Although I myself am not the biggest fan of banana baked goods, my close friend Stephen raves about how delicious banana-flavored anything is. From banana nut cereal to banana bread, one can always count on him to bring up another banana-filled food. Honestly, I would not be surprised in the least if he discovered a vegetable dish that included bananas, but I digress.

In honor of Stephen this week decided to try something new; banana cupcakes. At first I was tempted to make banana bread, but because my cupboard lacked any walnuts (an essential for banana bread!) I opted instead for banana cupcakes. Also, my friends end up devouring whatever I bake anyways and cupcakes seem to be the easiest to distribute.

Before I began baking I needed to decide the frosting that would go with the banana cupcakes. At first, I contemplated strawberry frosting to give the cakes a bit of a kick, but then I realized that because banana is such a subtle flavor I needed something to complement the banana, not overpower it. From there I began to ponder every banana mixture and it hit me; crepes! Is there anything better than warm crepes filled with nutella, bananas, and whipped cream? The correct answer, if you don’t know, is no.

Because whipped cream would be difficult to bring to school, my creation of the week would be moist banana cupcakes topped with delicious nutella frosting. (Cue the mouth-watering.) Trust me when I say you will not regret making these. For a person who doesn’t prefer banana-flavored baked goods usually, I ate three.

Preparation for this recipe only requires buying a bunch of bananas and setting them aside for a week or two until they are blacken and bruised. Although most people prefer to eat bananas that are not bruised and spotted with black splotches, when baking with bananas the best ones are those rejects. This is because at that stage, bananas are at their sweetest and will produce the most banana-y flavor, if you will. A helpful tip my mother taught me is to place the bananas in a brown paper bag to speed up the blackening process. I’m not sure why exactly, but if you are impatient and must have these banana cupcakes find a small brown paper bag. Trust me, it does wonders.

The baking process for this recipe is pretty simple. When baking these, the cupcakes turn out very moist and delicious. Before putting the bananas in at the end, I was worried when the batter was still pretty stiff, but in the end the bananas made the batter pretty liquidy.

Lastly, for the nutella frosting, I edited the recipe somewhat because in the original the frosting would end up to be unbearably sweet and for no good reason. By chance, I only had two and a half cups of powdered sugar and thank goodness because that’s all one really needs. The links to the original is included, but take my advice and avoid the potential cavity.

Well here’s the recipe below. If on a rainy day or simply out of boredom, you should take the time to make these nutella-topped banana cupcakes. You definitely won’t regret it. And I’ll bet neither will your family and friends.

Banana Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large very ripe bananas (puree or mix with a whisk)
• Optional: chocolate chips to add to batter (if want more chocolaty taste)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt together in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
4. Cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
5. Add the vanilla and the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.
6. Add the flour mixture and blend ingredients together until only just combined.
7. Stir in the banana. Blend mixture until ingredients are fully incorporated.
8. Portion batter into muffin cups about 2/3 full.  This recipe with make about 24 cupcakes.
9. Bake in preheated oven until cakes are light golden brown and tester comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.
10. After removing cupcakes from the oven, cool completely on a wire rack.
11. Once completely cool, top with nutella frosting (recipe follows).

Nutella Buttercream:
(recipe makes enough for two dozen cupcakes)

• 1 sticks butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup Nutella
• 2- 2 1/2  cups sugar (taste as you make because may turn out really sweet)
• 1/4 cup half & half (whipping cream or milk works as well)

Directions:

1. Cream together the butter and nutella, slowly add in the powdered sugar.
2. Once combined add the half & half.
3. Beat the frosting for roughly five minutes. The frosting should be pale brown, light and airy. If the frosting is still too thick add in additional milk until you achieve the consistency you are looking for. Decorate sparingly. The frosting is pretty sweet so taste test to find the perfect balance between cupcake and frosting.

Sources:

• “banana & nutella cupcakes {recipe}.” my pb j. Blogger.com, 6 September 2012. Web. Web. 6 Oct. 2012. <http://www.mypbandj.com/2012/09/banana-nutella-cupcakes-recipe.html>.
• Scarcella, Meghan. “Banana Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting.” Kitchen Notes. Blogger.com, 25 November 2009. Web. Web. 6 Oct. 2012. <http://www.mykitchennotes.com/2009/11/banana-cupcakes-with-nutella-frosting.html>.