Little Monkey Cupcakes

Here is my first cupcake creation! The Little Monkey Cupcake is a spin-off of my mom's banana bread, one of my favorite foods as a kid. This is a fantastic combination of an original classic and a sweet treat. I hope you enjoy! :)

P.S. You can buy monkey muffin cups for a cute little addition to your cupcakes at Kroger!

Little Monkey Cupcake

Cupcake Ingredients

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted

1 ½ cups mashed bananas

2 large eggs

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin pan with muffin cups or spray them with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate medium bowl, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl and mix until well combined. Divide evenly into muffin cups, ¾ full.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean. Once cool, top the cupcakes with maple frosting and a slice of banana.

Maple Frosting Ingredients

1 ¾ cups powdered sugar

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature

1 ½ tablespoons honey

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, beat together all ingredients until smooth or about 4 minutes.

Topping

Sliced bananas tossed in lemon juice (to help the bananas from browning)

Tips:

If you plan on serving the cupcakes immediately and don’t think you will have any left over you can top the cupcake with a slice of banana dipped in chocolate. Melt chocolate and dip half of each banana into the chocolate. Lay each banana on a sheet of wax paper and then place it in the freeze. Wait until you are about to serve the cupcakes and then top them with a frozen chocolate banana. If you let the bananas sit for too long they will get mushy and brown.

If you choose not to freeze your bananas make sure to toss them in lemon juice. Slice the bananas and place them in a bowl. Squeeze lemon juice over the bananas and toss them in order to cover each banana. Make sure not to place the bananas in the refrigerator or a cold area because this will cause the bananas to brown faster.