Banana Cupcakes

One of the things I enjoy most about the blog world is reading all the incredible blogs out there. There really are some talented people. I recently started reading this food blog and I absolutely love it! She posts the most amazing recipes. Whenever I get in a recipe rut, I turn to her blog for help. Last week, she posted a cupcake recipe, so of course, I had to try it. The recipe was for Banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting...you just can't go wrong with that combination! I made them and they were delicious! It's basically like banana bread, but in a cupcake version, and topped with a very yummy peanut butter frosting. I thought the cupcake was so good by itself that I didn't frost them all. I even gave my baby girl her first cupcake (without the frosting) and she ate every last crumb.

This is a good recipe for little ones to help with. I gave my son the job of mashing the bananas (perfect job for him) and my older daughter measured and mixed all the dry ingredients. It was a fun way to get everyone involved. And the result...another divine cupcake to enjoy!
(Recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit via Framed)

Banana Cupcakes
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 very ripe large bananas, peeled
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk

Heat oven to 350 degrees and prepare cupcake pan. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. In another medium sized bowl, mash bananas with fork until smooth. Mix sour cream and vanilla into bananas.

Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add egg and egg yolk and beat until well blended. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with banana-sour cream mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture beating just until blended after each addition. Divide batter evenly into cupcake pan (generous 1/4 cup for each). Bake cupcakes about 20 minutes, or until tester inserted into center comes out clean. Transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (do not use old fashioned or freshly ground)
Chopped lightly salted roasted peanuts (optional)

Sift powdered sugar into large bowl. Add cream cheese, butter, and peanut butter. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until smooth. Frost cupcakes as desired.