Banana Chocolate Chunk Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I swear. Time sure flies when you are having fun!

I meant to post this recipe almost a week ago. But time got away from me.

With Little Butt home from Grandma's house and our countdown to the first day of school it's been a bit busier over here than it has been this summer.

I can't believe my baby girl is going to kindergarten on Monday!! It's crazy!

Not only that, but now my baby boy is ONE!!

I cannot believe how quickly time is flying by. Before I know it, The Hubble will be home and it will be time to pack up the house and head to Florida. Phew!

So yeah. Our last couple weeks has been filled with school supplies, new clothes, Kinder Camp, open house (tonight), and finally going to the Y and getting some workouts in.

I have SOOO enjoyed having this little girl home! She fills the house with a bunch of noise and energy. It's great! Baby N has been getting more adept at walking and has even started getting faster with his big sister chasing him. Haha! It will be a sad day for Baby N and I when she heads to school all day.

Now. Onto the recipe. These are the cupcakes I made for Baby N's first birthday. His cake was made from this same batter. It's a large recipe. I was able to get a 6 inch cake and easily 24 cupcakes (may have been more, I don't remember now) out of this recipe alone.

The original recipe calls for walnut but I substituted chocolate chunks for the chunky monkey theme.

The cake was dense and more like banana bread than cake. But it was yummy. I loved the addition of the cinnamon and cardamom (two of my all time favorite spices. Those and ginger). I thought the spiciness of the cake, paired with the chocolate chunks studded throughout and topped with a rich chocolate buttercream frosting was tons of fun! And if you read my last post, you know that Baby N loved it too!

I would definitely make this recipe again. But next time I think I will add walnuts as well as the chocolate chunks. Y'all know I love me some texture in my baked goods!

Let's bake!

Whisk together your flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and cardamom. Mmmmm...cardamom. I love that stuff!

In a separate mixing bowl, stir together the mashed bananas and sour cream.

Cream up your butter then add the oil, and sugars.

Mix in the eggs, one at a time.

Then add the vanilla.

Now add in the flour mixture in 3 additions...

Alternating with the banana mixture in 2 additions. Stir in your chocolate chunk and nuts if you are into that kind of thing. Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners, filling about 2/3 of the liner full. Then bake them up and cool them down.

Make your buttercream frosting and frost the cupcakes.

Serve and enjoy!!!


Banana Chocolate Chunk Cupcakes
Adapted from The Cake Book

Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large bananas)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 6 Tablespoons safflower oil, or other neutral vegetable oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (11.5 ounce) bag chocolate chunks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with liners. Set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom. Set aside.
3. In a small mixing bowl, combine the mashed bananas and sour cream. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium high speed until creamy, about 30 seconds.
5. Add the oil, granulated, and brown sugars and beat on high speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes.
6. Reduce speed to medium and mix in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
7. Beat in the vanilla extract.
8. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the banana mixture in 2 additions. Mix until just blended.
9. Remove bowl from mixer and stir in chocolate chunks by hand.
10. Scoop batter into cupcake liners, filling each liner 2/3 full. 
11. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
12. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes then place cupcakes on a cooling rack to cool completely. 
13. Top cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting.
14. Serve and enjoy!!

Chunky Monkey Birthday (Baby N's First Birthday)

See that guy? He's one now!! I can hardly believe that an entire year has passed since this little guy came to us.

He even opened his own presents!! He's such  big boy!

For his birthday, I made this monkey cake (I know the picture quality isn't great, sorry). The inside was this chocolate cake.

I also made Baby N his own individual cake. It was a 6 inch banana cake with chocolate chunks in it. I loosely used this tutorial to make the cake.

I had a bunch of batter from the little cake leftover that I also made banana chocolate chunk cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting. (I'll blog these soon)

At first, Baby N was scared of his cake. But I put some frosting from it in his mouth and he got over his fear quickly.

He liked it so much, in fact...

That he ended up wearing it!

I would definitely say he enjoyed himself! Happy birthday my big boy!!

Hummingbird Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and a Giveaway Winner

The giveaway winner is announced at the end of this post.

Before last week, I had never truly appreciated the memories I had from my grandma's house. 

I mean, I knew that those memories were special. I just didn't realize *HOW* special. Until all of your lovely comments. 

I absolutely LOVED reading all of the wonderful memories each of you had from "back in the day." Several stories made me laugh and a few brought me to tears. Thank you all for sharing such special moments with me. As each email came in and I read your stories, I felt honored to be reading them. Seriously, if y'all get a chance you should go back and read all the stories and memories everyone shared!

I've also now decided that I love the idea of tradition. From all the memories, I have been inspired to start cookie decorating at Christmas time with the kiddos and making pizza every Friday night. We'll see how long that lasts! LOL! But it sounds super fun. Especially during the school year. Going to the grocery store after school on Fridays to pick out toppings. Little Butt will love that!!

Speaking of Little Butt. She's enjoying her Summer at her grandma's house. It being her first time there without me (for this long) she is definitely homesick. But we get her back in a little under 2 weeks. I can't wait!!

