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    Home / Desserts / Cakes & Cupcakes
    3 from 1 review

    Double Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

    By Alanna Taylor-Tobin on Feb 3, 2010 (updated Feb 6, 2025) / 14 Comments Jump to Recipe

    chocolate banana cupcakes on a wire rack
    'Why don't you weigh five thousand pounds?!' people often ask me when they find out that I bake. (The secret: that IS how much I weigh; I just have really brilliant underwear.)

    close up of banana
    Just kidding about the underwear (...or AM I?) My secret is simple. I give a lot away - baked goods, of course not underwear (...or DO I?) Being partially bojon, I can't exactly fob off sweets on an office full of bored/gluttonous co-workers. So I bring treats to the people I'm closest to. You're probably thinking I mean my 'friends.' But the sad truth is, most of my friends don't want to be faced with what my art generally contains. And the rapport is too honest for them to politely accept, then chuck the goods surreptitiously in the dumpster on their way home in an act of supreme self-restraint.

    close up of cocoa powder
    They just say no.

    close up baking tray
    So I bring treats to people with whom I have a semi-formal relationship; that perfect space often created by the mutual exchange of goods and services, where said person can be certain I'm not a homicidal sociopath attempting to poison them, but knows that it would be rude and awkward to said relationship to refuse. My dance and yoga teachers. My lovely dentist. My acupuncturist. And I'm working up a little something to bring to my gyno next monday. (Oh dear, that sounded dreadfully wrong.)

    cupcakes before baking
    Thus I often must consider portability when planning a baking session. Cookies, bars, muffins, scones and tea cakes always pack easily, in baggies, foil or an old yogurt container. Layer cakes, cupcakes, pies and tarts take a bit more finessing, often requiring a bulky box or tupperware which must be held upright lest the icing or filling end up in a state of gooey disarray.

    cupcake in baking tray
    So I wanted to make cupcakes yesterday. Double Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, to be precise. But I also wanted to bring them to my acupuncturist and couldn't wrap my head around how to do it, but I thought, 'Sod it,' (been watching a lot of British comedy lately) 'I'll just make them and see what happens.' And then I did a silly thing: I tried to make cream cheese frosting using Sierra Nevada cream cheese.

    Sierra Nevada makes local, organic cheese sans stabilizers, which makes it the best tasting cream cheese this side of the, er, Sierras (or is the Nevadas?) but frosting, not so much. I should have known better. We tried many times at Petite Patisserie and it always ended in tears. Not people tears, but the tears of broken and weeping (not to mention lumpy) frosting.

    cupcakes on a wire rack
    So I decided to hide it. Not in the trash, or my mouth à la Lucille Ball, or the fridge for Jay to find on a cleaning binge upon which he looks at me wearily and shakes his head. No.

    frosting being piped into cupcake
    I hid it in the cupcakes.

    top down shot of cupcake with frosting
    Shhhh!

    cupcake broken in half to see filling
    I just shoved in the tip of a piping bag, squoze until the cake was on the verge of exploding into a dozen crumbly shards, and capped it with a handy nickle-sized chocolate wafer.

    a stack of chocolate cupcakes
    Hopefully the acupuncturist has found the frosting by now, and has stopped wondering why I stingily brought him ugly chocolate muffins. Or perhaps he has fallen victim to the self-denying, chocolate-free, weight obsessed among us, and got rid of them. If so, he will have missed the way the barely sweetened, buttery crumb of the cakes mingles with the salty tang of the frosting, urging forth the subtle, warm flavor of ripe banana and converging into an explosion of homey flavors on the tongue.

    side shot of cupcake
    Pity.

    For the remainder of the cakes, condemned to coalesce with my copious corpulence, I just piped the frosting on top, disguising the lumpish cream with a veneer of cocoa powder, distracting with a jaunty chocolate disc. You get more on, that way - frosting, not corpulence.

    overhead shot of chocolate banana cupcake
    Well, that too.

    Anyone fancy a cupcake?

    close up of chocolate cupcake

    More Banana Recipes:

    • Gluten-Free Banana Muffins with Buckwheat and Chocolate
    • Vegan Paleo Banana Bread with Chocolate
    • Boozy Banana Butterscotch Ice Cream
    • Chocolate Bourbon Banana Cream Tart
    • Banana Rum Upside-Down Cakelets
    • Gluten-Free Banana Cake with Chocolate Ganache

    More Cake Recipes:

    • Smoked Porter Chocolate Cake
    • Gluten Free Chocolate Bundt Cake
    • Chocolate Chestnut Cream Cake with Coffee + Rum {gluten-free}
    • One-Bowl Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting {gluten-free, vegan option}
    • Lemon-Lavender Pound Cakelets, and Goats!

