Banana cupcakes filled with chocolate ganache and covered with fluffy peanut butter buttercream frosting. These are peanut butter banana cupcakes worthy of a celebration.
Five years ago today, I hit “publish” on my very first post on Bunsen Burner Bakery – a dark chocolate cheesecake. What started as a fun little hobby to share recipes with my labmates in my grad school lab has continued to grow and evolved from a little hobby into practically a second career.
It’s come along for the ride through multiple D.C. apartments and a move to Philadelphia for my postdoctoral training. It bridged my late 20s and saw me move into my early 30s.
I’ve added a dog and a baby along the way, and despite both their best efforts to keep me up all night, I’m still here. It’s been a really fun 5 years and I can’t wait to see what the next 5 years have in store!
It only seems fitting to celebrate a milestone birthday with a fun and festive dessert, right? Like these peanut butter banana cupcakes!
Obviously, cupcakes with peanut butter and bananas! But let’s get a little more specific about what’s really in here:
Dense banana cupcakes filled with just a touch of chocolate ganache, covered with a big pile of fluffy peanut butter buttercream frosting.
Cupcakes that are a little more substantial in texture and not super light and crumbly. Just a little touch chocolate – not nearly enough that it’s a predominant flavor. No cream cheese frosting in a 10 mile radius because I just don’t like it.
Aaaaah, perfect. Peanut butter banana cupcakes with just a hint of chocolate – now we’re talking!
Let’s chat about baking with bananas for a quick second. Bananas add a great flavor and additional moisture to batters, which is why we all love banana bread so much. But did you know the ripeness of a banana can have a huge impact on the outcome of your dessert? It’s time for a little kitchen chemistry!
The ripeness of a banana changes the pH of your batter, so it’s important to use under-ripe or over-ripe bananas, as the recipe suggests! A slightly-green to normal banana has a pH around 4.6. The pH of an overripe banana, however, has a pH of 6.5 or higher. A really ripe banana doesn’t provide enough acid to activate baking soda, so make sure to add baking powder (or another acidic ingredient) if you’re using extra ripe bananas in your baking!
The cupcakes themselves are super easy – cream your butter and sugar, add in some eggs and mashed banana. (Perfect use for those overly ripe bananas sitting on your counter right now – or am I the only one who winds up with too many ripe bananas?) Bake the cupcakes until a tester comes out clean and the top of the cupcake is nice and puffy.
Now comes the fun part. We’re going to squeeze a little chocolate ganache right on inside the cupcake.
Filled cupcakes have been popular for a while. They’re easy to make; just use a knife to cut a little cone out of the cupcake and fill with anything. As the above paragraph might indicate, I’m not a huge fan of chocolate. If you are, go to town! Scoop out the cupcake innards and pour in as much chocolate ganache as your little heart desires.
Another great way to fill a cupcake is to push a piping tip into the top of the cupcake. Twist the top as you push it down and pull out the inside. (Eat this, of course – no cupcake scraps are wasted on my watch!)
Instead of actually removing some of the cupcake, I merely jammed a long decorating tip into the center of the cupcake and squeezed in some ganache until it spilled back out on top, then put a thin layer on top of the cupcake. You can poke the cupcake in several places and “inject” the ganache throughout the cupcake, should you so desire. Easy and delicious!
To top the cupcakes: a sky-high pile of light, fluffy peanut butter buttercream frosting. You can pile it on with a spoon or swirl it on with a decorating tip, like I did here. Finally, add a few slices of banana for decoration (or not, if you won’t be eating them right away), drizzle a little extra chocolate ganache on top, and you’re all set.
Dig in, friends – a peanut butter banana cupcakes worthy of a celebration!
More Banana Dessert Recipes:
Banana cupcakes filled with chocolate ganache and covered with fluffy peanut butter buttercream frosting.
A Bunsen Burner Bakery Original Protocol