Banana Cupcakes Recipe

I have always loved banana bread, banana cake, banana muffins and banana cupcakes.  I seem to love everything banana.  Below is my recipe for making some tremendous banana cupcakes with a delicious cream cheese frosting.  These cupcakes will please almost any guests.

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups of granulated white sugar
1/2 cup of butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 cup of ripe bananas, mashed

Frosting Ingredients:

1 cup of butter
2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese
4 cups of confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
Chopped pecans for garnish

Instructions:

You will want to begin by preheating your oven to 375 degrees F.   You will also want to line 2 (12 cup) cupcake pans with cupcake papers.

Next, you should take a medium mixing bowl and then add in your dry ingredients of flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and whisk your ingredients together.

You should now cream the butter with the sugar, so place the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat them together with an electric mixer until its well blended and nice and fluffy.  Now add your eggs into the mixture one at a time and beat until each egg has been fully mixed in.  You should then add in your buttermilk a bit at a time and continue to mix with your electric mixer.  Then add in your vanilla extract and mashed bananas and beat your mixture until all of your ingredients are fully incorporated.    Now add in your flour mixture about a cup at a time and beat until it all has been mixed in and you have created a batter.

Now, divide the batter evenly among the cupcake pans about 2/3rd of the way up filled.   Place them in your preheated oven and bake for about 18 to 23 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through.  You can test the cupcakes to see if they are done by inserting a toothpick in the middle of the cupcake and if it comes out clean its done.  When done, remove from oven and place them on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

While the banana cupcakes are cooling you will want to make your frosting.  Before doing so you will want to make certain the cream cheese and butter have softened to room temperature.  Place the butter and cream cheese in a mixing bowl and mix them together with an electric mixer.  Next add the sugar and beat on high until its smooth, fluffy and creamy.  Now add the lemon juice and the almond extract and mix just until they are incorporated into the mix, but do not over beat the frosting.

You will want to frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or you can pipe the frosting on with a big star tip.  Garnish your banana cupcakes with some chopped pecans.