Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Banana bread is usually the first thing that people think of when they want to do some baking with bananas. It’s satisfying, easy to make and a good all-purpose baked good. But even though you can eat it for dessert, it’s not really the same as having a nice slice of cake or a good cupcake. Banana bread is heavier and tends to be less sweet than cake, and it almost never comes with frosting. These Banana Cupcakes capture the flavor of a good banana bread in true dessert form. They’re easy to make, but are also light, fluffy and perfect with a smear of cream cheese frosting on top.

The cupcakes have a little more sugar and butter than you will find in many banana bread recipes, although the batter still includes a lot of mashed banana. The sugar and butter help to tenderize the cake and give it a nice tight crumb, while the eggs in the cake batter keep the whole cupcake light and fluffy. The overall texture is more like that of a chiffon cake than a dense banana bread, though the cupcakes are still extremely moist. They also have a terrific banana flavor that I just can’t get enough of! Be sure to mash the banana very well or puree it in a food processor, since you really don’t want big chunks of banana in the cupcakes.

You could use buttercream frosting or a cream cheese frosting on these cupcakes. I opted for a cream cheese frosting, since the tangy cheese goes very well with the sweet banana cake. I like a simple vanilla flavor to the frosting, but a nice variation for this recipe is to make a spiced cream cheese frosting by adding a little bit of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to the frosting for a little extra dimension that still goes well with the cake.

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk
1 1/4 cup mashed or pureed banana (3 medium)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, adding them one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract and the milk.
Stir half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, followed by the mashed banana. Stir in remaining flour mixture, mixing until everything is just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.
Divide evenly into prepared muffin cups.
Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.
Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Makes 18.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
8-oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk
2-3 cups confectioners’ sugar

In a large mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter. Beat in vanilla and milk, then add in the confectioners’ sugar gradually until the frosting reaches a smooth, spreadable consistency. Add a little extra confectioners’ sugar for a stiffer frosting.
Pipe or spread frosting onto completely cooled cupcakes