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Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Who doesn't love a PB & B sandwich? This classic flavor combo makes a great cupcake: moist banana cake, peanut butter frosting, and a blizzard of crushed salty/sweet honey roasted peanuts on top.
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 small or 2 medium very ripe bananas, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup yogurt or buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 teaspoon banana flavor, optional
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional
- 2 1/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tablespoons Cake Enhancer, optional, for moist texture
Frosting
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3/4 cup peanut butter, creamy or chunky
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt, optional, to taste
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup milk or half & half
- 1 1/3 cups crushed honey roasted peanuts, to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin or cupcake pan; or line with papers, and grease the papers.
- Beat the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until well combined.
- Add the eggs, and beat thoroughly. The mixture may look a bit lumpy; that's OK.
- Add the banana, honey, and yogurt or buttermilk, beating until well combined. Again, the mixture may look lumpy or curdled; that's OK.
- Add the vanilla or banana flavor, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, flour, and Cake Enhancer. Beat until thoroughly combined.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, filling the wells almost full; a muffin scoop works well here.
- Bake the cupcakes for 24 to 27 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
- Remove the cupcakes from the oven, and place the pan on a heatproof surface. As soon as you're able, tilt the cupcakes in the wells of the pan; this prevents their bottoms from steaming.
- When the cupcakes are completely cool, make the frosting. Beat together the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt until crumbly.
- Add 1/3 cup of the milk or half & half, beating to combine. If the frosting isn't soft enough to spread easily, add more liquid a tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition.
- Put the crushed peanuts in a bowl. Frost the cupcakes, using about 42g (1 1/2 ounces) frosting for each. As you frost each cake, dip it into the crushed peanuts, turning it to cover the frosting completely.
- Transfer cupcakes to a rack to set briefly; then cover and store airtight until you're ready to serve them. They'll stay fresh for a day or two; longer, if you've used Cake Enhancer.
- Yield: 12 cupcakes.
Tips from our bakers
- Use any peanuts — regular or dry roasted, salted or unsalted — in place of the honey roasted peanuts, if desired. Or leave the nuts out altogether. Or crush just 1/2 cup, and garnish sparingly. It's all up to you.
- Bake this into two 8" layer cakes, if desired; or a thin 9" x 13" cake. The baking time will be about 25 minutes for the round layers, or 30 to 35 minutes for the sheet cake. Test by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake; when it comes out dry, or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it, the cake is done. You'll need to make a double batch of the icing to fill and frost the cake.
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Reviews
Yum!!!! I made these GF with Measure for Measure flour. I did decrease the sugar a bit because I always do when baking. SO GOOD!!!
These were awesome beyond expectation. Loved by both kids and adults. And me! Very definitely cake texture, not muffin-e at all. I did not use this frosting recipe however but made a Nutella buttercream, which was a perfect complement. Cut the sugar to one cup. Added about 1/2 cup finely chopped dark chocolate chunks. Used foil liners which I lightly greased and cupcakes released very nicely. I used full fat yogurt, not buttermilk, and 3 medium bananas. This makes a lot of batter. Filled each cupcake tin to the very top and maybe even a bit more. Still had a bit of batter left (yum). With such large cupcakes they baked up with muffin tops which made for a nicely large surface for frosting. You could easily make more normal sized ones and likely get 18. This is my second recipe from this site and I couldn't be more pleased.
Wow, amazing cupcakes. I love how the bananas are kept in chunks. It really adds to the texture of the cake. I used half KAF white wheat/half KAF white flours. As for the frosting, it is, as other have said, very rich. Rich and delicious, though. Just don't overfrost. I did use more than the recommended amount of cream to make the frosting a little lighter/fluffier. Love this recipe and I can see making it as a full-size cake, too. Thanks, KAF!
These were a big hit at work and were described as childhood in a cupcake. I do think they take more time to do start to finish by an extra half hour to 45 minutes. I made the most modest of modifications. For base, I did both vanilla extract and banana flavoring. I cored the inside and added strawberry jelly. For frosting, I added a touch of peanut butter flavoring. Next time - I won't use natural peanut butter as it was harder for the frosting to set up and may skip the crushed peanuts on top and do bacon (regular or candied) and call them Elvis Cupcakes.
