I have a love/hate relationship with honey. Mostly I love to hate it, which is a direct result of the 7 gazillion peanut butter and honey sandwiches consumed in my elementary school years. I was one of those anti-lunch meat kids who would eat exclusively peanut butter/honey/jam/banana sandwich combos. Often with a side of frozen Snickers that I bought for $.55 from the lunchroom freezer. DO YOU REMEMBER THEM? Heaven. On. Earth.
I was also the kid that made an apartment for pencil-topper Trolls inside her desk and planned a Troll wedding with her friends and dyed the Trolls’ hair with purple highlighter. Theeee coolest.
In my adult years I’ve ditched the Trolls (or have I?) and decided to give honey another go. I created these cupcakes as a throwback to one of those great little-kid comfort foods: peanut butter-honey-banana sandwiches. Whattup fourth grade! In my opinion you can really never go wrong with a peanut butter & banana combo, but the honey addition kicks it up to a totally gourmet level. Am I on to something here? Childhood faves in cupcake form?
Next up: Grilled cheese & hotdog cupcakes.
Kidding!
Maybe.
Banana Cupcakes (adapted from Martha Stewart)
yield: 12 cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 1/2 cups mashed (very ripe) bananas
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In small bowl, combine oil and yogurt. Add the oil mixture, bananas, eggs, and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Gently fold to combine.
- Divide the batter evenly among the paper liners. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Top with peanut butter & honey buttercream.
Peanut Butter & Honey Buttercream
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter, and honey on medium high until smooth. Scrape down the sides and add the confectioners sugar; mix on low until combined. If the buttercream seems too thick, add 2-3 teaspoons of milk depending on desired consistency. Add the vanilla and pinch of salt; beat on high for 2 minutes or until fully combined. Spread on cooled banana cupcakes.
Mmmm!
I didn’t grow up eating peanut butter sandwiches, and I’ve actually never had peanut butter with honey but I’m down for trying it in cupcake form!
Wow!! I totally thought PB&honey was an every-kid-in-the-world staple. You’ll definitely have to try!
Hahahhaa, you always crack me up. I NEVER had honey and PB. Until now, and love the combo. I also desire to eat these cupcakes!!
I’m so surprised to hear that! Maybe PB&honey was a made up by my mom concoction, which she made me eat by telling me “ALL the kids are eating it”??? Total revelation.
I think you need to credit Judy the day care provider with the PB&Honey creation. I was never much of a honey fan myself, but if you and your sibs ate it at her house, then who was I to argue with success?
JUDY!!! It totally was her.
These go great after a warm weather bbq!
The other day my friend Jo asked me if I ever ate pb and honey sandwiches as a kid and i was surprised anyone else knew about them! I’ve been craving one since, THEN I saw this blog post…….help
I think I was maybe living under a rock while eating my PB&honey sammies…totally thought everyone had them growing up.
Haha I never had honey and peanut butter, but I did eat peanut butter with chocolate sprinkles though. Don’t know if I’m still up for that now. Your cupcakes look yummie by the way!
Peanut butter and chocolate sprinkles??! Now THAT sounds like something I could get down with.
would you do green tea cupcakes? it’s very nice and i’d like some recipe source ;p
Green tea cupcakes would go GREAT with honey frosting!! I’ll have to give them a try!
oohhh Y U M M Y
these little beauties are a must! ..( my normal breaky is 2 ravitas with PB and a tiny bit of honey… so yeh PB and honey are a match made in heaven and u know what, my favourite power snack is a banana and PB (crunchy of course) mmm Peanutbutter… 
looks amazing!!! GREAT IDEA!!!!
I loved peanut butter and honey growing up! we used to put it on toast, and my brother would put it on Toasted Waffles and add cottage cheese too! (ya, I know).
I love the story of the landlord old fart! A penny? Wow, LOL! I love to cook and love to invent new recipes! Can’t wait to try some of your recipes! Put more funny stories out for us to read!
Peanut butter and banana. Hate Honey, but I am gonna try this. The kids and I do cupcake wars to entertain them and force them to think homemade.