Cupcakes​​

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup whole wheat flour (for "graham" flavor and texture.

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed

• 1/4 C milk

• 1 stick butter, softened

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1/3 cup honey

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 tsp cinammon

• 1/4 tsp salt                

 The best part about these is that they only take ONE BOWL. They are reminiscent of banana bread in texture, but firm like a graham cracker. You know how much I hate bready cupcakes, but because these are pie inspired and have a gooey filling, the structural integrity is necessary. This makes the preparation for baking easier and allows them to be refrigerated and last several days.

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and prepare a muffin tin with cupcake liners or cooking spray.

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Mash bananas in a large mixing bowl or that of a stand mixer. Add in flour, milk, butter, and mix on medium speed.  Add in sugar, honey, and dry ingredients, and mix until uniform and well-combined. Spoon into cupcake liners until 3/4 of the way full. Yields 18 standard cupcakes OR 12 large (6-muffin tin) cupcakes.

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Filling:

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• Dulce de Leche (Simple and quick, recipe here.)

• 1 banana, sliced

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Once cupcakes have cooled, use cupcake corer or spoon to remove middles of cupcakes, 3/4 of the way through. Place a banana slice in the hole, it should fit nearly perfectly, but it's okay if not, some of the dulce de leche will just seep around it. Spoon cooled dulce de leche over the bananas so that it fills to the top of the cupcakes.

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Frosting:

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• Instant coffee for sprinkling on top

• Additional banana slices for garnish.

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This whipped cream will be sweet, yet the powdered sugar is necessary to stabilize it for refrigeration and keeping. The bitterness of the coffee on top and cupcake that is more graham and cinnamon than sweet is the perfect pairing and balances it nicely. Pipe whipped cream frosting onto filled cupcakes, sprinkle with instant coffee and top with banana slices. If refrigerating and saving, add banana slices only immediately before serving as they will start to brown.

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Enjoy!

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-Elle

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