, birthdays or just when you need that cream cheese fix.

If you’ve got overripe bananas sitting in your fruit bowl, these Banana Cupcakes are for you.

I think I won my husband’s heart with Banana Cupcakes. Granted it was over ten years ago, and I’m sure they were from a packet mix, but there is something special about banana cake with cream cheese frosting.

And I know you’ll love them because you’ve been going mad for my Banana Cake. So I thought, why not take all that deliciousness and turn it into mini form? After all, cupcakes are such a party staple.

These cakes are light and soft, flavoured with banana, vanilla and a little cinnamon. And when they’re paired with a seriously creamy cream cheese frosting and a scattering of toasted walnuts, they’re downright delicious.

how to make banana cupcakes

• These cupcakes are quick and easy to make. You will need an electric mixer.
• Start with room temperature butter. We want the butter to be softened, but not melty. You should be able to press your thumb into the butter and it will leave an indent. The temperature of your butter is important to make sure your cakes are lovely and light.
• Begin by mixing together your butter and sugars using an electric mixer. We have chosen to use both brown sugar and caster sugar in this recipe. Both sugars add sweetness and moisture, but brown sugar also adds caramel-like flavour due to its molasses content. If you don’t have access to caster sugar, you can use granulated sugar instead. Read more about caster sugar here.
• After a few minutes, your butter and sugar should turn pale and creamy. Add a dash of vanilla extract for extra flavour and an egg to help bind the mixture. It’s important that your egg is also at room temperature so the ingredients easily combine. Mix just briefly to combine the ingredients, scrape down the sides of bowl as needed.
• In a separate bowl, peel and mash your bananas REALLY well with a fork. If you don’t, you may end up with gooey chunks of banana in your cakes which doesn’t taste as good as it sounds.
• In a separate bowl, add your plain flour (or all purpose flour), baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Give it a little whisk just to combine the dry ingredients.
• Add your mashed banana, dry ingredients and buttermilk to your creamed butter mixture. Gently mix until just combined but try not to over mix. You can either do this part by hand, folding gently using a spatula or turn your mixer to a low speed. The batter will be thick and creamy.
• Transfer batter to a 12-hole muffin pan and bake for approximately 18-20 minutes. Cupcakes will spring back lightly to the touch when they’re ready. Leave to cool completely before frosting.

Why use overripe bananas?

Overripe bananas are key for maximum flavour in baked goods. Whether you’re making banana cupcakes, banana muffins or banana bread, the spottier and smeller the bananas, the better! They’ll also be easier to mash and distribute more evenly in your bakes.

cAN i MAKE MY OWN BUTTERMILK?

Yes you can. Add roughly 1/2 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1/2 cup of whole or full fat milk. Leave to sit for a couple of minutes and then use as per normal.

how to make cream cheese frosting

• You will need an electric mixer to make this frosting.
• Make sure you use a full fat block of cream cheese – not a light version or the spreadable kind. 
• For seriously creamy frosting, make sure both your butter and your cream cheese are at room temperature. 
• Use an electric mixer to beat together the butter and cream cheese for a few minutes or until very smooth and creamy.

• Then add your sugar, one cup at a time. It’s very important that you have sifted your sugar to ensure your frosting is as smooth as possible.
• The frosting should be smooth and creamy. If it’s too thick, you can add a teaspoon of milk but I find it usually doesn’t need it.

Can you make cream cheese frosting ahead of time?

Yes you can. Simply store it in an airtight container. When you are ready to use it, take it out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes or so. Then add 1 tablespoon of milk and beat with an electric mixer just until it’s soft and creamy again.

more banana recipes to try

• Chocolate Banana Bread
• Banana Nut Muffins
• Easy Banana Cake
• Nutella Banana Bread
• Chocolate Banana Muffins

Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.

Let’s Bake

Banana Cupcakes

Yield Makes 12 cupcakes 1x

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.5 from 6 reviews

Prep: 45 minutesCook: 20 minutesTotal: 1 hour 5 minutes

Soft and tender Banana Cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting.

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Ingredients

Banana cupcakes

• 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 90 grams (1/2 cup) brown sugar
• 50 grams (1/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 180 grams (3/4 cup) mashed banana, (2–3 overripe bananas)
• 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk

Cream cheese frosting

• 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 250 grams (1 and 1/4 cup) full fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 375 grams (3 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
• Walnuts, crushed, for decorating

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Instructions

1. Line a 12-hole muffin tray with cupcake liners. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add butter and sugars and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until pale and creamy. Add vanilla and egg and beat briefly just until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and whisk briefly.
4. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture, along with buttermilk and the mashed banana. Gently mix until just combined. The batter will be thick and creamy.
5. Spoon batter into prepared cupcake liners and bake for approximately 18-20 minutes or until the cakes spring back lightly to the touch. Remove cupcake from muffin tray and place on a wire rack to cool completely. 
6. To make the cream cheese frosting, add butter and cream cheese (ensuring both are at room temperature) to a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla.
7. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and continue to beat on a medium speed until smooth. Transfer frosting to a large piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe frosting onto each cupcake. Scatter over crushed walnuts.

Notes

Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own by adding 1/2 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1/2 cup of full fat or whole milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then use as per normal.

Cream cheese: Make sure you use a block of full fat cream cheese, not the spreadable kind or a low fat version. It should look like the photo below.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 1 cupcake Calories: 486 Sugar: 45.4 g Sodium: 137.3 mg Fat: 25.3 g Carbohydrates: 62.4 g Protein: 4.7 g Cholesterol: 78.9 mg

Nutrition information is a guide only.

Author: Jessica HolmesCategory: CupcakesCuisine: American

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Jessica Holmes

Hi, I’m Jess, the creator of Sweetest Menu and the author of Something Sweet. A self-taught baker and published recipe writer who can’t stop making easy and delicious baking recipes.