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If you like banana bread then you are going to love these cupcakes. This is banana bread’s sexier cousin. Banana Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream.
Raise your hand if this is you. You buy bananas every week. Only to find the next week, you buy more and realize there are still some bananas left from last week. And the pile of bananas grow….
And the bananas get dark. Like the fruit flies are around the corner. Ok please tell me I’m not the only one with my hand up over here. I seriously eat a lot of bananas. In my oatmeal, for a quick snack after a workout, in a smoothie. But I still end up with some leftover…and I throw them in my freezer. Now usually, I save them for some banana bread. Like maybe this banana bread that is the best ever.
But then sometimes banana bread just isn’t going to cut it. Sometimes those ugly overripe bananas need to be dressed up.
Ingredients for these banana cupcakes
Dry Ingredients: You are going to simply whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Wet Ingredients: In a second mixing bowl whisk together melted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and mashed ripe bananas
Frosting: This cinnamon buttercream is a swiss meringue buttercream that combines egg whites, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, vanilla and salt.
Use Ripe Bananas!
The key to making these banana cupcakes delicious and full of banana flavor is to make sure your bananas are very ripe. They should be very dark – black in color and speckled.
The darker the bananas have gotten the more flavor they will have. I like to freeze my bananas when they get to this point if I haven’t had time to bake with them quite yet. Then I let them thaw and use them in this recipe!
How To Make These Banana Cupcakes
Step 1: Line your cupcake pan with cupcake liners. I love these greaseproof liners
Step 2: Whisk your dry ingredients together and set aside.
Step 3 and 4: In a second mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar and melted butter.
Step 5: Whisk in your eggs, one at a time.
Step 6: Add your vanilla extract.
Step 7 and 8: Mash the bananas and add to the wet ingredients.
Step 9-11: Alternate the flour mixture and sour cream, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Be sure to mix just until the flour is incorporated.
Step 12: Using an ice-cream scoop, fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake!
Tips For Making These Banana Cupcakes:
- Use ripe bananas. All those black specks means a ripe banana and that’s the type of banana you want to use! These have more flavor and will make a moist cupcakes.
- Measure your flour properly. Read this post on how to measure your flour. Too much flour = a dense cupcake. So measure correctly and end up with a light, fluffy cupcake!
- Room temperature eggs. Make sure your eggs are room temperature before you begin. To bring them to room temperature quickly, place the eggs in a bowl with warm water for 10 minutes.
- Don’t overfill your cupcakes! Fill the cupcakes 2/3 to 3/4 full. Overfilled cupcakes can result in your cupcakes sinking in the middle.
How To Make This Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream
This style of frosting used is a swiss meringue style buttercream. For a complete step by step photo tutorial and video on how to make swiss meringue buttercream check out this post..
To frost these lovely gems, I liked to use a large closed star tip . If you want to learn more on piping cupcakes, then be sure to read this tutorial.
And of course I topped these with a banana chip, because well why not? I thought they looked just so much cuter with one on top.
If you want more help making buttercream, then grab a copy of my Buttercream Basics: Guide To Mastering Buttercream!
Banana Cupcake FAQ’s
Can I use greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
You absolutely can! Plain greek yogurt is a wonderful substitution.
Can I use whole wheat flour instead?
I haven’t tried them with whole wheat flour. But I would start with substituting half of the AP flour with whole wheat flour. You could also try white whole wheat flour which is made from a softer wheat than regular wheat flour and will result in a lighter cupcake.
Can I use oil?
I’ve only tested these with butter, but I think oil would be fine. You might just not get as much flavor.
More Banana Recipes To Try
- Banana Cake Recipe
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Healthy Banana Bread Recipe
- Blueberry Banana Bread
- Whole Wheat Banana Bread
- Banana Cupcakes with Peanut butter frosting
If you need help making cupcakes then check out these posts:
6 reasons why your cupcakes are sinking in the middle
#1 Must Have Tip For Perfectly Domed Cupcakes
6 Cupcake Decorating Supplies You Need To Decorate Like A Pro
Ultimate Guide To Baking Cupcakes At Home
And don’t forget to check out my Buttercream Basics: Guide To Mastering Buttercream – this is my mini e-book on everything buttercream!
