Banana Cupcakes and Spring

Good morning Chardheads. I don't want to jinx anything, but I think spring may have finally sprung in the Northeast. My amaryllis sure thinks so.

A closer look

Friday was Erik's birthday so after pestering him incessantly he finally relented and agreed to let me make banana cupcakes to celebrate. I have made this recipe a dozen or more times. It is my go to "crap I need to bake a treat for something and have nothing in my house but oh god they are so good" recipe. The extra good part about this recipe is that it does not use eggs so you can lick the bowl with reckless abandon.

Banana Cupcakes/Muffins
Makes 12 cupcakes


1/2 cup very ripe banana
3/4 cup AP flour
1/2 cup whole wheat (or white whole wheat) flour
1/4 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
2/3 cup "milk" (soy, almond, mammal)
2 t vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In your food processor/blender/magic bullet blend the banana well until there are no chunks. In a large bowl combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a separate small bowl whisk together banana, oil, milk, vanilla, and almond. Create a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in mixing slowly. Try not to over mix. Pour batter into cupcake liners and bake for 20-22 minutes.

Right out of the oven. If you look at the column on the left you can see I am not great at distributing the batter evenly

If you want to eat them plain they are more like a muffin and can therefore technically be eaten for breakfast!

Since I was baking for celebratory purposes I made peanut butter frosting to go with them. Is there anything better than banana and peanut butter? I used this recipe from allrecipes and it worked just fine.

The finished product

Oh hello

After my baking frenzy I had a workout followed by a green smoothie.

In the mix: Kale, water, plain non-fat yogurt, pineapple, and banana. Pow - energy straight to my core!

What was your best birthday cake/treat ever?