Chunky Monkey cupcake recipe

My latest cupcake creation brings together my love of chocolate and peanut butter with one of the staple foods in our home, bananas!! We live in a sub tropical climate and have an over abundance of bananas. Some days the harvest is so bountiful that we are all kept quite busy drying the bananas, baking banana bread and cakes, making smoothies and most recently, creating the most deeelicious homemade icy poles.

I read once that Elvis Presley was an enormous fan of banana and peanut butter.  I have come across a few cupcake recipes that pay homage to the king of rock and decided to put my own ingredients into the melting pot to see what I could come up with!

My Chunky Monkey cupcake does not disappoint. I hope you like it. X

Banana & Peanut butter (Chunky Monkey) Cupcake

Makes 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon coffee dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water
1 cup sour cream
1 cup warm water
3 medium/large overripe bananas mashed well and set aside

2 cups plain flour sifted
1 cup castor sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon bi carb soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup pure cocoa powder
1 cup chopped walnuts

crunchy peanut butter - extra
100g dark chocolate extra


Method

Pre heat oven to 180C

Prepare two muffin trays with liners.

1. Whisk together eggs,oil and vanilla. Put dissolved coffee into 1 cup warm water. Add to mix.

2. Add sour cream and whisk well. Add mashed banana.

3. Sift flour sugars,cocoa, soda and baking powder into a separate bowl. 

4. Add chopped walnuts. Mix well.

5. Carefully pour the wet mix into the dry mix and whisk together until well combined.

6. Place mixture into liners, about 2/3 full.

7. Put 1 teaspoon of peanut butter onto each cupcake and swirl it carefully into the mixture with a skewer, making sure you can still see the peanut butter.

8. Bake in moderate oven for 18 - 20 minutes.

Cool on oven rack.

Pipe Peanut butter frosting on top.

Peanut Butter frosting

125g butter, room temp

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

About 4 cups icing mixture

Pure cream

50g finely grated dark chocolate

1. In an electric mixer on medium speed, using a paddle attachment, mix butter until light and fluffy.

2. Add vanilla and peanut butter.

3. Turn mixer onto low and slowly add scoops of icing mixture. 

4.Add tablespoons of cream alternately with the icing mixture until you reach the desired consistency.

5. Fold in finely grated chocolate.

6. Pipe onto cupcakes and add extra grated chocolate. 

Enjoy!

XXX