Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Unbelievably soft banana cupcakes are frosted with a creamy peanut butter cream cheese frosting that’s kissed with honey, and drizzled with chocolate!

This cupcake is so unique and delicious!  The cake is moist, light, and soft… with the perfect amount of fresh banana flavor.  And the frosting… just WOW.  Creamy and smooth, full of peanut butter flavor, and laced with honey and cinnamon, it compliments the cupcake beautifully!

I love taking yummy desserts and turning them into cupcakes!  That’s how these banana cupcakes came to be… Chiquita bananas challenged me to come up with a fantastic recipe that uses Chiquita bananas, cream cheese, and chocolate chips.  Challenge accepted!

Thankfully, this time… the ingredients I was given to work with are pretty much made for each other 🙂  These cupcakes practically made themselves!

I actually made two separate versions of these cupcakes… one a simple banana cupcake, and the other a banana cupcake studded with chocolate chips!  Bananas and chocolate go together so well!

The trick to making these unbelievably soft and fluffy is twofold… using cake flour, and whipping egg whites.  Don’t let either of those scare you.

Cake flour is relatively inexpensive, and whipping egg whites to stiff peaks takes very little time.  Then all you have to do is gently fold them into the batter.

Of course I couldn’t help myself, and melted some chocolate chips down and drizzled them allllllll over the tops of some of the cupcakes… just to be extra decadent!

Seriously though, these cupcakes are the softest and lightest cupcakes I’ve ever made!

And I’ve made some pretty awesome cupcakes in the past… Soft Vanilla Cupcakes, Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes, and Guinness and Bailey’s Chocolate Cupcakes!

As good as the cupcakes themselves are… the frosting is one of my favorites!  It’s a cream cheese frosting swirled with creamy peanut butter and cinnamon, and drizzled with honey.  My kids literally licked ALL the frosting off their cupcakes before eating them!

The next time you have some reallllly ripe bananas and are looking for something great to make, remember these cupcakes… you won’t regret making them!

This is a post written by The Chunky Chef on behalf of Chiquita.  As always, all opinions expressed are that of The Chunky Chef.

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

4.38 from 8 votes

Author: The Chunky Chef

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 12 -18 cupcakes

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Unbelievably soft banana cupcakes are frosted with a creamy peanut butter cream cheese frosting that's kissed with honey, and drizzled with chocolate!

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 1/2 cup cake flour
• ▢ 1/2 cup brown sugar
• ▢ 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 tsp baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 tsp baking soda
• ▢ 1/4 tsp salt
• ▢ 1/2 cup butter softened
• ▢ 3 very ripe bananas mashed
• ▢ 3 eggs separated
• ▢ 1/2 tsp vanilla
• ▢ Dash of cinnamon
• ▢ Dash of ground nutmeg
• ▢ 1/2 cup chocolate chips optional
• ▢ PEANUT BUTTER CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
• ▢ 3/4 cup peanut butter
• ▢ 4 Tbsp butter room temperature
• ▢ 4 oz cream cheese softened
• ▢ 3/4 cup powdered sugar whisked to remove any clumps
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla
• ▢ 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• ▢ 1-3 Tbsp heavy cream or half and half
• ▢ Drizzle of honey

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with liners and set aside.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
• Separate eggs and place yolks in a small bowl and whites in the bottom of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
• Turn mixer on to MED speed and whip egg whites until white and stiff peaks form. Scoop out, place in a bowl and set aside.
• Fit mixer with the paddle attachment and cream together butter and sugars until butter becomes lighter in color.
• Add in egg yolks, vanilla, and mashed bananas and mix to combine.
• Mix in flour mixture until just combined.
• Slowly mix in one third of the whipped egg whites.
• By hand, gently and carefully fold in the remaining whipped egg whites.
• If using chocolate chips, stir them in.
• Scoop batter into prepared muffin liners, filling each cup about two thirds of the way.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Cool in pan for 3 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
  
• MAKE THE FROSTING:
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and beat until light in color.
• Add in softened cream cheese and beat until combined.
• Add in peanut butter and beat until combined.
• Add in honey, cinnamon, vanilla, and heavy cream, beat until combined.
• Add half of the powdered sugar and beat until combined.
• Repeat with remaining powdered sugar.
• If necessary, add additional heavy cream until desired frosting consistency.
• Turn mixer to MED speed and beat until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
• Scoop frosting into piping bag fitted with a decorating tip and frost as desired.

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Chef Tips

** Frosting recipe can easily be doubled if you'd like more.
** Recipe can be made with a hand mixer instead

Nutrition Disclaimer

The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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