These Banana Cupcakes boast seriously sweet banana flavor and a deliciously creamy Cream Cheese Frosting. And they are so easy to bake up (even a day ahead!). They’re perfect for a first birthday—or any special occasion.
Banana Cupcakes
When we celebrated my middle kiddo’s first birthday, I wanted to make her cupcakes that included some of her favorite foods. She loved banana and she loved dairy, so Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting it was!
I also wanted to make them with less sugar than a standard cupcake, so I worked on this recipe for the occasion—and still make them many years later.
The cupcake recipe is packed with real bananas for flavor and moisture. The bananas also provide the majority of the sweetness. You can use either honey or maple syrup for the rest of the sweetness in this banana cupcakes recipe.
You also have the choice of using all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour.
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Easy Banana Cupcakes Recipe
I’m pretty committed to the idea of simple when it comes to entertaining so I did my best to make her first birthday party special—but also easy. I was extra emotional about the milestone so the last thing I wanted was to be stressed out about the food at her party, particularly the cake.
You can bake these banana cupcakes the day before the party and they’ll stay moist and won’t dry out. They’re similar to my Banana Bread Muffins, but are decidedly a little more treat-like.
(You may also like my Banana Cake.)
Ingredients You Need
To make this recipe, you’ll need to have the following ingredients on hand.
- All-purpose flour or whole-wheat pastry flour: You can use either of these options as you prefer.
- Baking powder and baking soda: This combination ensures that the cupcakes rise nicely and bake through to a tender interior.
- Cinnamon and vanilla: I love the flavor of banana, vanilla, and cinnamon, so I use ground cinnamon in this cupcake recipe.
- Unsalted butter: This adds richness to the cupcakes. Melt it and let it cool slightly first before adding it to the rest of the wet ingredients.
- Maple syrup OR honey: Either one of these will work. Avoid honey for kids under age 1.
- Very ripe bananas: You’ll want to use bananas with brown spots for the best flavor and natural sweetness here.
- Eggs: I use eggs in this recipe to add tenderness. Feel free to use an egg replacer if you prefer.
- Cream Cheese Frosting: This simple frosting is a perfect flavor and texture combination with this cupcake recipe.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at how to bake up a batch of these banana cupcakes at home. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full recipe.
- Stir together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside. (photo 1)
- Measure out your banana slices. (photo 2)
- Add the wet ingredients to a blender. Blend smooth. You can also use well mashed bananas if you prefer. (photo 3)
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir together gently to make a uniform mixture. (photo 4)
- Evenly divide the batter among the prepared cupcake liners. (photo 5)
- Bake! (photo 6)
TIP: Once the cupcakes are totally cooled, you can pipe or spread on Cream Cheese Frosting and finish with a blueberry, if desired.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here’s the full scoop on adjusting this recipe for food allergies. Make these adjustments and otherwise follow the recipe as written.
To make these gluten-free: Use cup for cup gluten free flour blend in place of the wheat flour.
To make these egg-free: Omit the egg and add ½ cup milk. (Please note that the egg-free version of this is still delicious, but they are denser than when you use eggs.)
To make these dairy-free: Use melted and slightly cooled coconut oil instead of the butter.
Yes, though you’ll want to mash the bananas very, very well with a fork so they are totally smooth and not at all lumpy.
Adding them to a blender with the eggs ensures that they are blended super smooth, it adds air to the batter (which helps them to be light and fluffy), and it avoids any lumps of banana in the final cupcakes—which, in my opinion, makes them taste more like a real cupcake!
Easy Cream Cheese Frosting
To make the cream cheese frosting, you just need a few ingredients. I love the combination of cream cheese and banana cupcakes, and also that the frosting isn’t loaded with powdered sugar.
If you have a dairy-intolerance, you can substitute plain Greek nondairy yogurt for the cream cheese in the frosting. Simply let it sit in a mesh colander lined with cheesecloth for about an hour in the fridge to drain off any excess liquid. Or use a vegan cream cheese.
How to Store
You can make these up to a day ahead. Let cool fully, then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 24 hours.
You can freeze unfrosted cupcakes in a zip top freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.