My sister in law sent me this picture of my baby girl a few days ago. Dang that girl loves her some chicken wings. Hahaha!

While Little Butt has been gone, Baby N has been getting into all kinds of mischief. He pushed that toy shopping cart up against the couch so he could climb up to get to the window and play with the Christmas lights around the window. Yes. I am aware that it's August now and I still haven't taken down my Christmas lights. I'm okay with this. 

He has also decided that this chair that is acting as a barrier to the cords under the television is now a great option for climbing to get to the cords behind the television.

He has been discovering new headgear. He loves to put this bucket on his head and shout "ba ba!" Then he giggles and does it again. I think he likes the echo inside. Or how hollow it sounds. I don't know but he does it several times a day.

He has also taken to rearranging my cabinets. That's all in between him walking like he has walked all his life. The boy is ridiculous.

While I'm on ridiculous things, let's get back to this hummingbird cake. I've made another hummingbird cake in the past. That is when I discovered how delicious this cake is. I've talked about this type of cake so much that when my mother saw the recipe in The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook she requested I make one.

I made the cake and we snacked on the trimmings from it. Then my mom asked if I wanted to go to a birthday celebration with her. I figured why not? I have a cake! Unfortunately, the party went so long that we left about half an hour before the cake was cut! 

Luckily, I made the cake again yesterday. This cake is another winner from this cookbook. It is so moist. I told my nephew that Hummingbird cake is like banana bread on crack. The texture of the cake is dense because of the 5 mashed bananas in it. Little pockets of sweet pineapple are studded throughout and chopped pecans give the cake a little texture.

The frosting is out of this world. Cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. What more can a girl ask for?? I found the frosting a bit difficult to work with right after mixing. I needed to refrigerate it a bit to get it to hold any type of shape and not melt off the cake. But that was my only hiccup.

This cake is big, beautiful, and would make a stunning addition to any dinner table. The next time you have friends or family over I suggest you place this cake in the center of your spread.

Let's bake!

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt.

In a stand mixer, beat together both sugars and the oil until smooth.

Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. After all the eggs have been added, beat for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Beat in the vanilla, bananas,and pineapple until just combined.

With the mixer on low speed, mix in the flour mixture in 3 additions, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary, until combined.

Fold in a 1/2 cup of pecans.

Evenly distribute the batter between 2 prepared pans. Smooth with a rubber spatula. Then tap the pans firmly onto the counter tops to release any air bubbles that formed in the batter.

Bake the cakes then let the cool.

Mix up the frosting and frost the cake. Then decorate the sides of the cake with the remaining cup of pecans.  

Slice, serve, and enjoy!


Hummingbird Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook

Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

• 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cups canola oil
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 5 large bananas)
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, divided
• 1 recipe cream cheese frosting, recipe below

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 9 by 2 inch round cake pans (I used 8 by 3 inch pans) with baking spray. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat both sugars and the oil until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. 
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. 
5. Add the vanilla, banana, and pineapple, mixing until just combined.
6. On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary, and beating until combined.
7. Fold in 1/2 cup of the pecans
8. Divide the batter evenly among the 2 prepared pans, smooth the tops with a rubber spatula, and tap the pans firmly on the counter tops to remove air bubbles that may have formed.
9. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.
10. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes. Then invert onto wire racks and allow to cool completely.
11. To assemble the cake, level the top of one layer and place cut side down on a serving platter. 
12. Using an offset spatula, evenly spread a large dollop of frosting on the top of the cake layer. Top with the second cake layer, right side up. 
13. Frost the top and sides of the of the cake with the remaining frosting. 
14. Press the remaining cup of pecans into the sides of the frosted cake. 
15. Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 5 to 6 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. 

AND THE WINNER IS!

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:145Powered by RANDOM.ORG

The MommyCollapse

My favorite food/baking memory would be making Christmas cookies with my Grams.  She taught me how to put a little love in it and it always tastes better!  To this day, I bake to relieve stress - probably because that's when I can feel the love!

Congratulations The Mommy! Please email me your address at mannadonn@msn.com 

(You have one week to reply before I pick another winner)

Maple Brown Sugar Bacon Banana Bread

Reading the name of this treat I'm sharing with you today, you may be thinking that my crazy pregnancy taste buds have completely taken over!

And maybe that's where this all started...

But I assure you, non-pregnant people have enjoyed this bread probably more than I have.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy this bread. But my poor mother seemed to be awfully obsessed with the stuff. She talked about it for days.

The bread is moist and sweet with the perfect amount of banana flavor. But the smoky, salty flavor of the bacon is a welcome surprise.

Honestly, I'm not crazy!

Well...maybe that's going a little far.

But it's not crazy taste buds!

If you are skeptical, I suggest you try this. I'll bet you will be a convert within 2 bites.

Let's get baking!

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Cream together the butter and sugar.

Add in the banana, milk, sour cream and egg whites. Mix until well combined.

Mix in the maple syrup.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Stir in the bacon pieces.

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake about an hour.

The cooling time depends on your will power here. But slice it up when it's cool enough, serve and enjoy!!


