Vivian's Banana Cupcakes

Vivian's many birthday celebrations earlier this month included a party at her preschool. For this party, I decided to make home-made cupcakes since I figured it would be easier for the preschool teachers to deal with.

I found this recipe and it was a HUGE hit! I tripled the recipe to cover teachers, kids and a few for home.

And since Vivian LOVES "banas" it made perfect sense to me. I added sprinkles of yellow sugar on top just like the picture.

Yum!

Banana Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients
Banana Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup mashed very ripe bananas

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/3 cup finely chopped pecans (I didn't add this due to possible nut allergies)

Frosting:

4 ounces cream cheese softened

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

2. To prepare cupcakes, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl.

3. Beat butter with a mixer until smooth, about 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar and beat until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla and bananas. Stir in half the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula; add yogurt. Mix in remaining dry ingredients, stirring only until batter is smooth. Stir in pecans. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups but don’t bother to smooth the tops.

4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until cupcakes are golden brown and spring back when pressed in the center. Cool in the pan 5 minutes, then remove and cool on a wire rack.

5. To prepare frosting, beat cream cheese and butter with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in extracts and lemon rind. On low speed, gradually beat in powdered sugar only until frosting is smooth and thick. Frost each cupcake.

Refrigerate about 1 hour to set the frosting. Bring to room temperature before serving. Leftovers keep well, covered in the refrigerator, for 2 to 3 days. Serves 12.