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
Soft and tender Banana Cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting.
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
Instructions
- Line a 12-hole muffin tray with cupcake liners. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced.
- 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.
- In a separate bowl, add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and whisk briefly.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Tamia Matthews says
The recipe was perfect! Absolutely loved making them with my 4 year old & they turned out amazing! Thank you!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad to hear that Tamia!
Maureen Blase says
Do you press the brown sugar when measuring?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Maureen, just spoon it in for closest results. Or I highly recommend using a baking scale if you can!
Insiya says
The bestest most delicious cuppa cakes I’ve tried till date.. absolutely relish. I used yogurt instead of buttermilk and these babies turned out so moist, soft and delicious. Thank you
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that!
Joanne Mackay says
I love these Amazing recipes. So easy to make and totally delicious. The look on my children and grandchildrens faces when they eat what make for them is pure happiness. Thanks for sharing these recipes.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Aww well that brings a smile to my face Joanne! Thank you for your kind feedback.
Treesa says
Can l use regular whole milk instead of the buttermilk?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Treesa, I reckon making your own ‘buttermilk’ by adding some fresh lemon juice or white vinegar to your milk. You need some acidity to get the best results. See above for a DIY buttermilk ssuggestion.
Sharon says
They were tasty but dense.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Sharon, they should be quite light for a banana bake. The buttermilk will help with this but it’s very important to make sure you cream your butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Hope that helps!
Veronica says
Can you make a recipe for layered banana cake with cream cheese frosting?
Jessica Holmes says
Love that idea! I have shared a recipe for a beautiful Banana Cake that could be sliced into two layers.
Doris says
Hi.. I am going to try this recipe of bananas cake. I will come back to you of the feedback.
Jessica Holmes says
Hope you enjoy them Doris!
Mindy says
I made this Today. Let me tell you this is the best banana cupcake recipe. My family love it. I was really impressed how it turns out. I love it. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Amazing! Thank you so much for the kind feedback Mindy.
Josh says
These are amazing. Especially that frosting!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed them Josh!
MilkDuck says
They look delicious and the frosting is so lovely. I haven’t made these yet but I will today! I’ll be back to let you know how they turned out!