These peanut butter banana cupcakes are studded with crunchy peanuts and topped with a rich buttercream frosting. They're simple to make, perfect for peanut butter lovers, and they're ready in just under an hour!
Ingredients
Banana Cupcakes
2largeeggs, separated
2mediumripe bananas, mashed
½ cupmelted butter, cooled to room temperature
½ cupgranulated sugar
½ cupsmooth peanut butter
½ cupwhole milk
3tablespoonssour cream
2teaspoonsvanilla
2cupsall-purpose flour
2teaspoonsbaking powder
1teaspoonbaking soda
¼ teaspoonsalt
⅓ cupchopped peanuts
Frosting and Decorating
1cupsalted butter, at room temperature
4cupspowdered sugar
1 ½ teaspoonsvanilla
1-2tablespoonswhole milk, or cream
Banana chips, chopped peanuts, and peanut butter, to decorate
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 cupcake pans with 18 cupcake liners. Add the egg whites to a medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk using electric beaters until soft peaks form.
2 large eggs
Use a fork to mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl. Then, add the egg yolks, melted butter, sugar, peanut butter, milk, sour cream, and vanilla and use electric beaters to cream everything together.
2 medium ripe bananas, ½ cup melted butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup smooth peanut butter, 3 tablespoons sour cream, ½ cup whole milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat on medium until the batter starts to come together. Fold in the egg whites until just combined -don’t over-mix the batter. Lightly fold in the peanuts using a spatula.
⅓ cup chopped peanuts
Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling ⅔ full. Bake for about 11 - 13 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Don’t over-bake these as they will firm up as they cool. Let them cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Frosting and decorating
Cream the butter on medium speed using electric beaters until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until it comes together. Add the milk, a little at a time, until you reach the consistency that you like.
1 cup salted butter, 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla, 1-2 tablespoons whole milk
Once the cupcakes are completely cool, spread or pipe the frosting on top. (See notes.) Decorate the tops of the cupcakes with some crushed peanuts, a banana chip, and a little drizzled peanut butter.
Banana chips, chopped peanuts, and peanut butter
Notes
The frosting can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge, covered, for a week or freezer for 2 months. After refrigerating or freezing, allow to come to room temp and add a little more milk as needed to soften.