Peanut Butter Banana Pupcakes

A few weeks ago my dog-ter celebrated her 6th birthday! Since I don't have any kids of my own yet, my dog is pretty much my daughter. She acts just like a little kid, needs my constant attention, and has her bratty moments, but I still love the heck out of her. Happy birthday Tala bear!

Ingredients:

1/2 c. peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 bananas, mashed
1/2 c. honey
2 eggs
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
4 oz. cream cheese (1/3 less fat), softened
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 Tbs. milk
*Optional, bone sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tin (I used 1 12-count and 1 6-count) with liners. In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, oil, banana, honey and eggs together until smooth. Slowly add in the baking soda and powder, and the flour until everything is mixed well. Divide among the cups, filling 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Let cool.

Combine the cream cheese, peanut butter and milk together with an electric mixer. When the cupcakes are cool, pipe or spread the frosting on top and decorate with sprinkles!

Banana PB Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting and PB Drizzle

The perfect duo; peanut butter and banana. This combination is always amazing together and the bananas make these cupcakes super moist. I also used my go-to Vanilla Frosting that is always the perfect consistency and easy to work with.

Ingredients:

1 box Golden Vanilla cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
1 c. water
1/2 c. veggie oil
3 eggs
2 bananas, chopped
1 c. Reese's Peanut Butter Chips

In a large bowl, whisk the cake mix, water, oil and eggs together until you reach a smooth consistency. Fold in the chopped banana and peanut butter chips into the batter.

Line cupcake tins with paper liners (or use the free standing kind and place on a baking sheet, like shown in picture above). Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 of the way full with batter.

Bake in the oven for 21-26 minutes (more on the 26 minute side for the larger free-form), until the tops are golden brown and bounce back slightly when you push on them.

Let cool fully while making the vanilla frosting. Pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes and set aside.

Peanut Butter Ganache:

2/3 c. Reese's Peanut Butter Chips
1-2 Tbs. heavy cream

In a small saucepan, melt the above ingredients together on medium heat, whisking frequently, until you reach a smooth consistency. Let cool for around 2 minutes before using a fork to drizzle on top of the frosted cupcakes. Add a banana chip on top for a slight bit of crunch!

Sugar-Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Whipped Chocolate Frosting

Everything around Easter time is always so sugary, and a friend of mine wanted something special for her grandma to be able to enjoy. I tested out these sugar-free cupcakes and they turned out delicious! Make sure you eat them up in the first few days though, because they dry out pretty quickly. The amount of cupcakes always varies for people on how high they fill the cups, but mine made about 18-20 cupcakes.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. hot water
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. Splenda, granulated
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with paper liners and set aside. Heat 1/2 c. water in the microwave in a glass measuring cup until it starts to bubble (1-2 minutes). Add the cocoa to the water and whisk until blended (it will start to get thick). In an electric mixing bowl, add the flour, Splenda, baking soda and salt and mix a few times. Add in the butter and mix until the mixture becomes crumbles. In a medium size bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla and cocoa mixture together. On low speed, slowly pour in the wet mixture to the mixing bowl. Scrape down the sides and mix until everything is smooth and combined well. Use a cookie dough scoop (or spoon) and fill the prepared cups about half way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the tops bounce back and all of the batter is cooked.

For the frosting....

Ingredients:

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/3 c. heavy whipping cream
1 stick butter, softened
4 Tbs. Splenda
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. coffee extract

In a glass microwave safe bowl, heat the chocolate in 30 second intervals stirring in-between microwave times. Pour the melted chocolate into the bowl of a mixer to cool. Add in the cream on low speed. Add in the butter, Splenda, and extracts and bring the speed up to medium. Beat for about 3 minutes until fluffy.

You can always spread the frosting with a knife, but I prefer to pipe mine for most cupcakes. I added bunny and chick picks to make them festive for Easter!

Upside Down Bananas Foster Cupcakes

Ask me how totally not on the ball I was this year for Mardi Gras. I thought it was a week from now, and that I had time to write out a grocery list and make these crazy different things. My mom today on the phone thank goodness corrected me which made me utilize items that I already had in my house. I didn't do too bad considering this is one out of four delicious recipes created with things that were laying around! This is by far my favorite Mardi Gras recipe made to date!

Ingredients:

1/2 c. chopped pecans
1 stick margarine, cut into 12 slices
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 large ripe banana
1 tsp. rum extract
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 c. milk, 1%
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with non stick cooking spray and place 1 slice of margarine into the bottom of each cup. Place into the warm oven until melted. Add about 2 tsp. brown sugar into the melted butter, followed by 2 tsp. chopped pecans. Cut the ripe banana into 12 slices (or 24 smaller slices) and place on top of the nuts.

