These Banana Cupcakes are my Grandpa’s recipe. Fluffy cupcakes are a fun and tasty handheld version of banana cake! Made from scratch, you’ll be buying extra bananas to make sure you have enough to make these (and of course banana bread & banana bars too)!
These cupcakes are a piece of my childhood… something we always had at Grandma and Grandpa’s! They actually started as a banana cake and are delicious topped with a fresh lemon buttercream frosting!
To Make Banana Cupcakes
Banana cupcakes are perfect for a family dessert, or a classroom or team party! The riper the bananas, the smoother your cupcakes will be and the sweeter banana flavor they will have. Remember to very gently fold in the beaten egg whites for the fluffiest results!
- Preheat the oven and prepare cupcake or muffin tins with pan release or paper cupcake liners.
- Beat egg whites on high until stiff peaks form, this gives the fluffiest ever cupcakes.
3. Cream together the butter, sugar, yolks, and milk. Add remaining ingredients (per recipe below) and of course mashed bananas.
4. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites until fully incorporated and scoop into prepared muffin or cupcake tins.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Before decorating allow to completely cool.
My Favorite Frosting for Banana Cupcakes
I love the flavor combination of banana and a rich Chocolate Buttercream Frosting! But these banana bread cupcakes are so moist, they’re great without or with frosting!
For banana cream cupcakes, cut each cupcake in half and spread cream cheese frosting between them! All the deliciousness of frosting, without any of the mess!
How Long Do They Stay Fresh?
Banana cupcakes will keep in a zippered bag or an airtight container for about a week.
They freeze great, place in a freezer bag and they’ll keep a few months!
More Cupcakes & Muffins
- cream cheese frosting – amazing flavor & texture
- Banana Nut Crunch Muffins – incredibly moist & soft!
- Pumpkin Cupcakes – all the tastes of fall
- Blueberry Bran Muffins – hearty, wholesome & delicious!
- Easy Banana Bran Muffins – full of flavor!
Ingredients
- ¾ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup milk just shy of ¼ cup
- 2 eggs yolks separated
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 bananas ripe, mashed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Add lemon juice to bottom of measuring cup. Add enough milk* to make ¼ cup (of lemon juice and milk) and set aside.
- Beat egg whites on high until stiff peaks form and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar with mixer.
- Add in yolks and milk mixture.
- Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt. Slowly add to butter mixture.
- Stir in bananas. Then gently fold in egg white mixture.
- Pour muffin mixture into lined (or greased) muffin tin.
- Bake for 17-20 min or until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Can this recipe be used to make minis? And what would you say the bake time would change to?
Hi Li, that’s a great idea. For mini cupcakes, I usually bake them for 8-10 minutes and check with a toothpick inserted into the center to see if they are done and adjust the baking time accordingly. Hope that helps!
Can you provide a more precise measurement of 3 bananas? Bananas vary widely in size (small vs very large) and it would be more helpful to indicate “x cups mashed banana”, or even a gram weight, in the recipe. Thank you!
Hi Mary, it is approximately 1 cup of mashed bananas.
I’m confused on what frosting is showed abd used in the photo…. It’s clearly not a chocolate… is there a recipe for that
We love this cream cheese frosting, Jen!
What kind of flour(All-purpose, White or Cake) was used?
Hi Kem, for this recipe we use all purpose flour.
Just made these and they are delicious straight out of the oven. Perfect texture. I’m making them into bananas foster cupcakes. Thanks for sharing your grandpa’s recipe.
That sounds amazing Pamela! You’re welcome ❤️ We love making and sharing them.
Hi, could I ask what egg size you use ?
Thank you
I use large eggs. Enjoy the cupcakes Ruth!
These were a hit. I brought them to church to celebrate my daughters’ baptisms. Thank you.
Excellent. Light and fluffy as guaranteed.
Will use this recipe again! Loved the flavor and texture! I only had 2 1/2 ripe bananas though and knew I should replace that other missing half so I added two heaping teaspoons of applesauce and it was wonderful. The applesauce added the extra moisture but didn’t seem to affect the flavor at all. It’s a keeper!
Love this recipe!
Hi Holly. Can you use buttermilk rather than milk/lemon juice? Or is these a reason to use lemon juice method ? Thx. Doreen
Yes, that will definitely work Doreen.
This is the best recipe I have ever used.
These are excellent! I have been searching for a banana cupcake/cake whose flavour and texture has been in my mind since childhood, and I’ve finally found it! Light, fluffy and tastes like banana. The only thing I added was 1 teaspoon of banana extract. Maybe next time I’ll try a bit of banana liqueur. Thanks to you and your grandpa! Now I can toss away all the other recipe attempt from my cookbook binder.
Surprisingly, these muffins had a significant baking soda taste. Would reduce the amount next time. In spite of there being 3 bananas(i doubled it, so 6 bananas) these muffins don’t actually taste like banana muffins. The flavor is quite bland. Not sure if I did something wrong?
I will say that normally I love all “spend w pennies” recipes and have great success with them. Maybe this just needs a Grandpa’s love to make it good.
I’m definitely surprised to hear that JB, as we have made these literally dozens and dozens of times over the years and haven’t found that they taste like baking soda. Did you use a combination of baking soda and baking powder as included in the ingredients? One note is that they are cupcakes (not muffins), and they have a lovely delicate flavor and texture, different than a muffin.
easy recipe and tastes amazing
Hi Holly
Your banana muffins sound delicious. Please can you advise if I can substitute the egg whites with something else.
Thank you
Ooi-Chin
I have only tried this recipe as written so I can’t say for sure. Let us know how it goes if you try it with something else.
This recipe is absolutely delicious! And super easy. I took them out of the oven at 17 min and they were moist and springy.
Your banana muffin recipe was incredible! Thankyou ! The beaten egg whites must the secret? The order in which these were incorporated made these muffins very fluffy,
Cheryl Fraser
Dartmouth Nova Scotia
So happy you enjoyed it Cheryl!
Hi- can you substitute white sugar for brown sugar in this recipe?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Inny. It should work just fine, but will slightly change the flavor. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
These cupcakes are outrageously delicious! They came out looking exactly like the picture! They’re the lightest cupcakes we ever ate! Will definitely be making many times in the future!
How would you adjust this for a 9×13″ cake? Double it? Turned out great.
Hi Joshua, we haven’t tried this recipe in a 9×13 but doubling the batter should work. You will want to cook it longer checking the center with a toothpick to ensure it is fully cooked.