Thursday, February 16, 2012

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting


Banana + chocolate + peanut butter make for such a heavenly flavor trio that honestly, I read it and I hear angels singing. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh," sing the angels.


This recipe came from a duo of amazing bakers who own a bakery in Brooklyn called Baked. One day I'm going to make a trip to Brooklyn just to visit them (and get pizza). Anyways, I tweaked a couple things in the recipe, added in chocolate chips, swapped the sour cream for yogurt, added a little extra of that dairy, and boom. Here it is. My dream cupcake.


One of the many benefits of getting a recipe online is that sometimes other readers have already chimed in and written reviews, shared suggestions, rated the recipe. In this case, I noticed two frequently recurring comments about the frosting: 1. It's the most incredible frosting on Earth. 2. The recipe makes way too much frosting and you can cut it in half. So, I decided I wasn't going to modify the frosting (it ain't broken!), but I also decided I wasn't going to cut the recipe in half. I like a cupcake with a lot of frosting. Plus, I was planning to pipe the frosting on rather than spread it with a spatula. And piping uses more frosting than spreading. As it turned out, I made a wise decision. I used up every last drop of the frosting on my 52 mini cupcakes. And I wouldn't have it any other way!

Please, pretty please, make this. Don't delay.


Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from a recipe by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito that was published on Epicurious.com (and in Bon Appetit April 2010)
Makes 12-15 cupcakes or 48-52 mini cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 very ripe large bananas, peeled
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons plain lowfat yogurt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 overflowing cup of mini semisweet chocolate chips (tossed in 2 tablespoons of the dry ingredients)

Frosting:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (do not use old-fashioned or freshly ground)


For cupcakes:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 12 standard (1/3-cup) muffin cups with paper liners or48 to 52 mini muffin cups. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl to blend.

In a small bowl, pour in the mini chocolate chips and add in 2 tablespoons of the dry ingredients, tossing to coat the chocolate chips (this will help prevent the chips from falling to the bottom of each cupcake while baking).

In another medium bowl, mash bananas with fork until smooth. Mix yogurt and vanilla into bananas.

In the large bowl of a stand mixer (or using a hand mixer), beat sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk and beat until well blended. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with banana-yogurt mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating just until blended after each addition. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups, filling to 3/4 full in each mini muffin cup.

Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center of each comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes for regular size cupcakes, or 13-14 minutes for mini cupcakes. Transfer cupcakes to rack and let cool completely.

For frosting:
Sift powdered sugar into large bowl. Add cream cheese, butter, and peanut butter. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cupcakes with a metal spatula, dividing equally, or scoop frosting into piping bag with a large tip to decorate the top. Frosting can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.


Step-by-Step in Pictures
Whisk dry ingredients together and set aside...

Toss the chocolate chips in a small bowl with two tablespoons of the dry ingredients...

In another bowl, mash bananas and stir in yogurt and vanilla...

These are your wet ingredients! Set aside...
In a mixer, beat butter and sugar together, then add eggs...

Add dry ingredients and wet ingredients alternately, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, then stir in the chocolate chips...
Scoop batter into cupcake liners to 3/4 full...
Bake at 350 degrees for 13-14 minutes for mini cupcakes, 18-20 minutes for regular size cupcakes, then cool completely on wire rack...

For the frosting, sift powdered sugar into bowl, then add peanut butter, butter, cream cheese...
Beat frosting until smooth and pipe or spread onto cupcake tops...
Enjoy!

3 comments:

Mom said...

These look sooo delicious! Your piping looks spectacular! I hope you've saved me one!!! :-D

Elina (Healthy and Sane) said...

Yum! I love the surprise of the chocolate chips :)

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

These look absolutely decicious! What yoghurt do you use? A natural yoghurt? Sweetened or unsweetened? Any suggestions?

Thanks! :)

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