In a large bowl, mix the milk, eggs, 3/4 cup brown sugar, rum and vanilla extract together with a whisk until everything is fully incorporated. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients, which includes the flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Stir everything together until there are no lumps remaining. Fill the cups on top of the bananas with the batter until it is a little over 2/3 of the way full.

Bake in the oven for 16-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Invert the cupcakes onto the baking sheet and leave the muffin tin on top to rest for 2-3 minutes. Carefully remove the muffin tins, tapping gently if you need to loosen them up.

Pistachio Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. sour cream, light
1/2 c. milk, 1%
1 2/3 c. flour
1 oz. pkg sugar free pistachio pudding mix

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the sour cream and milk together. With an electric mixer, mix the sugar, oil, eggs, almond extract, salt, baking powder and baking soda together until everything is creamed well. Add 1/3 of the flour, then 1/2 of the liquid, another third of the flour, the remaining liquid, the last of the flour and the pistachio pudding mix just until everything is combined. Try not to over mix or the dough will become gummy. Line 14 muffin cups with paper liners. Using a batter scoop, fill each cup 1/2 to 2/3 of the way with batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Remove from the tins and let cool fully on a wire rack before frosting.

(The frosting recipe that I used was the Dairy Free Vanilla Frosting located at the bottom of my recipe for Vanilla Coconut Crumble Cake. I just added green food coloring and some green sparkle gel with a few zombie hands for Halloween!)

In the heat of summer!

Most people don't get the urge to bake when it is over 90 degrees outside, but I was freezing in my air conditioned house this past Sunday and decided to make some goodies! And since I couldn't go swimming, beach theme it was!

The first is a pull apart "Under the Sea" Little Mermaid cupcake cake.

The second would be a cute anniversary cake idea. A heart drawn in the "sand" with seashells.

Sometimes it is nice not having an actual job to bake for and to just play around. Now I will just have to have friends and family help eat it all!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

 

Ingredients:

1 box Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
1 1/4 c. milk, 1%
3 Eggs
1/2 c. Oil
1 Tbs. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla

16 oz. Cool Whip, Light
4 Tbs. powdered sugar
Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk the cake mix, milk, eggs, oil, cinnamon and vanilla together until everything is combined well. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners (24 total). Divide the batter evenly among the cups. Bake for 15-18 minutes until the top is firm. Let cool fully. Meanwhile, in an electric mixer, whip the cool whip and powdered sugar together with a whisk attachment for 30 seconds to a minute. Use a cookie dough scoop that has a release lever to add a large dollop of frosting on top of each cupcake (or use a large spoon, dollop on top and smooth the top). Top each with a dash of cinnamon.

Banana Cupcakes with Golden Raspberry Frosting

Ingredients:

2 2/3 c. flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 stick margarine, softened
1 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 c. 1% milk
1 recipe Golden Raspberry Buttercream Frosting (about 1/2 of recipe)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In an electric mixer, blend the margarine, brown sugar and sugar together until well combined. Add in the eggs and bananas. Add the dry ingredients alternating with the milk, ending with the dry. Divide into 2 cupcake containers lined with paper liners (or sprayed with non-stick spray). Bake 18 minutes in the oven until the tops get golden brown. Let cool fully before adding the buttercream frosting on top.

Lemon Overload Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 Box white cake mix (including, oil, egg whites and water called for)
1 1/2 - 2 tsp. lemon extract
1 Jar lemon curd
1 Recipe Simple Syrup Meringue Frosting

Combine box cake ingredients and the lemon extract together by whisking in a medium size bowl. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Divide the batter evenly into 12 jumbo baking cups or liners. Bake for 20 minutes in the oven and check with a toothpick, or touch the top to make sure it bounces back and they are fully cooked. Let cool. Cut the very center of the tops out using a spoon. Place 1-2 teaspoons of lemon curd into each cavity. Pipe each cupcake with the lemon meringue frosting. Refrigerate until serving.

Chocolate Diet Coke Bundt Cakes

 

Ingredients:

1 box Devil's Food cake mix
1 can Diet Coke

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium size bowl, mix the chocolate cake mix and the Coke together until most of the lumps are gone. Using 2 mini bundt pans (spray if metal, not needed if it's a paper baking cup), and 6 cupcake wrappers, fill each 2/3 of the way full.  Place the two bundt pants on a baking sheet and put those, along with the 6 cupcakes, in the oven. Bake the cupcakes for approximately 20-22 minutes. Remove those from the oven and let cool, and add 12-14 more minutes to the timer to finish the bundt cakes. Let cool fully.

For Valentines day, I added melted semi-sweet chocolate on top, and added a few love notes ;-)