1¼cupsmashed ripe bananas2 to 3 large bananas (328g)
½cupwhole buttermilkroom temperature (120mL)
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
8ouncescream cheese(226g)
½cupunsalted buttersoftened (113g)
¼teaspoonground cinnamon
⅛teaspoonsalt
3cupspowdered sugar(360g)
1teaspoonvanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cupcakes:
Position two oven racks towards the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with 18 paper cupcake liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and sour cream until well combined. Beat in banana. Stop and scrape down the bowl as needed.
With the mixer on low, add in the flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk just until combined. (Be careful not to over mix the batter!) Fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 of the way full with the batter.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the pans and swapping oven positions halfway through, or until a wooden pick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.
For the Frosting:
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, butter, cinnamon, and salt on medium speed until smooth and well combined.
With the mixer on low speed, gradually mix in the powdered sugar and until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stop and scrape down the bowl several times while mixing to make sure there aren’t any lumps of cream cheese and butter.
Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip and the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. Garnish with banana chips, if desired. Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Video
Notes
If you only have one muffin pan, you can bake the cupcakes in batches. Just let the first batch cool for a few minutes in the pan, then transfer them to a wire rack. Line again and bake as instructed.
Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake that will yield dry and dense cupcakes. The best and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don’t have one, then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
Make sure you let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting, or the frosting will just melt off the top of the cupcakes.
The eggs should be at room temperature to ensure they incorporate into your batter evenly. If you forgot to take your eggs out of the fridge ahead of time, you could quickly bring them to room temperature by placing them in a large bowl and covering them with warm tap water for 5 minutes.
Avoid overmixing as you risk over-developing the gluten in the batter leading to tough banana cupcakes.