Martha's Banana Cupcakes with Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting

I was craving cupcakes. It's been a couple weeks since I have made some. I don't necessarily crave cupcakes to eat them but I just LOVE baking them and frosting them. Then I try to pawn them off on family and friends so that I don't eat them all by myself! Lately I have been obsessed with peanut butter, honey, and banana sandwiches, oh so delicous. With this in mind I thought that bananas & peanut butter would make a great combination for a cupcake. So I looked through my trusty Martha Stewart Cupcake book and found a few recipes. The great thing was that I had been saving my ripe bananas in the freezer and have just been waiting to find the perfect treat to use them in. Oh my gosh, these are delicous whether they are frosted or not. I went with a creamy peanut butter frosting on mine but I think these would be delcious with a chocolate frosting or caramel buttercream. So many ways to eat these cupcakes but here are how mine turned out:

Perfect weekend treat!

XOXO,
Whitney

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Here is the recipe:

Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting

(Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes)

6 oz cream cheese or Neufchatel Cheese, room temperature

1/2 C confectioners’ sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 C creamy peanut butter

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

½ C heavy cream

1.       With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add salt and peanut butter, and beat to combine. Beat in Vanilla.

2.       In another bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk cream until medium stiff peaks form. Fold cream into peanut butter mixture. Use immediately, or refrigerate, covered tightly, up to 2 days. Before using, bring to room temperature and stir with a flexible spatula until smooth.

Banana Cupcakes

(Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes )

3 C all purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 C very ripe bananas, mashed

¾ C buttermilk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

¾ C unsalted butter, room temperature

3 large eggs

1 ½ C packed light brown sugar

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, soda, powder, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk together bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla.

2.       With an electric mixer on medium high speed, cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with banana mixture and beating until just combined after each.

3.       Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling  each ¾ full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, approximately 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature.

4.       To finish, frost cupcakes with creamy peanut butter frosting. Once frosted, you may keep cupcakes refrigerated for up to 3 days in airtight containers.