I have a delicious cupcake recipe for you today from one of my favorite bloggers, Betsy at JavaCupcake. Dark Chocolate Banana Cupcakes anyone? Oh my word, how good do these look?
Betsy makes a variety of amazing cupcakes as well as a variety of other insanely delicious sweets and treats. She’s an Army wife who currently lives in Bavaria, Germany. I haven’t been to Germany, but I’m going to guess it’s a heck of a lot greener than the desert of Phoenix, Arizona!
Check out some of the great recipes you can find over on JavaCupcake. Let’s start with one that gets my attention right away, Salted Caramel Layer Cake anyone?
Chocolate Nutter Butter Cupcakes
Seriously, how incredible are Besty’s recipes? I could just keep linking them up for you, because they are all amazing. She has such a great knack for combining ingredients together and coming up with the perfect flavor combinations. You have to check them all out over on JavaCupcake. For now I will turn it over to Betsy and the fabulous Dark Chocolate Banana Cupcake recipe she is sharing with us today!
Hello, Love from the Oven reader! I’m Betsy from JavaCupcake.com and I’m so thrilled to be guest posting for Christi today. I’ve been reading her blog for quite some time now and have been inspired by so many of her recipes! It’s a privilege to be able to share one of my own with you today!
I love to bake and like many women who love to bake, I also LOVE CHOCOLATE. And I’ve been craving chocolate for the last few day. Maybe it’s stress, maybe it’s you know “that time”, maybe I just love chocolate. Ha! Whatever the reason, I just needed to have some chocolate cake in my life. But, I also had three over ripe bananas on my counter that needed to get used. What to do? What to do? Combine them? Cake a cake? Cupcakes? A Bundt?
Wait… I could smash the banana and put it in the chocolate cake batter and the frosting! Done. And so… the Chocolate Banana Cupcakes were born!
These chocolate banana cupcakes are a dark chocolate cake with chunks of banana running through it. Then, they’re topped with a swirl of rich, dark chocolate frosting and a fresh banana slice. Pretty delicious… and definitely satisfying all chocolate cravings I had today! The best part about these cupcakes is how big they puffed up. I mean HUGE! I absolutely LOVE that in a cupcake. The second best part of these cupcakes… the frosting. So rich. So yum!
If you like this recipe, make sure to check out the Chocolate Banana Cake recipe as well!
I hope you make these cupcakes… definitely worth leaving those bananas on the counter a few extra days!
Dark Chocolate Banana Cupcakes
Ingredients
Dark Chocolate Banana Cupcakes
- 1 large over-ripe banana
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Dark Chocolate Banana Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¼ cup smashed over-ripe banana
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp dark chocolate cocoa powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- Sliced banana for garnish
Instructions
For Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
- In a medium bowl, mash the banana until no more chunks remain. Whisk in the milk, oil, vanilla, egg and sugar until incorporated.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
- Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the wet ingredients. Whisk together just until all the lumps are out.
- Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full.
- Bake for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in pans for 2-3 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
For Frosting
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the smashed banana, vanilla and salt and mix until combined.
- Add one cup of powdered sugar and mix on low until incorporated.
- Add the cocoa powder and the remaining powdered sugar and mix on low until combined. Switch to high and beat for 1-2 minutes or until the color lightens.
Assembly
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M closed star piping tip with frosting.
- Pipe swirls of frosting onto each cupcake. NOTE: This frosting makes just enough for 12 cupcakes – so you don’t want to pipe too big of swirls on each cupcake.
- Garnish each cupcake with a slice of fresh banana.
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Thanks to Christi for having me! This was a blast putting together!
Christine Myers says
I made the dark chocolate banana frosting, it came out great! I added a teaspoon of banana flavoring to it to give it a even more banana taste. This was enough to frost a 2-layer cake perfectly.
Anna says
I made these today. I forgot to add the egg, even though it was right there beside my bowl. Grrrrr. I was afraid they wouldn’t rise or would be dry, but they were surprisingly delicious. Light, fluffy, with a high rise.
Will definitely make again with the egg this is time!
Hannah says
Any suggestions on modifying this recipe for a cake? It would be a perfect recipe/cake for my son’s (monkey themed) birthday party. Thanks for any suggestions!
Christi says
Hannah, I’m sorry, I’ve never tried it as a cake as I’ve always made this as muffins (not cupcakes). You can always try it and just keep a close eye on it in the oven to watch for it to rise and bounce back when touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Hope he has a great birthday!
Cassandra lee says
I’m definitely gonna bake these cuppies tmr, so very irresistible
jenni says
Have them in the oven right now…they’re plumping up quite beautifully!
Katrina @ In Katrina's Kitchen says
Betsy is a cupcake ninja.
Betsy @JavaCupcake says
lol @Katrina. I just saw this. Best. Compliment. Ever. Danke!!!
Jamie @lifelovelemons says
Think I may have just found my next banana baking inspiration! Amazing!
Christi @ Love From The Oven says
Jamie, I know, don’t they look great! I’ve been getting better at grabbing bananas whenever I am at the store and then popping them in the freezer once they start to get really ripe. Perfect for when you just NEED to make some dark chocolate banana cupcakes!
ThisBakerGirlBlogs says
As a lover of all things cupcake, I HAVE to try this – looks delicious!! 🙂
Christi @ Love From The Oven says
Of course you do, I mean it would be “research”, right? 🙂
Betsy @JavaCupcake says
LOVE it! Thanks for the opportunity, Christi! And THANKS for all the link love!! xoxo
Betsy
Christi @ Love From The Oven says
Thank YOU Betsy! You (and these cupcakes) are amazing!
Doreen says
One word: YUM! Chocolate and banana go great in an ice cream sundae, so why not in a cupcake? These look delicious, and I can’t wait until my bananas start to brown! Pinning, and visiting Betsy’s blog!
Christi @ Love From The Oven says
Doreen, I’ve yet to find a way that chocolate and banana don’t go great together! And I keep testing, just to make sure 😉