Banana Cupcakes

Every time I say "Banana Cupcakes" in my head the lyrics to that "Makin Banana Pancakes" song that my daughter loves rattles around in my head for about five minutes before they leave again. If you ever crave banana bread, these cupcakes are for you. I made these Saturday night. I also made more yesterday after church. Very easy recipe that is goof proof. I also made these without eggs using an egg substitute and they turned out fine. I have to tell you that I am a mix girl. Used to be that making cakes and muffins from scratch didn't work well for me. I don't think that my baking skills have drastically improved, I think that you need the right recipe. The frosting recipe with this calls for 2 T. of molasses. I thought that sounded like too much for my taste, so I only put 1 T. in and that was plenty for me. If you don't like a burnt sugar taste, or the deep taste of molasses, leave it out, these will be great with a cream cheese frosting. I would leave out the milk possibly if leaving out the molasses. Or use vanilla or buttercream frosting. Or eat them without frosting.



Gina's Banana Cupcakes
recipe courtesy of The Neelys
from Downhome Cookin with the Neelys

Ingredients
Batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 large ripe bananas, peeled, and mashed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, (reserve some for garnish) I left out the nuts altogether

Molasses Frosting:
2 tablespoons whole milk (I used skim)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons molasses (I used 1 tablespoon)
2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 1 (12 cup) muffin pan with paper cupcake liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add the butter and the sugar. Beat with a hand-eld mixer until combined. Add the sour cream and the vanilla extract. Slowly beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Incorporate the dry mixture and wet mixtures together until thoroughly combined. (I, however, dumped in the wet ingredients with the leavenings, mixed them, then dumped in the flour and mixed) Add the banans and walnuts, being careful not to over mix. Using an ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake liner 3/4 way full. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops turn golden-brown and when a toothpick, inserted in the middle of the cupcake, comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven to a wire rack and let cool before frosting.

Frosting:
In a large bowl, add the butter and cream cheese. Beat together until incorporated. Add the molasses and mix well. Stir in the vanilla extract, milk and powdered sugar.

Heavily frost the cupcakes and garnish with reserved shopped walnuts.

The egg substitute I used was:
2 T. water, 1 T. veg. oil, 1/2 tsp. baking powder for each egg called for.