Peanut Butter and Banana Cupcakes were a fun way to finish off Liam and his friend Miss A.’s month of baking cupcakes. These two pals scissored, scooped, and sizzled their way through the kitchen one fall afternoon. The result? Cupcakes with fresh bananas topped with peanut butter frosting and a brulee’d banana topper.

CUPCAKE BASE

Fresh bananas in cake batter go a long way. The kiddos mixed in mashed bananas which added a natural sweetness and kept the cupcake moist. Have PB&J fans? Add a dollop of jelly inside each cupcake.

Rock-paper-baking powder anyone? My two favorite chefs are also little negotiators. Here they’re rock-paper-scissoring it out to figure out who did what. Love it.

Thanks to a few of my favorite bloggers out there for inspiring this lovely combo. I am addicted to Craftsy for all things DIY.  I think it is in my DNA to want to convert every beautiful theme or visual into a cookie or a cake. Craftsy introduced one of my favorite cupcake gals, Jennifer Shea. I utilized her delicious banana cupcake recipe and combined it with Sally’s Baking Addiction creamiest peanut butter frosting for inspiring this recipe.

PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

The frosting is that awesome, simple combo of peanut butter, butter, and powdered sugar.

Don’t fret if the frosting isn’t looking the right consistency while you whisk. Add up to 1/4 cup more powdered sugar if the frosting looks too thin, and conversely another tablespoon of heavy cream if the frosting is too thick.

BANANA TORCHIN’

No decorating skills needed for this one! Scoop the frosting and torch.

Yes, you can have your child help with the blow torch. It can be a two-person job for the novice, but honestly it’s a blast (couldn’t help the pun) to use this tool. Place banana slices on foil and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Here’s Liam scooping on the frosting (using an ice cream scooper) and adding a banana slice on top. Once the bananas are torched, serve right away. Slip the peanut butter and banana cupcakes into fancy baking cups and they’re ready to be eaten up!

There you have it for our September month of cupcakes. We started with chocolate dipped marshmallow Hi Hat Cupcakes, then pepperminty Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes, and finally these PB&B Cupcakes. Stay tuned, I may have more cupcakes up my sleeve this fall…

OUR FAVES 

• Culinary Torch, kitchen butane torch
• Sur la Table, ice cream scooper
• Paper Eskimo, limoncello stripe baking cups
• Craftsy, inspiring ways to decorate cupcakes Jennifer Shea

Photos by: Maria Hedrick Photography

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Peanut Butter & Banana Cupcakes

By TheSweetNerd  Cupcakes

January 4, 2019

Ingredients

Banana Cupcakes

2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3⁄4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1⁄2 cup plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1⁄2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 1⁄2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)

Peanut Butter Frosting

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

Bruleed Banana

Sliced banana

Sugar

Torch

Directions

Banana Cupcake

1Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners and set aside.

2In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3Combine the buttermilk and vanilla in a large measuring cup with a spout. Set aside.

4Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat at low speed until the mixture is smooth and creamy, about 1 minute if the butter is soft. If the butter is cool, it will take longer. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping the bowl after each addition, and waiting until all traces of each egg have disappeared before adding the next one.

5Add the bananas and stir until smooth. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with adding

6the wet ingredients in two parts. Keep the mixer at the lowest speed, and mix each time just until the ingredients are combined. When everything has been added, scrape the bowl and paddle one more time, and stir the batter just until it’s smooth. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes. Stir gently before using.

7Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake until the tops of the cupcakes are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center of a middle cupcake comes out with just a few crumbs, about 20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool for 5 minutes in the pans before removing to a rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Frosting

1With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the peanut butter, confectioners' sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Add up to 1/4 cup more confectioners' sugar if frosting is too thin or another Tablespoon of cream if frosting is too thick.

2Cover tightly and store for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.

Bruleed Banana

1Sprinkle layer of sugar on top of banana slice and torch to caramelize.

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