Tools You Will Need To Make These Cupcakes:
- Cupcake Pan- (I love my Chicago Metallic and my Wilton non-stick ones as well
- Cooling Racks- I love these cooling racks and these ones so I can stack them and keep my counters free.
- Stand mixer
- Cupcake Liners– I love these greaseproof liners
- Small saucepan
- Piping bags
- Pastry tips
If you make this cupcake be sure to leave me a comment. And if you like this recipe, would you do me a favor and share it on Pinterest..I would be forever grateful 🙂
Banana Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 Tbs cinnamon
- 1 cup sugar
- 8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sourcream
- 2-3 ripe medium bananas mashed (about 1/2 cup)
For the frosting
- 5 egg whites
- 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 sticks butter cool room temperature, cut into pieces
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a large bowl with a whisk, beat together the sugar and butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
- In a large bowl with a whisk together the melted butter and sugar.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then mix in the vanilla and bananas.
- Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the sourcream in 2 additions, mixing until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Whisk until no traces of flour remain, about 30 seconds; do not overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full. 18-20 minutes until the cupcakes are lightly golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Then transfer the cupcakes to the rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.
For the buttercream frosting
- Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer with paper towel and lemon juice or vinegar to remove any trace of grease. Make a double boiler by placing the mixer bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
- Add the egg whites and brown sugar to the bowl, whisking constantly but gently, until temperature reaches 140°F, or until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot.
- Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and begin to whip until the meringue is thick, glossy, and the bottom of the bowl no longer feels warm, about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Switch over to paddle attachment and, with mixer on low speed, add the butter cubes, one at a time, until incorporated. Continue beating until it has reached a silky smooth texture. If the buttercream curdles simply keep mixing and it will come back to smooth. If the buttercream is too thin and runny, refrigerate for about 15 minutes before continuing mixing with paddle attachment until it comes together. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, and salt, continuing to beat on low speed until well combined.
- Use a piping bag and large star tip to pipe frosting on to the cupcakes.
Notes
* To pipe the frosting, I used a plastic piping bag and an Ateco closed star tip #847.
Nutrition
Roxanne McLean says
Hi Heather! We’re not big banana fans in my family, but the cinnamon Swiss buttercream really caught my eye and right now, there’s a batch of applesauce cupcakes just out of the oven and waiting for that delicious buttercream. Almost wish I had some apple pie filling to fill them with!
Thanks for the great recipe.
Kristin says
I’m about to make these, and want to confirm butter amount in cupcakes. It says” 8 tablespoons 4 ounces” – does that mean 8 tablespoons is equal to 4 ounces, or use 8 tablespoons plus 4 ounces? Thanks!
Heather says
Hi Kristin! Sorry the parentheses must have gotten left off – but yes it’s 8 tbs (which is equal to 4 ounces) aka 1 stick of butter.
Alli says
Step 2 in printable recipe says beat together butter & sugar til fluffy, and step 3 says whisk together melted butter & sugar. I assume the melted butter step is correct as melted butter is listed in the ingredients, but it makes it unclear to follow the directions.
Heather says
Thanks for catching that Alli! I had updated and changed this recipe a bit a while back so that’s probably a step leftover from the old version. I’ll make sure to change that 🙂
Heather | Boston Girl Bakes says
Hi Heather! I’m so glad to inspire you 🙂 this is one of my favorite versions of swiss meringue! I know it’s a little bit more difficult than regular American buttercream but so worth the effort! And totally works with these banana cupcakes – hope you like them!
heather (delicious not gorgeous) says
brown sugar cinnamon swiss meringue buttercream?! yesss. haven’t even thought about using something besides plain old granulated sugar in smbc, but now i’m feeling inspired :3
Erika - Love&Custard says
These cupcakes look insane Heather! I love banana cake and bread, and cinnamon is the perfect pairing! Good tip on getting a domed top to the cupcakes – I’ll have to try that out. Also, this frosting makes me want to just reach in and scoop it out! Delicious!