Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These super delicious banana cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting are very easy to make. Made from scratch with fresh bananas. Soft, moist, and creamy.

Banana and cream cheese have always been a dream team. These soft and moist Banana Cupcakes are what dreams are made of.

You can eat them as dessert and breakfast.

Picture it: You, waking up in the morning and you are super excited about an extending brunch situation what is about to happen. When it comes to the sweet part of the brunch, you take one of these beauties and take a huge bite. You notice a soft and moist banana cupcake with an intense banana flavor. Topped with a super soft cream cheese frosting. The frosting and the cupcake mix up together in your mouth, and a big bright smile is coming over your face.

Also picture it: You, craving something sweet after lunch or dinner. You grab one of those cupcakes and, well, you know what will happen. You will be super happy about all those flavors and textures mixing up in your mouth and won’t resist grabbing a second one.

Instructions

The cupcakes are pretty easy to make. You need two bowls and about 10 minutes of active preparation time. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in one bowl. In another bowl, combine oil, sugar, egg, bananas, and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Then alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

The batter is enough for about 16-17 cupcakes. Make sure that you don’t fill too much batter into the cupcake liners. Fill them about ⅔ – ¾ full that they don’t sink or spill over the sides. The easiest way to fill the batter into the liners is with an ice cream scoop, but it also works with a measuring cup or tablespoon.

The cupcakes are not as airy as white cupcakes. But they are also not that dense as banana muffins. The texture is anywhere in-between but more on the cupcake side.

Do you know what is actually the difference between using room temperature and cold ingredients? When using room temperature ingredients, they incorporate much easier and more evenly while mixing.

Let the butter come to room temperature for about 30-60 minutes depending on the temperature in your house. You can speed up the process when you place it in a warm place, next to the turned on oven for example.

The butter should be firm but soft and not greasy or melted. This is the reason why I don’t recommend soften the butter in the microwave. It is too risky that the butter melts down or gets greasy.

Not just that you save time and energy when mixing room temperature ingredients, it is also not really exciting to bite into specks of butter or cream cheese when biting into the frosting. It should be smooth and creamy, and you achieve this with room temperature ingredients much faster and easier.

If the consistency of the frosting is too soft or too firm, you can add more powdered sugar or heavy cream. When it is too soft, I suggest adding powdered sugar little by little up to ½ cup. You may want to add a pinch of salt in that case, to cut down the sweetness. When it is too firm, add 1-2 tbsp of heavy cream to the frosting to lighten it up.

Storage

If you plan to eat the cupcakes at the same and the next day and your house has a temperature of around 70°F/20°C highest, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature without any problems. However, I prefer storing them in an airtight container in the fridge when I don’t eat them right away. They store well up to 3 days in the fridge.

And if you prefer to eat your cupcakes at room temperature, just place them on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes before serving.

Freezing

In this case, let the cupcakes let cool completely. Then wrap them individually in plastic wrap. Place the wrapped cupcakes in zip-lock bags and remove as much air as possible. They freeze well up to 3 months. To defrost, unwrap the cupcakes and place them on the kitchen counter. They need about 1-2 hours to come to room temperature. Then frost them and serve. However, fresh Banana Cupcakes are always better than frozen ones. I just want to point this out.

If you are in the mood for a chocolate cream cheese frosting for the banana cupcakes, then check out this recipe.

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe

5 from 2 votes

Author Sabine Venier

Calories: 369kcal

Servings: 16 cupcakes

Prep 25 minutes

Cook 17 minutes

Total 42 minutes

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This recipe is very easy to make. Made from scratch with fresh bananas. Soft, moist, and creamy.

Ingredients

  

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banana cupcakes

• ▢ 1+½ cups all-purpose flour (180g)
• ▢ 2 tsp baking powder
• ▢ ½ tsp salt
• ▢ ½ tsp cinnamon
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ ¾ cup granulated white sugar (150g)
• ▢ ½ cup canola or vegetable oil (120ml)
• ▢ 1 cup mashed bananas (300g)
• ▢ 1 vanilla bean
• ▢ ⅓ cup buttermilk (80ml)

cream cheese frosting

• ▢ 1 cup butter (226g)
• ▢ 1 cup cream cheese (8oz / 226g)
• ▢ 2 cups powdered sugar (240g)
• ▢ 1 vanilla bean

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with about 16-17 cupcake liners (this recipe yields 16-17 cupcakes - I got 16 cupcakes). Set aside.
• Cupcakes: In a medium-sized bowl, stir flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon to combine. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, combine egg, sugar, oil, bananas, and vanilla* and stir to combine. Alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk to the batter and mix on low speed just until combined. Begin and end with dry ingredients. Spoon batter into the liners and fill about ⅔ – ¾ full that your cupcakes don't sink or spill over the sides. Bake for about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick centered in the middle comes out clean. Let cool to room temperature before frosting.
• Frosting: In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, mix butter until soft and creamy. Add cream cheese and stir until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Sift in powdered sugar and add vanilla* and mix until combined and creamy. If the frosting is too soft, add more powdered sugar little by little (up to ½ cup). If it is too firm, add 1-2 tbsp of heavy cream to lighten it up. When adding more powdered sugar, you may want to add a pinch of salt to cut down the sweetness. 
• Pipe or spread frosting on top of cooled cupcakes. Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days.

Video

Notes

First, cut off the straight end of the vanilla bean. Then place the tip of your knife below the curled end and cut the vanilla bean through the middle of the bean lengthwise with a sharp knife. Although you don't need to cut it all the way through, it's ok when you do so. Then open the vanilla bean and scrape out the flavorful seeds with the back of your knife. Just use the seeds.

Nutrition

Calories: 369kcal

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe

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