These peanut butter banana cupcakes start with moist banana cupcakes that have a delicious banana bread flavor and soft cupcake crumb. Then they’re topped with peanut butter frosting for the perfect peanut butter banana combo.
Do you love peanut butter and banana? I love the combo of the sweet, mellow banana flavor, and saltiness of the peanut butter. Well these peanut butter banana cupcakes have all of that delicious flavor combo in perfect cupcake form.
And if you love peanut butter and banana on toast or eating a banana alongside your tub of peanut butter – then these are for you. Let’s face it, if you like cupcakes with fluffy, creamy frosting – then these banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting are also for you.
Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe
Ok – let’s talk cupcake specifics.
The banana cupcakes are moist with a soft, fluffy crumb for a few main reasons:
- We’re starting with oil to keep them extra soft
- 2 eggs for tenderness
- Mashed bananas keep them moist (along with the delicious flavor)
- Adding a little milk makes them less dense.
Then they’re filled with delicious banana bread flavor because we’re using very ripe bananas, vanilla extract and a touch of cinnamon.
What if I don’t have brown bananas? If you’re dying to make these cupcakes (or any recipe that calls for brown bananas) and your bananas are yellow or green, place the bananas with the peel still on on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 325F for 25-30 minutes. This will turn them brown so they’re ready to use. 
Then the peanut butter frosting. Talk about deliciousness. It’s salty, sweet, fluffy, creamy and just plain off the charts delicious. Plus – you only need 4 ingredients:
- Butter
- Peanut butter
- Powdered sugar
- And a little milk or cream
So it’s clearly a winner.
I frosted my cupcakes using a star tip and piping bag. I find you get a higher frosting to cupcake ratio using a piping bag – so I definitely like opting for the piping bag. But feel free to use a knife instead. Then you can top with a banana chip or even some chopped peanuts.
So if you love the combo of peanut butter and bananas, or if you’re looking for a super moist cupcake recipe – then I definitely recommend these peanut butter banana cupcakes.
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup oil , vegetable or canola
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup milk
- 3/4 cup mashed bananas , about 2-3 very brown bananas
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1/2 cup peanut butter , not natural
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tbsp milk or cream
Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and line muffin pan with papers.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
In a large bowl beat together the oil, sugars, eggs and vanilla extract.
Beat in the milk, then the flour mixture with the mixer on low speed.
Fold in the mashed bananas.
Spoon the mixture into the lined muffin pan - filled each about 2/3 to 3/4 full.
Bake for 15-18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
With an electric mixer beat the butter until soft. Then mix in the peanut butter.
Beat in the powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time until the desired sweetness is reached.
Beat in the milk/cream 1 tablespoon at a time.
Frost the cupcakes with a knife or piping bag and tip (I used a 1M star tip).
*Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
**Unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen and thawed in the fridge overnight.
Yum, these were excellent. I loved the peanut butter frosting. I added mini chips to the cupcakes and topped with half a Reese’s cup. So good and my neighbors kids loved them!