Chunky Monkey Cupcakes

Marie's Note:

Banana chocolate chip cupcakes with no frosting needed....has its own brown sugar baked topping with cinnamon and walnuts added. Recipe found on the web.

• Total Time: 42 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 22 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 24 cupcakes

• ½ cup butter , softened
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup sugar
• 3 ripe bananas , mashed
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in bananas, then eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition.
4. Add vanilla.
5. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda and salt and add alternately with buttermilk to mixture.
6. Beat just until blended.
7. Stir in chocolate chips.
8. Divide batter evenly among 24 paper lined muffin cups.
9. In a small bowl, combine walnuts, cinnamon and 2 T brown sugar and sprinkle over tops of cupcakes.
10. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
11. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Reviews

[sistabarista1]

Made this for my 5 yr olds Kindergarten class..they were a HIT! Left out the nuts because of an allergy in the class....Next time I will definitely use them...and I will try mixing the topping with a little butter to give it a little more CRUNCH. Lastly....maybe 1/4 cup more brown sugar...or even a hint of molasses may heighten the flavor just a bit...but a good, moist cupcake even without any changes!

[Nikoma]

Made these without the cinnamon topping and added a peanut butter frosting. At first I was really disappointed in these. They didn't rise for me at all, stayed almost flat and dense. I baked them for 25 minutes and they still seemed gooey that night. However in the morning that had gone away and they tasted wonderful! I kept one for myself and sent the rest to work with bf before I tasted them again. The guys went nuts over them and he nearly got mauled by people asking what was in them/how to make them and if I planned on making them again lol. If i could just get them to puff up a bit I'd be very happy! I'll have to play around with them a touch. Thanks for sharing Marie!

[tasb]

I cannot tell you how many times I have made these. I used to make them at my old job and had co-workers wanting me to make a batch just for them. And recently I made them at my new job, and they are a hit their too. A few changes, I did mix the topping ingredients into the batter, faster that way. And the recent ones I made I didn't add walnuts (nut allergies), and I made a batch milk-free. I used rice milk, omitted the baking soda, doubled the baking powder, and omitted the chocolate chips. A total hit the milk-free ones 2 kids ate 9 muffins total.