    *Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram,  Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my gluten-free cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this double chocolate banana cupcake recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet  and  #bojongourmet.*

    3 from 1 review

    Double Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    These chocolate cupcakes are bursting with flavor!
    Alanna Taylor-Tobin
    Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 18 minutes minutes
    Total: 38 minutes minutes
    Servings: 16 to 18 cupcakes.

    Ingredients

    Double Chocolate Banana Cupcakes

    • 4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 stick, 1/2 cup)
    • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
    • 1 egg
    • 3/4 cup mashed, ripe bananas (about 2 medium)
    • 1/4 cup sour cream
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 cup all purpose flour
    • 1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used dutch-processed, but natural should work in a pinch)
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate

    Vanilla-Flecked Cream Cheese Frosting (Makes about 1 1/2 cups)

    • 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
    • 4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 stick, 1/2 cup)
    • 1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped (or sub 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
    • 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
    • big pinch salt
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    Double Chocolate Banana Cupcakes

    • Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350º. Line 18 standard muffin tins with papers.
    • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (or by hand) cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes on medium. Add the egg and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. (The mixture may look broken. That's ok.)
    • Meanwhile, combine the banana, sour cream and vanilla in a separate bowl or measuring cup. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl.
    • With the mixer on low, add the dries in three additions alternating with the wets, beginning and ending with the dries, mixing until just combined after each addition. Stir in the chocolate chunks. Give the batter a final fold with a rubber spatula to make sure it's all homogenous.
    • Divide the batter among the lined cups. (I like to use a spring loaded ice cream scoop, the one with the red handle.) The batter should mound just to the top of the mold.
    • (Alternately, you can bake this in a 9" round cake pan; adjust the baking time accordingly. Double the frosting for a frosted layer cake.)
    • Bake the cakes about 15-18 minutes, until the tops spring back when touched. Let cool completely. Top with cream cheese frosting, below, a sprinkle of cocoa and a chunk of chocolate. Or pipe the frosting into the center of the cakes for a more portable option, and stop up the hole with a piece of chocolate.
    • Store the cakes in the fridge if holding for more than a few hours, but serve at room temperature for the best flavor and texture.

    Vanilla-Flecked Cream Cheese Frosting

    • Beat the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle until smooth. Add the vanilla seeds, sugar, and salt, and beat until fluffy and light, 2-3 minutes.

    Notes

    Adapted from Not Without Salt.
    Nutritional values are based on one of 16 cupcakes.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 326kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 3gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 164mgPotassium: 240mgFiber: 2gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 600IUVitamin C: 1.3mgCalcium: 60mgIron: 1.7mg
    Making this? I'd love to see!Tag your snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet!

    Double Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

    Adapted from Not Without Salt

    Makes 16 - 18 cupcakes

    4 ounces (1 stick, 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
    3/4 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
    1 egg
    3/4 cup mashed, ripe bananas (about 2 medium)
    1/4 cup sour cream
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1 cup all purpose flour
    1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used dutch-processed, but natural should work in a pinch)
    1 1/2 teaspoons baking bowder
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate

    Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350º. Line 18 standard muffin tins with papers.

    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (or by hand) cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes on medium. Add the egg and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. (The mixture may look broken. That's ok.)

    Meanwhile, combine the banana, sour cream and vanilla in a separate bowl or measuring cup. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl.

    With the mixer on low, add the dries in three additions alternating with the wets, beginning and ending with the dries, mixing until just combined after each addition. Stir in the chocolate chunks. Give the batter a final fold with a rubber spatula to make sure it's all homogenous.

    Divide the batter among the lined cups. (I like to use a spring loaded ice cream scoop, the one with the red handle.) The batter should mound just to the top of the mold.

    (Alternately, you can bake this in a 9" round cake pan; adjust the baking time accordingly. Double the frosting for a frosted layer cake.)

    Bake the cakes about 15-18 minutes, until the tops spring back when touched. Let cool completely. Top with cream cheese frosting, below, a sprinkle of cocoa and a chunk of chocolate. Or pipe the frosting into the center of the cakes for a more portable option, and stop up the hole with a piece of chocolate.

    Store the cakes in the fridge if holding for more than a few hours, but serve at room temperature for the best flavor and texture.

    Vanilla-Flecked Cream Cheese Frosting

    Makes about 1 1/2 cups

    8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
    4 ounces (1 stick, 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
    1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped (or sub 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
    1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
    big pinch salt

    Beat the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle until smooth. Add the vanilla seeds, sugar, and salt, and beat until fluffy and light, 2-3 minutes.

    chocolate cupcake with bite taken out

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    Hungry for more?

