Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream!

Oh my goodness!!!!  Seriously, has it been over 2 months since I last posted a cupcake recipe???  I had all these lofty plans about all of the wonderful things I was going to bake and tell you all about over the summer.  Where in the world did the time go?  And then school started, and well....I don't have to tell you guys how busy life gets.

Now, don't get me wrong....I baked like a crazy girl, all summer long.  (The "crazy" part being that I regularly turned my oven on while it was a million degrees outside here in Phoenix!)  I will probably eventually get around to posting some of those things, but I think right now I'm going to start fresh and  tell you about these tasty cupcakes I made last week.....

I think I might be in love with these cupcakes.  Which is kind of funny because, frankly, I don't love bananas. I only kind of like them.  But lately I have been finding myself craving them every now and then. Maybe it's because I sort of accidentally discovered how good they taste frozen, with a little bit of chocolate syrup drizzled over them.  Maybe I have a vitamin deficiency that can only be satisfied with bananas.  Maybe it's because my mom has been bringing us so many bananas that I had to start freezing them so they wouldn't go bad (hence how I found out the frozen chocolate thing).*   I don't know.  But, what I do know, is that I had a hankering to make a banana cupcake.  And I knew that peanut butter and chocolate had to somehow figure in. And the result was this......

Super moist banana cake with ridiculously peanut buttery buttercream frosting, topped with a chunk of Reese's cup, and drizzled with chocolate ganache.  The frosting is really rich and the cake is like banana bread in cupcake form, so the two balance each other out.  Like I said before, I think I'm in love with this cupcake, and I think you will be, too.  You need to make these immediately....you know you want to.


Banana Cupcakes
{makes about 12}

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 large bananas, very ripe, mashed
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg + 1 egg yolk

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.  In a small bowl, combine the sour cream and vanilla with the mashed bananas.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and yolk and beat until well blended.  Add the flour and sour cream/banana/vanilla mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the flour.  Beat each addition until just blended.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 -3/4 full.  Bake for about 18-20 minutes.  Allow to cool in pans for about 5 minutes and then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

{Source:  Bon Appetit}


Peanut Butter Buttercream

Ingredients:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
4-5 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the peanut butter and butter together until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and beat well.  Add the milk and beat until creamy.  You can add more milk or powdered sugar to reach your desired consistency.  Frost and decorate the cupcakes your favorite way!

* Just a little side note regarding bananas... I have found that if you peel a bunch of bananas, place them in freezer bags, and freeze, they work great for so many things...from banana smoothies to an afternoon snack drizzled with chocolate syrup!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting...

Have I ever mentioned my love/hate relationship with peanut butter?  I LOVE peanut butter.  In almost any form.  But once I start eating it, I have a very hard time stopping...this is the part I hate!  However, I'm always on the look out for yummy looking recipes that contain peanut butter.  And what could be yummier than a chocolate cupcake topped with a creamy peanut butter frosting?!

The inspiration for these cupcakes originally came from those adorable mini cupcakes they sell at Starbucks.  The first time I made them was last spring.  I hadn't made the leap to baking my cakes from scratch back then, so I used a box mix and concocted (is that right? lol) my own pb frosting recipe.  They were really good.  But this time I used my new favorite chocolate cupcake recipe from Annie's Eats, and if it's possible, they were even better than the first time!

The cupcake itself is very moist and chocolatey, while the frosting is really creamy and peanut buttery.  And, of course, topping it off with a mini Reese's cup, well...doesn't the picture just speak for itself?

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Chocolate Cupcakes
{makes about 24}

What you need:
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp cocoa powder *
1/2 cup plus 1Tbsp hot water
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks plus 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 2/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream

What you do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line your cupcake pans with cupcake liners.  Combine the hot water and cocoa powder in a small bowl and whisk until smooth.  Set aside.  In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; whisk to blend.

Combine the butter and sugar in a medium saucepan set over medium heat.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.  Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium -low speed until the mixture is cool, about 5 minutes or so.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Scrape down the sides of bowl as needed.  Blend in the vanilla and then the cocoa mixture until smooth.  With the mixer on low speed, add the flour in three additions, alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour.  Mix each addition until just incorporated. 

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners.  Bake about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center of the cupcake comes out clean.  Let cool in the pans about 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Frosting

What you need:
2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
6 Tbsp heavy whipping cream or milk

What to do:
Beat the butter and peanut butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until creamy.  Blend in the vanilla.  Add in the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, beating until well incorporated.  Add in the milk or whipping cream, 1 Tbsp at a time, until reaching your desired consistancy.  Frost the cupcakes as desired ( I piped the frosting on using a large star tip) and top with a mini Reese's cup.

* The original recipe from Annie's Eats called for Dutch process cocoa.  I didn't have any so I just used regular Hershey's cocoa powder without any problem. :)

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes!

I confess.  I absolutely LOVE peanut butter.  Sandwiches.  Reese's cups.  Ice cream.  Right out of the jar.  Love it.  I don't eat it very often, but when I do, it is heaven.  So, when I happened across this recipe for peanut butter and jelly cupcakes, well...I had no choice.  Had to make them. 

I found them on this great blog...We Are Not Martha, but I have to admit that I did not love the actual cake itself.  Kinda dry and heavy.  Maybe something I did wrong (imagine that lol).  The frosting, however, was peanut butter perfection.  The second time around, I used my favorite peanut butter cupcake recipe and they turned out super.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
{makes about 12 cupcakes}
Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup milk, room temperature
Your favorite jelly, jam, or preserves

For the frosting:
6 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:
For the cakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin tin with paper liners.  Cream butter and peanut butter together in bowl of stand mixer until smooth and creamy.  Add sugar and eggs and beat together until fluffy.  Add vanilla and mix for another minute or two.

Whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl.  Add half of the dry ingredients to mixer bowl, mixing until just combined.  Add milk.  Once combined, add remaining dry ingredients. 

Fill liners about 2/3 full.  Bake for 15-18 minutes (See note).  Cool completely.

For frosting:
Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar with electric mixer on low speed until light and fluffy.  Add salt and peanut butter.  Beat to combine.  Beat in vanilla.

Whisk cream in a separate bowl with an electric mixer until medium-stiff peaks form.  Fold whipped cream into pb mixture.

Assemble:
Using the large end of a piping tip, cut out a hole in the cupcakes.  Fill with about a tsp of jelly.  Fill a pastry bag, fitted with your favorite tip, with the frosting and pipe onto the cakes.  Add a little dollop of jelly to the top of the cupcake.

*Note:  These peanut butter cupcakes are very touchy when baking.  There is a very fine line between perfect and over done.  I start checking mine around 15 minutes, and have found my "perfect" time to be somewhere between 16 and 17 minutes.

Also, you can add 3/4 cup peanut butter chips to the batter if you want.  That is yummy, too!