Mini Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Posted on February 8, 2014 by biscuitsncrazy

I felt like baking today and the two brown bananas sitting on my counter prompted me to create these little gems. These cupcakes were another ode to the good ole peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich of my childhood. I opted for mini cupcakes, mainly because I saw some cute little mini cupcake cups at Publix (and bought them, of course). To be honest, I’ve never made mini cupcakes, and thought it would be fun to do something different. Turns out, these cupcakes work perfectly in the mini variety. I know this because I had extra batter (after making 48 little guys) and made 6 standard sized cupcakes. I tried them both, and I think it’s because the little ones provide the perfect ratio of cake to frosting (and you can eat them in one or two bites), that they actually tasted better. The frosting is reminiscent of Reese’s peanut butter cup filling (can you say amazing!) and the light banana flavored cake provides a nice contrast to that richness. Brogan scarfed down 6 of these things, which I’m certain contributed to his extra-crazy demeanor all day. You’d think I’d know better, but nope, I just keep on baking.

Mini Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Banana Cupcakes
2 really ripe bananas
1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk

Peanut Butter Frosting
1 stick of butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used all natural, unsweetened)
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 box powdered sugar
3 tbsp half and half (or more to reach desired consistency)

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tins. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2.) In an electric mixer, combine bananas and butter. Add sugar, vanilla, eggs and sour cream and beat until well combined.
3.) Set mixer to lowest setting and slowly add flour mixture and buttermilk. Do not over beat.
4.) Using a large table spoon, spoon the batter into the cupcake cups until they are about 2/3 – 3/4 full.
5.) Bake for 13 to 14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Yields 60 mini cupcakes.

For the frosting…
1.) In an electric mixer, beat butter, peanut butter, honey and vanilla until well combined.
2.) Slowly add powdered sugar. Frosting will be very thick. Add the half and half to thin it out, using more if needed.
3.) Add to a pastry bag (or ziploc gallon size bag with the corner cut out) to pipe frosting on cooled cupcakes. Start by piping the frosting around the outer perimeter of the cupcake, working your way toward the middle.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

Posted on January 4, 2014 by biscuitsncrazy

I decided to take my new mini-loaf pan for a spin this morning with a new recipe. The three browning bananas on my counter have been calling my name but I thought I’d go for something other than your standard banana bread. And as I was thinking about bananas, old memories of peanut butter, banana and honey sandwiches came to me, and so that was my inspiration for this bread. I added chocolate chips, because well, I like chocolate, so why not?

The bread turned out really good. It’s moist, it’s heavy, and rich, and the peanut butter makes it stick to the roof of your mouth. My little taste-testers (Brogan and Beckett) also approved.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

3 (really) ripe bananas
1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips

1.) In an electric stand mixer on the lowest setting, add bananas, butter, brown sugar and peanut butter and beat until smooth. Then add egg, vanilla, honey and buttermilk.
2.) In a medium size bowl, combine oatmeal, flour, baking soda and salt. Mix together and then slowly pour into the liquid mixture. Beat until fully incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.
3.) Pour into 8 buttered mini loaf pans or 1 standard loaf pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven; about 30 minutes for the mini loaf pans and about 1 hour for the standard. Insert a toothpick in the center of the bread to test if it’s done.

To butter the pans, I placed a little bit of softened butter in each loaf pan and then rubbed it around with a paper towel. The loaves slid out very easily.

My little photo shoot helpers… can you tell they were ready to eat?

Maple Peanut Butter Cookies

Posted on September 8, 2013 by biscuitsncrazy

Brogan and I decided to make some cookies this morning so I thought we’d try out a peanut butter cookie recipe from Pinterest. The recipe was for Honey-Peanut Butter Cookies, but I was low on honey. I decided to improvise and go with my go-to sweetener, maple syrup. So I subbed butter in place of shortening and maple syrup in place of honey and these cookies were delish! The maple really adds something great to the flavor, however it’s very subtle.

Maple Peanut Butter Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar, placed in shallow bowl (for rolling dough balls)

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.) In a bowl, combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3.) In a stand mixer, cream butter, maple and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add in eggs and vanilla, beating on medium speed until well combined.
4.) With the speed on low, add in dry ingredients about a cup at a time until flour is fully incorporated.
5.) Scoop about 2 tbsp of dough and roll it in your hand to create a ball. Roll the balls in the sugar and place on a stone or baking sheet about 3 inches apart from each other. With a fork, make two perpendicular imprints on each ball. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

I had to cook these in batches and on my first batch I made the cookies too big. I ended up cooking them for about 15 minutes and they still turned out really chewy. They were good, but I prefer my peanut butter cookies on the crispier side, so on the next batch I made the balls smaller, cooked them for 13 minutes, and they were perfect. This recipe will yield about 50 cookies.

Adapted from My Baking Addiction’s Honey-Peanut Butter Cookies.