If you’ve got banana lovers in your family, these Banana Cupcakes are the perfect treat! They’re fluffy, lightly sweet, filled with banana flavor, and I like them best topped with chocolate frosting. You can’t go wrong with banana and chocolate together!
It’s cupcake time!
I haven’t shared a cupcake recipe in a while, so I figured it was past time to share a new one. I think banana is a great underrated Spring flavor, so why not Banana Cupcakes?!
Growing up, every year my Mom made the same banana birthday cake with chocolate chips and cream cheese frosting for my brother. It was never my personal favorite (I’d prefer all chocolate cake!), but it’s filled with good memories for me. These Banana Cupcakes are inspired by that banana cake.
Instead of chocolate chips inside and cream cheese frosting, I went with chocolate frosting. It adds even more chocolate flavor… which is just the way I like it! 🙂
However you frost them, these gluten-free Banana Cupcakes are fluffy, moist, lightly sweet and banana-filled! They’re made with simple ingredients, and they’re quick and easy to make.
They make a great treat for a kids birthday party too. Add some fun sprinkles on top and you’re ready to party!
Let’s talk about a few details before you start baking.
First, you’ll want to use brown, spotty, overripe bananas. The more brown, the more banana flavor you’ll have in these Banana Cupcakes. If you need to speed up your bananas browning a little quicker, you can put them inside a brown paper bag for a couple days. It’s not super fast, but it does speed things up a bit!
I make these cupcakes with my favorite gluten-free all purpose flour blend, to make them gluten-free. You can make them with regular flour as well. At parties I like to have a batch of gluten-free & a batch of regular cupcakes each (clearly labeled). It’s a great way to save a little money but still have allergy friendly options for some guests.
Most importantly, I recommend using high quality cupcake liners for the best cupcakes. Buying cheap, off brand cupcake liners can result in liners that stick to your cupcakes. Also, spray your cupcake liners well with non-stick spray prior to adding any batter to them! These Banana Cupcakes in particular will be prone to sticking to the liners because of the banana, so be sure to prepare your cupcake liners accordingly.
As for the frosting…
As I said above, I love these Banana Cupcakes best with chocolate frosting. I shared my favorite chocolate frosting recipe to use, below. The most important thing while making it is to sift the cocoa powder through a fine mesh strainer. It’s not a must have, but it does eliminate cocoa powder clumps in your frosting quickly and easily.
You could use a cream cheese frosting too, if you’d prefer. Or, your favorite store bought frosting will work as well!
If you wan’t them to look extra fancy, don’t forget to buy piping bags and tips too.
And, of course, don’t forget some fun sprinkles! 🙂 You could add fresh banana slices on top, like I did in the pictures, but be sure to serve them immediately afterwards. The banana slices will brown quickly and not look as appealing afterwards.
These Banana Cupcakes can be made a day or two ahead of time before a party easily, and stored in the fridge. I recommend waiting till day of to frost them though. Then you’re ready to party the day away!
If you love simple, classic flavors, and cupcakes.. these are a great dessert to try! These Banana Cupcakes are great for a Summer treat or kids birthday party. Top them with whatever frosting you like best (I recommend chocolate!).
After you make them, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and star rating, below, and/or find me on Instagram and tag me in your picture. I love to see when ya’ll make a recipe!
Before you go, if you need anymore fun dessert recipes check out my high altitude Vanilla Cake, healthy Chocolate Donuts, Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies or Healthier Lemon Cheesecake Bars.
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup overripe banana, mashed
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk of choice & 1 tsp of vinegar, let sit till curdled)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/3 cup gluten-free all purpose flour (or regular flour)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-4 tbsp milk of choice (skim, 2%, whole or almond)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (sifted)
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To begin, preheat your oven to 350 and line two muffin tins with 16 cupcake liners. Spray your cupcake liners with non-stick spray.
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To a large mixing bowl, add your butter and sugar and beat together with a hand mixer till creamy. Add your banana and beat into the mixture till smooth. Next, add your buttermilk, vanilla and eggs and mix together till just combined.
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To the same bowl, add your flour, baking powder and salt and mix together till you have a smooth cupcake batter. Do not over mix.
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Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 way full with cupcake batter, or till all of the batter has been evenly divided among 16 cupcake liners. Bake in the oven for 17-20 minutes, or till the tops are springy to touch and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
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Let cool entirely before frosting.
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To a large mixing bowl, add your butter, powdered sugar, and two tablespoons of milk. Place a fine mesh strainer over your bowl, and add your cocoa powder to it. Gently shake back and forth till all of the cocoa powder has filtered through, and the clumps are left in the strainer. Remove the strainer. Beat with a mixer together till creamy. If too thick, add 1-2 more tablespoons of milk, till it reaches your desired consistency.
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Pipe or spread on top of your cupcakes. Devour!
I recommend storing your banana cupcakes unfrosted in the fridge, till you are ready to serve them. They will keep this way for a few days. After frosting them, serve them day of.
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