I had an obscene amount of bananas in the freezer so this week I’m sharing Banana Cupcakes with Fluffy Brown Sugar Frosting. 😉
For me banana cupcakes are a little reminiscent of breakfast and they taste great with a number of different frostings. My silly kids sometimes lick the frosting off a banana cupcake then say, “Mommy, look! Now it’s a muffin.” 😀
Banana Cupcakes with Fluffy Brown Sugar Frosting
For this recipe I once again go with my friend Betsy’s banana cupcake recipe. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it right? I’ve made Banana Walnut & Maple Cupcakes before… you can grab that recipe here if you’re feeling “nutty”. Today’s recipe is more simple in terms of flavor profile. I was inspired to pair the banana cupcakes with brown sugar frosting while perusing Pinterest one night. The brown sugar frosting is based on a Pioneer Woman recipe I learned a long time ago.
The frosting is made with flour… yes flour. If you’ve never had it before I urge you to give it a whirl. It truly is delicious! It’s not hard to make either and it is light and fluffy. It’s kind of like whipped cream, but MUCH more stable and more buttery of course. It’s also very versatile in terms of flavoring. I’ve made a coconut version using coconut milk and Ree’s way with just white sugar and vanilla. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m sure you could make it using almond milk and flavor it with a little almond extract then frost it over some chocolate cake. 😉
Anyway, I digress… these banana cupcakes with brown sugar frosting are fluffy and tasty! You could totally garnish them with a banana chip and some crunchy granola and call that breakfast. LOL Or you could garnish them with a slice of fresh banana, but if you go that route I would definitely do that just before serving to avoid the fresh banana sitting out too long and browning.
Grab those ripe bananas and bake up some Banana Cupcakes with Fluffy Brown Sugar Frosting today!
xox Roxana
- 1½ c flour
- ¾ c sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ c canola oil
- 4 ripe bananas, smashed
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ¼ c sour cream
- 1 c milk
- 5 Tbsp flour
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 c (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
- 1 c granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- banana chips or fresh banana slices for garnish (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with liners.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, smash the ripened bananas. Add the oil, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream and mix until smooth.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in. Whisk the wet and the dry together just before combined, about 15 - 20 strokes.
- Using a scoop, scoop batter into the prepared pans to about ¾ full. Bake for 17 - 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a few cupcakes comes clean. Cool in the pans for about a minute then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the flour and milk whisking constantly over medium high heat until mixture becomes very thick. It will be pudding like in consistency.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap directly over the "pudding" to prevent a skin from forming. Allow it to cool completely.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the butter, brown sugar, and salt together until smooth.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the cooled milk/flour mixture to the butter. Mix on medium high speed until light and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times making sure to get the bottom of the bowl.
