Banana Cupcakes with Banana Frosting
These easy banana cupcakes are sweet, fluffy and full of banana flavor with a hint of spice and topped with creamy banana frosting. Garnish with banana chips and chopped nuts, or leave them plain for a simple treat. Either way, they’re sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Why I love these banana cupcakes
Let’s just be honest. We all know that banana bread is really just cake without frosting, right? I’m totally ok with that, especially if it makes it acceptable for me to eat cake for breakfast.
But, sometimes, you just need frosting, and these banana cupcakes – with just a hint of spice – are perfect for the banana lover in your life. They’re even topped with actual banana frosting. Not just a boring vanilla frosting, there’s actual banana in it.
They’d be an awesome birthday treat, but you don’t really need to use a holiday as an excuse for a cupcake.
Other great dairy free desserts: olive oil brownies / no bake chocolate peanut butter pretzel bites / kitchen sink cookies / vegan apple crisp
Here’s what you’ll need to make them
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cups
- Electric mixer
- Muffin pan
- Cupcake liners (optional)
How to make banana cupcakes
Whisk the dry ingredients. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, pie spice – you can use just cinnamon if you want – and salt and whisk to distribute everything evenly.
Mix the wet ingredients. Mash the banana and mix it, using an electric mixer, with the oil, yogurt, and sugar until combined. Then, beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until smooth.
Combine the wet and dry. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing each addition, until the flour is fully incorporated.
Bake the cupcakes. Divide the cupcake batter between 18 paper liners – they should be able 2/3 full – and bake the cupcakes for 20 – 22 minutes.
When they’re done, an inserted toothpick should come out clean and the tops should bounce back easily when pressed. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool completely before frosting.
Make the banana frosting. With an electric mixer, beat the remaining mashed banana with shortening or butter, pie spice and salt until light and fluffy. Then add powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, until you reach your desired consistency.
FAQs and tips for making the best banana cupcakes
Is there a difference between banana bread and banana cake?
There really isn’t much of a difference, other than the frosting included in this cake recipe. Some banana breads can be made with denser flours, or the addition of oats – like my vegan banana bread – but in general banana bread is very similar to cake.
How can I quickly ripen bananas for banana bread?
If you need to ripen a banana quickly, you can bake it in the oven at a low temperature (about 300˚F) for about 15 minutes. Make sure you leave the peel on.
How do you make banana frosting from scratch?
Banana frosting is easy to make from scratch. Start with mashed banana, and mix it with butter (or shortening) and powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency. See recipe below for more detailed instructions.
More banana recipes you’ll love:
- Bananas foster pancakes
- Chocolate peanut butter banana milkshake
- Chocolate banana muffins
- Vegan banana pudding
- Banana berry smoothie
- Dirty banana cocktail
More dairy free cupcakes:
- Raspberry cupcakes
- Coconut cupcakes
- Homemade funfetti cupcakes
- Strawberry lemonade cupcakes
- Oreo cupcakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup unsweetened plain coconut yogurt
- 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium bananas)
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening or vegan butter
- 1 mashed banana
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pie spice
- 4 – 5 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350˚F and line a muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt to combine.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, mix the oil, yogurt, sugars, and mashed banana until smooth.
- Add egg and vanilla beating until combined.
- Mix in the flour mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time, scraping the sides as needed, until combined.
- Transfer batter to baking liners and bake for 20 – 22 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting:
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat vegetable shortening or vegan butter with banana, salt and pie spice until light and fluffy.
- Add about 1/2 cup sugar at a time and beat until incorporated. Continue until you reach your desired consistency.
my kids are obsessed with bananas, so I know for a fact they will love these! plus almond milk is a BIG household favorite
The frosting turns into a hard solid waste of ingredients. Tried it twice. I don’t think you mean melted. When the sugar melts it turns into a hard rock candy when the almond milk is added.
You probably cooked the sugar and oil for way too long. This would make your sugar turn to caramel and be unable to absorb the almond milk. You really only want it to be on the heat until the sugar dissolves. I’m sorry you didn’t turn out for you.
Ingredients list baking powder, but directions don’t Mention it. I added it when I added the flour.
Be careful with the recipe, no where in the instructions does it tell you to add the baking powder. It is listed in the ingredients but not in the instructions and , of course, I just read the instructions and omitted it. Got a nice tasting cookie! Also it needs to be in a smaller pan. Did the second batch in a 8×8.
This recipe has several issues. One issue being that the instructions do not tell you to add in the baking powder. Another being that the pan is way too large creating a very flat cake. And the last problem is that you can’t properlt melt the brow sugar with oil on the stove. I ended up using an 8×8 pan and making my own frosting. The taste of the cake was good. Disappointed the original recipe didn’t work out.