Delicious Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

My family LOVES bananas, especially my youngest. She would eat nothing but bananas if we let her. One of the many reasons that her nickname "Monkey" is so fitting. This is why I am always perplexed that we always have a handful of overripe ones. Typically, I would make banana bread, but we still have some in the freezer from the last round, so time to get creative... or at

least make something that isn't in a loaf pan. LOL. 

These cupcakes are the perfect snack: crispy on the outside and moist, fluffy goodness on the inside. The frosting is soft and tart like you would expect from cream cheese while but also sets and slightly crusts to hold its shape. These will definitely please the banana lover in your household. 

What you will need:

Cupcakes                                                                     

3 overripe (black) bananas                                           

1/4 c apple sauce (oil)                                                  

1/3 c brown sugar                                                         

1/2 tsp salt                                                                    

1/3 c sour cream                                                           

1 egg                                                                             

1/2 tsp cinnamon                                                       

1 tsp baking soda                                                          

1 tsp baking powder

1½ c flour

Frosting
3 oz cream cheese (cold)
3 Tb unsalted butter (cold)
1/3 c brown sugar
pinch of salt
1⅓ c powdered sugar (sifted)
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 Tb milk
3 Tb sour cream

Now get to it...

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift together your dry ingredients for cupcakes and set aside
3. Mash bananas up until most of the chunks are gone or small then add apple sauce, brown sugar, salt, sour cream and egg. Mix until combined. 
4. Fold dry and wet mixture together. This is a thick dough and will be lumpy so be careful not to over work because it will make the end product tough. 
5. Divide dough into 12 lined cupcake molds and bake 18-25 minutes. They should have a springy top but should not have a dark center "spot." Let these cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes. (This helps ensure there are no raw middles while avoiding the possibility of over baking). 
6. Make sure these are cooled completely before frosting. 

For the frosting, use a cool mixing bowl (put in the fridge to be sure). Make sure to scrape the bowl often.

Beat the butter with salt until creamy (you may need a hand mixer because of the amount rather than using your stand mixer) and then add brown sugar. Continue to beat until fluffy but sugar wont be fully dissolved. Add the cream cheese and cinnamon and continue to beat until mixed.

SLOWLY add the powdered sugar. The frosting will first become course and mealy as the sugar is added and will thicken as the sugar and wet ingredients incorporate. Add vanilla and. if still mealy, add milk in small batches. It should look like a think paste at this point and you should beat on high until the volume increases and the color lightens (about 5 min). 

Frosting is ready to pipe now, but if you need it a little thinker you can let sit on the fridge. After piping, it should crust over in 30 minutes or so. Hope you enjoy!