We like the tweaks you made to this recipe to make it even more fun! You've got the right idea about avoiding natural peanut butter in baking. It tends to separate and cause textural problems. Stick with a generic store brand for your baked goods next time, and save the natural stuff for when you're enjoying it with a spoon! :) Happy baking! Kye@KAF
I share the opinion of many posters that it is on the verge of being too sweet. However, I must mention that I am used to lower sugar choices, and use NO processed food/fast food - so I have lowered my sugar taste tolerance from the American norm. The average cook should like these as-is. In my case, there seemed to be a slight graininess to the finished cake. I used unbleached organic sugar, which is the same grain as white granulated sugar. I had to substitute light agave syrup for liquid honey (works well as a 1-1- swap, usually). I made the recipe in 2 8' round foil pans. The cake does not rise a lot, as a commercial mix would, by comparison. It did not rise to be level with the edges of the pans. However, it browned nicely, and was done in the expected 25 minutes. Fluffiness is similar to what I used to love as a child about the old Sara Lee Banana Cake, with cream cheese icing. Fruit is noticable in the cake, and it is not overwhelmed by 'overripe banana' smell/taste as other recipes I have tried. It's very moist, crumbles in larger pieces, and can be eaten out of hand plain. A plus! With a bit of unsalted butter, and warm from the oven, it's a nice indulgence. I will try more with softened cream cheese later. I do not think it needs frosting...but a less sweet buttercream or sweetened cream cheese topping would be good. So would simple mascarpone! Rated a 4 for two reasons: the over-sweetness, and the lack of rise in the layers - it would be a thin layer cake if you wanted to make one of it. Use 4 of the 8" cakes if you do. (double the recipe)
BEST-BANANA-CUPCAKE-EVER! The batter looks a little bit odd at first, but when dry ingredients are added and you blend them, the consistency is prefect: not runny, not heavy. The taste is really amazing: soft, spongy, sweet -I used only 1 cup of sugar, no honey-, and delicate. I made cake pops in my holstein machine, and got 48 cake bites, perfect in size and flavor. It is a keeper, and great for those days when you have some overripe bananas
I also wanted to add to my previous review that these cupcakes were very light and fluffy! All my ingredients were room temp and I did not overmix. As soon as the flour was incorporated I stopped the stand mixer.
I think this recipe has great potential but it really needs tweaking. Is it possible the amount of sugar is listed incorrectly? After reading some of the reviews I decided to cut back on the sugar but did add the honey. My cupcakes are waaaay too sweet! Almost to the point of not being edible. I am talking just the cake here, not the frosting. I will try again with cutting even more sugar out but would love to know how to substitute possibly some light brown sugar in place of some of the refined. I think it would compliment the banana flavor much nicer than the white. I did not use the frosting listed. I made a honey and peanut butter buttercream by substituting 1/4 C of the butter with peanut butter. Went well with the cupcake even though the cakes were sweeter than the frosting. I gave this 4 stars instead of 3 because there is a fantastic recipe hidden somewhere beneath all that sweetness, I just have to find it.
Feel free to reduce the sugar by 1/4 if you would like. ~Amy
Absolutely divine! These came out so yummy! I will definitely be making them again!
As a very serious experienced baker, I was looking for something a little different since I had some bananas crying to be used. I made this recipe based on all the wonderful reviews. If I could give this 0 stars, I would. These were heavy, lacking in flavor and when combined with that horrible frosting, they were literally inedible! All went directly into the trash! I am a great fan of King Arthur Flour and their products. This recipe, however, in my opinion, falls far short of their usual standard.
Oh dear! I wonder how these went to wrong for you, Nancy. The flavor is much stronger in these with very ripe bananas (starting to brown with lots of spots). Also, the blending of butter and sugar is critical: too much creaming or butter that is far too soft will not allow enough air in the batter. Also, it is important to keep the banana to just the amount in the recipe; 10oz of peeled banana. We would be glad to troubleshoot this with you over the phone: 1-855-371-2253. Kim@KAF