joyous cupcakes (banana chocolate cupcakes)

photos courtesy of my friend

This weekend, two of my oldest friends in the world and I got together and made cupcakes.  They're twins and we grew up together, and I'm so incredibly lucky that we're still great friends after all these years.  Playing inside a refrigerator box bonds you together that way.

We decided to make banana cupcakes with chocolate frosting, and boy did they turn out tasty.  I like to think it was all the love we poured into them as we baked.

Here's the recipe!

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
adapted from Baked by Rachel
makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

cupcake:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3 ripe bananas, mashed

icing:
2 sticks + 2 tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
4 tbsp heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Mix in eggs and vanilla until just dispersed.  In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, then add to the butter mixture.  Mix until just combined, then add the banana and mix until smooth.

Divide the batter evenly among the liners in the muffin tin (fill about 2/3 of the way full).  Bake for about 20-25 mins or until a knife instead into the muffins comes out clean.  Cool in the tins for 5 mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Now for the icing.  Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth.  Mix in the cocoa powder, followed by the icing sugar and vanilla.  Add the cream 1 tbsp at a time until you reach the desire consistency.   Frost your cupcakes once they have reached room temperature.

Enjoy with a tall glass of cold milk. :)