Best Tips for Success
- Use very ripe bananas with brown spots for the best flavor.
- Use a blender to combine the wet ingredients to ensure that there are no banana lumps in the batter. Or, mash the banana totally smooth with a fork.
- Stir the batter together gently until just combined to avoid overworking it.
- Remove the cupcakes from the pan as soon as you take them out of the oven. Let cool fully on a wire rack before adding icing.
- If you have a dairy-intolerance, you can substitute plain Greek nondairy yogurt for the cream cheese in the frosting. Simply let it sit in a mesh colander lined with cheesecloth for about an hour in the fridge to drain off any excess liquid. Or use vegan cream cheese.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback if you make this recipe so please comment below to share!
Favorite Banana Cupcakes
Ingredients
Banana Cupcakes
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (or whole-wheat pastry flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅓ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (1 stick)
- ⅓ cup maple syrup or honey
- 2 cups sliced very ripe bananas (they should have brown spots for the best flavor)
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese (softened at room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or honey)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- blueberries for decorating, optional
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 12 muffin cups with cupcake liners.
- Add the butter, maple syrup (or honey) banana, eggs, and vanilla to a blender. Blend on high for about 30 seconds or until completely smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir together gently with a spatula until just combined.
- Evenly divide the batter among the prepared cupcake liners with batter. Each will take about ¼ cup of the batter. The cupcake liner will be just over half full.
- Bake 20-22 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleanly. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack and cool fully.
- Pipe or spread on Cream Cheese Frosting and finish with a blueberry, if desired.
To make the frosting:
- Beat together the cream cheese, butter, honey, and vanilla with a hand-held electric mixer.
To frost the cupcakes:
- Pipe or spread the frosting onto cooled cupcakes. Add a blueberry on top of each if desired.
Equipment
Notes
- Gluten-free: Use cup for cup gluten free flour blend in place of the wheat flour.
- Egg-free: Omit the egg and add ½ cup milk.
- Dairy-free: Use melted and slightly cooled coconut oil instead of the butter. Substitute plain Greek nondairy yogurt for the cream cheese in the frosting. Simply let it sit in a mesh colander lined with cheesecloth for about an hour in the fridge to drain off any excess liquid.
- Use very ripe bananas with brown spots for the best flavor.
- Use a blender to combine the wet ingredients to ensure that there are no banana lumps in the batter. Or, mash the banana totally smooth with a fork.
- Stir the batter together gently until just combined to avoid overworking it.
- Remove the cupcakes from the pan as soon as you take them out of the oven. Let cool fully on a wire rack before adding icing.
- You can make these up to a day ahead. Let cool fully, then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 24 hours.
- You can freeze unfrosted cupcakes in a zip top freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.
Nutrition
This recipe was first published May 2017.
Can I use almond flour? If yes, how much should I put?
No, almond flour does not bake the same way as wheat flour so they would likely turn out mushy.
What about oatmeal flour? I made them today, my one year old loved them and I loved them too. So soft and tasty. But, I might have overmixed the cake or something, they felt a little bit heavy on the flour.
My son loves this recipe and we always make it whenever we have extra ripe bananas! Quick question – is it possible to make this recipe using frozen bananas? If so should we do anything to prep the frozen bananas for this recipe? We always have several in the freezer and was curious if they could be used for this recipe.
To use frozen bananas, I’d thaw them and drain off any liquid then make it according to the recipe. Should work the same!
Would these work as mini cupcakes too? I want to make these for my daughter’s second birthday party. It would be easier to feed them mini cupcakes than full-size cupcakes. How would you adjust the cooking time, do you think?
I haven’t made them that way but they should. I would estimate 14-16 minutes of baking time for minis. Enjoy!
I just prepared these using a mini-cupcake pan and it made 24 beautiful cupcakes. Bake time was 15 minutes.
Is maple syrup for baby 11 th month old ? Can I omit maple syrup ? Should I add a bit more flour if I omit maple syrup or Honey? Thanks
If you omit it, add 2 tablespoons of milk. Babies under 1 year of age should not have honey as it’s a risk for infant botulism. Maple syrup does not have the same issue.
