BANANA CUPCAKES WITH PEANUT BUTTER CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Could I be any more obsessed with cupcakes?  I doubt it lol.  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!

One of the reason I love posts like these is that it makes me feel like I’m a contestant on Chopped!  Do you guys ever watch that show?  In case you don’t, here’s the breakdown:  it’s a cooking competition on the Food Network that challenges a group of chefs to create a dish that will “wow” the judges, but the trick is that they have to use the ingredients in their baskets.  Sometimes, the ingredients are pretty crazy and it’s amazing how creative the chefs are!!

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

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

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with liners and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. Separate eggs and place yolks in a small bowl and whites in the bottom of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
4. .........................................

for full recipes please see : www.thechunkychef.com

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