Apple Banana Cupcakes

Beautiful moist cupcakes topped with cinnamon cream-cheese frosting.



2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed
2 apples - peeled, cored and shredded

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease and flour 24 muffin cups, or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and buttermilk. Beat in the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Fold in the mashed bananas and shredded apples. Fill each muffin cup half full.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.
-Recipe adapted from All Recipes


Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2-3 cups icing sugar
1 tbsp milk

Bring cream cheese and butter to room temperature. Beat together with cinnamon and a cup of the icing sugar until it begins to cream together. Add milk and slowly add more the icing sugar until it reaches the desired consistency.

 
I had made these cupcakes a while ago and was going to send them to daycare for Bennett's birthday, but I had so much birthday cake left over that I decided to send that instead and I froze these for later. Cole had a Halloween party at preschool and parents were asked to bring goodies, so I thawed these cupcakes and whipped up some cinnamon icing to decorate them with spiderwebs and jack-o-lantern faces (although this one in the photo looks more like a clown). They were devoured pretty quickly, with only a few left over that we ate up by the end of the day at home. I tried one and they were very yummy. I couldn't really taste much of the apple, it was mostly the banana flavour that came through, but the apple helped make them really moist. The icing went very nicely with them, even though my decorating skills may need improvement!