Chocolate banana cupcakes—no stand mixer needed—are moist chocolate cupcakes filled with homemade banana curd and finished with silky chocolate buttercream. Chocolate and banana pair perfectly in this indulgent treat.
If last year was the year of the cheesecake cake, this year has been all about fruit curds. I can’t get enough of them.
So far I’ve made lemon curd for cupcakes and mango curd for a coconut cake. Now it’s banana curd’s turn.
Banana curd might sound unusual, but it tastes exactly like ripe bananas—bright, sweet, and creamy. And what complements banana better than chocolate? (Well, maybe peanut butter, but today and most days I’m team chocolate.)
These chocolate banana cupcakes were created for the second summer #CupcakeMondays blog party, where cupcake-loving bloggers share new cupcake recipes and post using the Cupcake Mondays hashtag on Instagram.
Join the fun by posting your cupcake photos with #CupcakeMondays. Scroll to the end for more cupcake recipes from friends who participated.
Why you’ll love these chocolate banana cupcakes:
- Soft chocolate cupcakes with rich chocolate buttercream—perfect for chocoholics.
- No stand mixer required for the banana curd; the cupcakes and frosting are straightforward.
- Extra banana curd is great on toast or stirred into oatmeal.
How to make banana curd
Start with ripe bananas—ripe but not green. Mash them lightly, then combine mashed banana, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and eggs in a food processor and puree until smooth and liquid.
Pour the blended mixture into a medium saucepan, add unsalted butter, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the curd thickens—about 8 to 10 minutes. It’s done when it coats the back of a spoon and you can run your finger through it without it immediately filling back in.
Pass the curd through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any lumps, press plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin, and refrigerate until chilled. The curd will keep for up to three days.
Note: Chilled banana curd can look slightly gray. A small amount of yellow gel food coloring will restore a more banana-like hue if desired, but it’s optional and only for appearance.
Chocolate banana cupcakes, step by step
The chocolate cupcakes are easy to make and turn out very soft and chocolatey.
The recipe uses coffee mixed with cocoa powder to intensify the chocolate flavor. You can substitute boiling water, but coffee (even decaf) gives a deeper chocolate profile.
Beat butter, sugar, and eggs together until light and fluffy, then add one-third of the dry ingredients. Mix in half the coffee-cocoa mixture, then another third of the dry ingredients, followed by the remaining coffee mixture, and finally the last of the dry ingredients. The finished batter should be smooth with no flour pockets.
Do not overmix or the cupcakes won’t be as tender.
Fill muffin cups about two-thirds full and bake 15–20 minutes. Cool completely before filling and frosting.
When cooled, use a sharp paring knife to cut a hole about 1 inch across and 1 inch deep in each cupcake. Spoon chilled banana curd into the cavity (about 2 teaspoons). Trim the reserved cake pieces so they act as plugs, and replace them to seal the filling.
Baker’s tip: These cupcakes are very soft. If cutting the holes proves difficult, refrigerate the cupcakes for an hour to firm them up, then proceed.
For frosting, a large open star piping tip creates a pretty swirl, but you can also spread the frosting with a knife. These cupcakes are delicious no matter how you finish them.
More delicious cupcake recipes!
Here are more recipes from the #CupcakeMondays participants. Click through to find a wide variety of creative cupcakes and get inspired.
Brown Sugar Toffee Cupcakes from Kelly Lynn’s Sweets and Treats
Piñata Cupcakes from A Table Full of Joy
Chocolate Cherry Chip Cupcakes from Love in My Oven
Mojito Cupcakes from Nourish and Fete
Made these chocolate banana cupcakes? Let me know in the comments and leave a rating. Post a photo on Instagram and tag @theitsybitsykitchen so I can see your creations.
Chocolate banana cupcakes are rich, chocolatey, and filled with homemade banana curd. They’re an irresistible dessert.
Dessert
American
- 1 1/4 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 large bananas)
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
- 1 cup very hot coffee (or boiling water)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 to 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 6 to 8 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Combine all banana curd ingredients except the butter in a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to a medium saucepan and add the butter.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon—about 8 to 10 minutes. Do not boil.
- Press the curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin.
- Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled (about 2 hours). Can be made up to 3 days ahead.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 20–22 muffin cups with liners.
- Whisk the coffee (or water) and cocoa together and cool to room temperature.
- Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.
- Beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla on high until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.
- On low, add the flour mixture in three additions alternated with the cocoa-coffee mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.
- Divide batter among prepared cups, filling each two-thirds full. Bake 15–20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan 20 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely before filling and frosting.
- Beat butter until smooth. Add 4 cups powdered sugar, cocoa, 6 tablespoons milk, and salt and beat to combine.
- Scrape the bowl, then beat on medium until frosting is smooth. Add more powdered sugar if too thin or more milk if too thick.
- Cut a hole about 1 inch across and 1 inch deep in each cupcake. Reserve the removed cake pieces.
- Pipe or spoon about 2 teaspoons banana curd into each cupcake. Trim the reserved cake pieces and replace as plugs.
- Spread or pipe chocolate frosting over each cupcake. Top with a banana slice if desired and serve.
Store uneaten cupcakes in the refrigerator up to 2 days or freeze tightly wrapped for up to 2 months.
Banana curd adapted from the Big Book of Cupcakes. Cupcakes adapted from Tampa Treasures.