    Alternative Baker celebrates the unique tastes and textures of 14 gluten-free flours, from buckwheat flour to almond flour to sorghum and coconut! This cookbook will fill your kitchen with sweet treats that burst with flavor every month of the year.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      3 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

      Leave a Comment & Rate this Recipe Cancel reply

      I love reading your comments, reviews, and questions! If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider giving it a star rating when you post a comment. These help people discover my recipes online. Thank you for your support and for being part of The Bojon Gourmet community!

      xo, Alanna

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      Rate this recipe after you've made it:




    1. Molly says

      March 11, 2010 at 2:03 am

      YUM! I never accepted treats from you out of politeness. I am not that polite. And I LOVE your treats. PLEASE write a BOOK!

      Reply
    2. alanna says

      March 17, 2010 at 5:13 am

      Ha ha, I'm very glad to hear that! And yes, ma'am, one book coming right up. ;)

      Reply
    3. Anonymous says

      April 08, 2011 at 1:24 am

      I tried making these in mini cupcake form - emphasis on the tried. They all collapsed and basically never cooked with a loooong time in the oven. I added more baking powder, more flour, adjusted the oven temp and really didn't have much success. Did you really only use 1 cup of flour?

      Reply
    4. alanna says

      April 08, 2011 at 1:54 am

      I'm so sorry you're having problems with this recipe. I re-checked my notes, which confirm that I did only use 1 cup of flour (the original recipe was for non-chocolate banana cupcakes, and called for 1 1/2 cups of flour; I subbed out 1/2 cup and added 1/2 cup cocoa powder in its place.)

      Were your bananas very ripe (like black?) That could possibly contribute to excess moisture. Did you use dutch-process or natural cocoa powder? Sometimes they can absorb moisture differently. Did you use all-purpose flour?

      Do you mean that you made a second batch using more flour, baking powder and adjusting the oven temp, or made those changes right off the bat?

      If I get a chance, I'll make these again in the next couple of weeks so that I can tell you for sure whether the recipe works for me or not.

      And again, I'm really sorry - it totally sucks when all that anticipation, work, and money go to waste. : (

      Reply
    5. alanna says

      April 14, 2011 at 9:27 pm

      So, I made these cupcakes again last night, and they turned out exactly as above. They baked in about 20 minutes. I used dutch-processed cocoa again, and everything else was exactly the same (but I used a different cream cheese, and thus avoided lumpy icing this time!).

      Cheers,
      Alanna

      Reply
    6. Michelle says

      September 18, 2017 at 2:18 am

      Just for the record, these worked excellently for me too -- though I skipped the icing, so can't vouch for that. Wonderful recipe โ€“ and a perfect use for the various half-eaten bananas my kid left in the fridge. I actually used a splash of almond milk in place of the egg, and that worked just fine. With thanks, from a quiet but devoted follower of your work :)

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        September 20, 2017 at 1:17 pm

        Aw, yay! Thanks so much for chiming in - it means so much to me. :)

        Reply
    7. Katherine says

      October 13, 2020 at 7:58 am

      Have not made these... got some overripe bananas. But your commentary was hilarious and definitely Brit oriented :)

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        October 18, 2020 at 9:38 pm

        Aw glad you enjoyed, hehe! Pease let me know if you try this recipe. I've been meaning to make a GF version of the same because the formula is a good one!

        Reply
    8. Lena says

      October 23, 2020 at 2:56 pm

      Hello do you happen to have a gf version of this recipe? It looks delicious!

      Reply
      • Alanna says

        October 25, 2020 at 9:49 am

        Hi Lena! I don't, but I think it would be pretty easy to make it gluten-free! I would try 1/3 cup sweet rice flour, 1/3 cup oat flour, and 1/3 cup teff flour if you have some (buckwheat flour would taste lovely too!) You might add 1 tablespoon tapioca flour as well. Or you could try a good AP blend such as Bob's 1 to 1. You might also like these GF banana muffins. Please let me know what you try!

        Reply
        • Lena says

          October 25, 2020 at 11:58 am

          Hi Alanna, I will try it with the substitutions! Thank you for your reply. How would you use the buckwheat flour? I have all of the flours you mentioned as I bake your recipes often. I just baked the gf banana cake which I've made many times always with chocolate ganache...this time I made the cream cheese frosting and butterscotch sauce ๐Ÿ˜‹ we love them both.

          Reply
          • Alanna says

            October 26, 2020 at 6:49 pm

            I'm so glad you love the banana cake! I'm a huge fan of that recipe too.

            I think you could try 1/3 cup each sweet rice, oat, and buckwheat flours in place of the AP flour. And then if they're crumbly at all, you could try adding or swapping in a tablespoon or two of tapioca flour next time. Please let me know if you try it! :)

            Reply
    9. Lena says

      October 26, 2020 at 7:30 pm

      I will let you know, thanks for the info and all the great recipes๐Ÿ˜Š

      Reply

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