Very good recipe! My only critique is it was a tad bit salty. I would probably reduce the salt next time to less than a teaspoon; I’m using coarse kosher salt so maybe it’s just stronger than the average salt. But the cupcakes are still enjoyable; can’t wait to share it with my toddler.
What is the best way to keep these moist overnight if I have to make it in advance? Can the cream cheese sit at room temperature overnight if the cupcakes are pre-frosted?
I would bake the cupcakes, let cool, and store in an airtight container at room temperature. I wouldn’t frost until the day of if possible, though you could make the frosting and stash it in a bag in the fridge until ready to frost. I hope that helps!
Made these for my daughter’s 1st bday. She loves banana so these are perfect! I upped the cinnamon to 1.5tsp and added nutmeg as well. I was also too lazy to use a blender and just let my kitchen aid mash the banana and then added the rest of the wet ingredients followed by the dry. Turned out great!
I’m so glad to hear that and happy birthday to all of you!
Can I make muffins using this recipe?
Sure, just don’t frost them.
Hello, to make these vegan would it work to substitute oat milk for eggs? Thank you!
Yes, that will work similarly
Hi
Need to make an egg free and gluten free version of this. Besides the modifications you have mentioned is there any adjustment required with the quantity of baking soda and/or powder to ensure better results?
Not that I’m aware of—I think that there should be enough baking soda to deliver the expected texture with those modifications you mention. If you’re concerned, you could add an additional 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to the mix.
Any estimation of how much BANANA MASH I should have to proceed with recipe?? Measuring awkward chunks of frozen banana is proving to be very imprecise ….Making these … NOW … for my little’s first birthday!
I would estimate about 1 cup mashed. Happiest birthday!
soo there’s 274,000 cals since there’s 274 kcal right? lmao some hearty cupcakes
The RDA is listed in kcalories, so you don’t have to multiply things. (If you google how this works, you’ll get a much more detailed explanation of it than I can offer—it can be confusing!)
How long do I bake for mini muffins?
Probably about 16-18 minutes.
I didn’t notice anyone mentioning this, which is understandable, since the majority of people don’t deal with allergies regularly. It sounds like what you’re talking about when you say swap yogurt for cream cheese, is lactose intolerance. Yogurt is a dairy product, but you can get kinds that have extremely low levels of lactose, potentially none. For a dairy allergy, you need to avoid milk and milk products entirely. I’m sure the swap is helpful for anyone who is lactose intolerant. For a dairy allergy, though, there are vegan cream cheeses. Daiya, Miyoko’s, Kite Hill, Tofutti, and others, I’m sure. There’s also vegan yogurt, so maybe that would work as well. That said, your site is very cool, often I scroll through and gather neat ideas for myself, even though I’m a childless adult. Everyone deserves fun food. 🙂
Hi—I think you maybe missed that I specified “dairy free” yogurt. Thanks for the comment of course!
First off I would like to say that I loved the recipe! I did a test run this week prior to my daughter’s first birthday and they were delicious. The only thing that went wrong was the cupcakes stuck to the cupcake liners. I’m using by Wilton the Elmo cupcake liners … should I just butter the cupcake pan instead and bake as normal and then once cooled place them in the cupcake liners? This is the first time ever that I am baking!
Hi! I think I would spray the cupcake liners very lightly with nonstick spray. Or yes, you could bake them directly in the pan (be sure it’s greased well) and put them into the liners after the fact. The only thing with going that route is that they may not fit exactly. I hope you have a great time celebrating the big birthday!
What are your recommendations in regards to temperature for baking these cupcakes at high altitude?
Thank you.
I haven’t tried these in those conditions but a site like King Arthur Flour likely has general advice about high altitude baking that might help!
Hi, can I use this recipe for whole cake instead of cupcake? What is the baking time for a whole cake?
I haven’t tested it as a cake, but I think it would work fine. It should make one 9-inch cake and the baking time is likely about the same. I might check it at 18 minutes, but it may take up to 24. Keep an eye on the center of the cake as that would be the last part to cook through.