These super moist and fluffy banana cupcakes with chocolate peanut butter frosting piped high on top are about to be your new favorite cupcake flavor!
The perfect cupcake doesn’t exis….
Except actually it does and it’s called banana cupcakes, meets peanut butter chocolate frosting and wow, do they ever get along swimmingly.
So well in fact you may not need any other cupcake recipe in your life.
There’s nothing fancy about these cupcakes, guys! It’s a simple banana cake base (kind of similar to the texture of banana bread and it’s bomb) paired with a simple chocolate buttercream spruced up with creamy peanut butter.
You could make these cupcakes in your sleep, they’re that easy.
These Cupcakes feature…
- A soft and moist banana cupcake base
- A sweet and creamy peanut butter chocolate frosting
- Ready in minutes and easy to make ahead of time
Making the Cupcakes
(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)
Ingredients You Will Need
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Baking powder
- Ground cinnamon
- Kosher salt
- Buttermilk
- Banana
- Peanut butter
- Powdered sugar
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Heavy whipping cream
Tips for Perfect Cupcakes
- Bring butter, eggs, and buttermilk to room temperature – room temperature will help all these ingredients mix cohesively.
- Use ripe banana – choose bananas that have lots of brown spots for sweet banana flavor throughout the cupcakes.
- Measure flour correctly – I use the spoon-and-level technique for measuring flour as this will prevent over-measuring your flour. Use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife.
- Gently fold batter – use a light hand when mixing batter and gently fold so as not to overmix.
- Allow cupcakes to cool before frosting – the frosting will melt off if you try to frost them while the cupcakes are still warm.
Recipe Variations
Try these ideas for a different twist on these cupcakes.
- Add chocolate or coconut – fold 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips or 1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut into batter.
- Add nuts – fold 1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans or walnuts into batter.
- Use a different frosting – try a vanilla buttercream, regular chocolate frosting, regular peanut butter frosting, or cream cheese frosting.
Storing Instructions
Once frosted, these cupcakes store well in refrigerator for up to 4 days. For best results, I recommend storing them in an airtight container so they don’t dry out and make sure you bring them to room temperature for serving.
You can also store the cupcakes and frosting separately by storing unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days and the frosting in refrigerator up to 6 days. Allow the frosting to come to room temperature before frosting cupcakes.
These cupcakes are the best of ALL worlds. I swear, there’s just something about chocolate, peanut butter, and banana together that makes a mind-blowing dessert every time.
Don’t expect these little gems to last very long is all I’m gonna say!
Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.
Try these other cupcake recipes next!
Banana Cupcakes With Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting
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Ingredients
Banana Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 3/4 cup)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4-6 tablespoons heavy cream, room temperature
- Sliced bananas for garnish
Instructions
Banana Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with wrappers and set aside.
- Place butter and sugar in a large bowl (or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment) and use an electric mixer to beat on medium speed 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add egg and vanilla to butter mixture and mix well until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Working in increments, fold 1/3 flour mixture and 1/3 of buttermilk into butter-sugar mixture until smooth and repeat 2 more times until all the flour and buttermilk has been added and batter is smooth. Fold in mashed banana.
- Fill muffin cups 3/4 full of batter and smooth tops. Bake cupcakes at 350F 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes completely on a wire cooling rack.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting
- Place butter in a large bowl (or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment) and use an electric mixer to beat on medium speed 2-3 minutes until creamy.
- Add peanut butter, powdered sugar and cocoa to butter mixture and beat an additional 2-3 minutes until frosting is smooth. With mixer running, add vanilla and just enough heavy cream until frosting is spreadable and creamy. Refrigerate frosting until ready to frost cupcakes.
- Allow frosting to soften to room temperature if you refrigerated it before frosting cupcakes. Frost cupcakes, garnish with sliced bananas, and store in refrigerator until ready to serve. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This post was updated with new recipe adjustments on 5/21/25.
Chrystal M says
Well someone had to test the cupcake, right?
Sarah says
Exactly, Chrystal! 😉
Amanda @ Once Upon a Recipe says
I’ve made my fair share of banana muffins, but I don’t think I’ve ever made banana cupcakes. That peanut-chocolate buttercream is swoon-worthy!
Sarah says
If you’ve never had banana cupcakes, Amanda, you gotta try these! And yes, I would say swoon-worthy describes the buttercream perfectly. 😀
Jackie says
Is it possible to make the frosting without the xylitol?
Sarah says
You can use powdered sugar as a replacement for the xylitol.