Aug 11, 2010 Posted by denice johnson on Aug 11, 2010 in body, life | 1 comment

banana chocolate chunk cupcakes

I’ll be honest, these are an indulgence of the highest order. They are amazing fresh from the oven, of course, but fair warning: you will enjoy them even more the next day. They scream glass of cold milk or hot cup of tea. The biggest problem will be restricting yourself to just one. Then again, problems are usually a matter of perception. I say have two – or three, or four – and problem solved!

The frosting I used is the same as I’ve already posted for pretty summer cupcakes but this time I chocolatized them up real tasty-like. My recipe for dreamy chocolate frosting follows the cupcake recipe.

ingredients
3 c all-purpose flour
2 c sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs, beaten
3/4 c vegetable oil

4 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
6-8 oz 70% cocoa dark chocolate, roughly chopped

instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.

Whisk egg in a separate bowl and add oil.

Add egg/oil mixture to dry ingredients and stir just until combined – resulting batter will be chunky and that’s okay. Do not beat the batter.

Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir until combined completely but do not over mix.

Add roughly chopped chocolate chunks.

Pour batter into lined cupcake pan and bake at 350 for about 18 minutes or until a knife/toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. I know it’ll be difficult but let the cupcakes cool to room temperature before frosting otherwise you’ll end up with runny bloppy frosting and no one wants that.

absolutely dreamy chocolate frosting
ingredients
2 3/4 – 3 cups icing sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons butter
5-6 tablespoons evaporated milk*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* Use a bit of regular milk if you do not have evaporated milk on hand but be careful to add a little at a time so that you do not adversely affect consistency. But if at all possible do use evaporated milk – it’s what makes this frosting absolutely dreamy.

instructions
I use my KitchenAid mixer for making frosting. A mixer of some sort is recommended.

Sift dry ingredients into a bowl and set aside.

Cream butter in mixer and then gradually add milk and sugar, alternating each until all are incorporated. Add vanilla. Beat until light and beautifully fluffy! Add more sugar or milk if you need to adjust consistency to suit your needs or taste.

Use a icing bag with a large tip of some description – or, alternately, a completely open ended icing bag – to create a tasty mountain of frosting.

I did a few of these cupcakes with vanilla frosting because my little girl isn’t so hot on chocolate. You can do the same although, honestly? Madness!

If you’ve got kids I bet they’d love to be in charge of the frosting. I know mine were happy to assume the task!

~ ~ ~

Don’t forget to enter our August Giveaway to win a signed copy of Author Therese Walsh’s book The Last Will of Moira Leahy.

One Response to “banana chocolate chunk cupcakes”

1. chandra says:

   August 11, 2010 at 11:38 pm

   yummy!!!! I’m gonna try your recipe next time I’m making banana muffins. I love the way the frosting is in a nice little dollop-y swirl on top! I don’t usually do frosting on my banana muffins, but I’m going to give that a try to – really, I don’t see how you can go wrong!