Maple Brown Sugar Bacon Banana BreadHeavily Adapted From Cooking Light 

Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 4 slices maple bacon, cooked, cooled and roughly chopped

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan with baking spray.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda; set aside.
3. Cream together butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
4. Add banana, sour cream, egg, and milk to butter and sugar mixture, mix until well blended.
5. Stir in maple syrup.
6. Add flour mixture to banana mixture, blend until fully combined.
7. Stir in the bacon pieces.
8. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
9. Bake about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
10. Cool on wire rack in pan 10-15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on cooling rack.
11. Slice, serve and enjoy! 

Bananas Foster Bread

I have a question for you...

Do you have a favorite grocery store??

Yes? Awesome!

Next question...

Can you access said favorite grocery store??

Yes?? Lucky!

See...my favorite grocery store of all time is Wegman's. Wegman's is pretty much THE best grocery store EVER! I love it so!

But I've only ever seen Wegman's in the Northeast part of the country.

I miss Wegman's. Like...A LOT!

Sadly, since I currently live in the middle of nowhere. The "grocery store" I go to is....

Wally World!

Are you jealous??

No? No worries...I wouldn't be either.

Anyway. I have a point...really.

Since I go to Wally World pretty regularly I am constantly stopping by the magazine section. It's in between the door I come in and the place that I start in the store. I always go to the furthest end of the store and work my way back.

I am always on the lookout for new cooking magazines to catch my eye. I also always look for the new Food Network and Cooking Light magazines each month. Please don't ask me why I don't just get subscriptions because you will be disappointed with my answer.

So...at the beginning of this month I stopped by the magazine section and I saw the new Cooking Light. This issue was full of banana bread options. Yes!!

As I was walking away making a mental list of what I needed to get to make the banana breads in this magazine, I had to turn back because I realized I needed to get a copy for my buddy Ingrid. Ingrid loves bananas.

No. Seriously. She LOVES bananas. I think she would probably marry them if she could.

So I sent her this magazine and told her how much I wanted to make this bread! She quickly found the recipe and agreed. So we both made it.

I made mine to take to a friend Lori's house for her last dinner here. She was moving the next day and was having a "clean out my freezer" dinner party. Of course I had to take dessert. And I knew JUST the dessert to take!

The bread was moist...oh so moist. The taste of the Cognac was subtle but definitely gave this bread an added oompf. Is that a word? Hmmm....well it is now.

I ate 2 pieces of this bread in the same amount of time. It was really good. I will definitely be making this bread again.

Now, don't forget to head over to Ingrid's place and see what she thought of this bread. But let me show you how to make it first! Then you can go.

Let's bake!

Grab your ingredients: all purpose flour (I use unbleached), dark brown sugar, salt, ground cinnamon, unsalted butter, eggs, flaxseed meal, baking soda, ground allspice, Cognac, bananas (not pictured here...oops!) and powdered sugar.

Toss your mashed bananas, 5 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 3 tablespoons in a medium saucepan.

Cook the mixture until the butter melts and it all becomes bubbly. Remove it from the heat so it can cool.

While the banana mixture is cooling you can go ahead and get your dry ingredients ready. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, flaxseed meal, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice. Set aside.

By now the banana mixture should be pretty cool. Go ahead and pour that mixture into a mixing bowl. Add in the yogurt, the rest of the brown sugar and the eggs. Mix it all together well.

Now add in the flour mixture...

And mix until just combined.

Now...pour the batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.

And bake it up for about an hour. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack.

While the bread is cooling we will make the glaze. Toss the remaining 1 tablespoon butter with the remaining 1 tablespoon of Cognac into a small saucepan. Allow the butter to melt and the Cognac to cook for about 30 seconds.

Remove from heat and add in the powdered sugar.

You do not have to do this in a saucepan. Little Butt was going to enjoy this bread with us so I wanted to cook off the alcohol. Instead you can just melt the butter then add the Cognac and powdered sugar and mix well.

Drizzle the glaze over the warm bread.

Allow the bread to cool and the glaze to set. Slice. Serve. Enjoy!!

Okay. Now you can go check out how Ingrid liked this bread!

Bananas Foster Bread
Slightly adapted from Cooking Light

Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (I used 3 bananas)
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar, divided
• 6 Tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/4 cup Cognac or dark rum, divided
• 1/3 cup plain fat free yogurt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached)
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine banana, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 5 tablespoons butter and 3 tablespoons Cognac in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat to cool.
3. Whisk together flour, flaxseed, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice. Set aside.
4. Pour cooled banana mixture into large mixing bowl. Add yogurt, remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar and eggs. Beat on medium speed until well combined.
5. Add dry ingredients to banana mixture. Beat until just combined. 
6. Pour batter into greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. 
7. Bake 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.
8. Cool in pan 10 minutes then transfer to cooling rack.
9. Make glaze. Place remaining tablespoon of butter and tablespoon of Cognac in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar. Mix until sugar dissolves.
10. Drizzle glaze over warm bread.
11. Allow bread to cool and glaze to set. Slice. Serve. Enjoy!!