Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I have been in a major winter funk.  It's too cold to do anything.   I absolutely do not like cold weather, I don't understand people who take vacations to the cold mountains to ski.  Do they not know about beaches and sun and sand and vitamin D and what it does for your life?  Apparently not.  So to break myself out of the funk yesterday I decided it's time to start baking again.  I had all the ingredients for this recipe on hand so I went with it.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Here is what you'll need:
2-2/3 cups All Purpose Flour
1 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 sticks butter
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions
Firest pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees 
Then whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside for later

Next in a large mixing bowl (or in your new Kitchen Aid mixer that you got for Christmas!!), beat butter using paddle attachment. Add sugar and beat for a few minutes.

Add your eggs, one at a time while continuing to beat on low, then add vanilla. Add mashed bananas on low as wel.

Mix in the flour and buttermilk alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour.

Fill into cupcake pans about 2/3 full.  It is important to try and make them all the same size, a few of mine turned out a little more brown than I would have liked since they weren't all exactly the same size.  I am in love with this batter filler that my brother and sister-in-law bought me for Christmas.  Next time I will be using it properly! 

Bake the cupcakes for approximately 18-minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  A tooth pick or this cute handy tool!

The cupcakes can be stored in room temperature for up to 2 days!

Recipe yeilds 18 cupcakes.



 

Jamaican Banana Fritters

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/2 cup of sugar

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4-1/2 cup milk

Directions

Peel and mash the ripe bananas.

Beat egg, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Next, blend egg mixture with mashed bananas.  Make sure it is all incorporated.

Then sift flour and baking powder into the banana/egg mixture.  Mix it all together.

If the batter seems to be too thick add a little milk… I added about 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of milk.

Add oil to a frying pan and place on medium high heat.  Drop spoonfuls of the banana fritter batter into the hot oiled frying pan. Flip when you see the edges starting to get brown and golden.

Lastly, combine cinnamon and sugar together to create your cinnamon sugar.  This is used to sprinkle on top of the fritters once they are finished cooking and still hot.

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.