Banana Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Frosting – Yum!

I’ve been staring at these cupcakes in my Everyday Food magazine for a while now and have not had a reason to make them. Sammy’s friends coming over seemed like a good enough reason yesterday, but they ended up not making it over, so off to Larry’s office they go – minus 3 or 4 or 5 for us.

The house smelled very good while they were baking. I looked up some reviews on the Everyday Food website – after I already made them – and I may take some of their advice next time….maybe they didn’t need as much sugar as was in the recipe, I think I can use about a 1/4 cup less. And I am going to play around with it and sub some whole wheat flour next time to make them a little healthier. They might be good with some chopped walnuts too. They were very muffin like and would be good without frosting but I loved the frosting.

Banana Cupcakes
Makes 12
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas), plus 1 whole banana, for garnish (optional)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix). Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Spread tops with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting. Just before serving, peel and slice banana into rounds, and place one on each cupcake, if desired

Honey Cinnamon Frosting

1 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat confectioners’ sugar, unsalted butter, honey, and ground cinnamon until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes