Banana Bonanza!

Hello! So today was my friend, Hillary's, birthday so I decided to whip her up some banana cupcakes with a honey cinnamon buttercream. This cupcake was pretty much banana bread with butercream so naturally it was TO DIE FOR.

The birthday girl with her cupcakes!

I love banana bread. It is one of the best desserts to ever exist (aside from cupcakes of course). This recipe was super easy and made really moist cupcakes. Now I just want to make all sorts of bread based cupcakes! Zucchini bread cupcakes, pumpkin bread cupcakes, the list goes on! There are now hundreds of cupcake ideas floating around in my little noggin, now.  I got the original idea from Honey and Jam but I added a few ingredients to give the cake a little more spunk.

BANANA CAKE:

1 1/2 Cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1 stick of butter, melted

4 ripe bananas, smushed and mashed to a gloopy mess

2 eggs

2 T vanilla

1 t cinnamon

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a little well in the bowl and add the melted butter, eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Stir to combine but don't over mix the batter. Divide the batter into lined muffin cups. Bake the cupcakes at 350 for 25 minutes. Let them cool completely before frosting. 

HONEY CINNAMON BUTTERCREAM:

1 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 Sticks of Butter

Slightly less than 1/4 cup honey

A couple good shakes of cinnamon

1 Tablespoon whipping cream

(NOTE: I sort of had to play with the amounts of honey and powdered sugar. If the honey gets too overpowering and gives you that painful tingle in the back of your throat, add a bit more powdered sugar and the flavor should mellow out a bit.)

Whip the butter until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar in batches and mix until combined. Add the whipping cream and honey and whip until think and fluffy. Fold the cinnamon into the frosting until incorporated.

Spoon or pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. I garnished mine with a piece of banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

This was one of my favorite recipes I have made so far. The cake was really moist and the frosting was delicious. I loved the combo. This recipe would be really good with walnuts I think, as well. Or a nice peanut butter frosting. The possibilities are endless!!

Happy eating, friends! And remember, there is always money in the banana stand. 

xoxo,

KG