After an amazing weekend of being all fancy at a wedding, I was craving cupcakes. Fluffy amazing cupcakes. These Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread Cupcakes fit the bill and are simply dreamy. I was so happy that the cupcake part came out so well, moist and fluffy! (Oh, and everyone who hates the word moist, is it ok to use when describing cupcakes? Pondering this..)
The cupcakes are so good that you could totally eat them frosting-free, but for extra amazingness, swirl on some choco-pb frosting and pat yourself on the back for being an impressive little baker. Oh, and fun fact, my fancy frosting tube tool totally went missing right before I needed to frost these babies, so I had to macgyver-up a tool using parchment paper and plastic bags. Not very elegant but it sort've got the job done. Moral of the story is, your frosting doesn't have to be perfect for these to be the best cupcakes ever. Don't be intimidated by perfect frosting swirls you see online - cupcakes are so easy!
Hope you love these and have a cupcake-worthy day...
A few life side notes..
1. Wknd Fun. I got to get all fancy for a wedding this weekend. It was amazinggggg. One of the most special and fabulous weddings I have ever been to. It was a solid chance for me feeling princess-y ... which was a huge change from the yoga+sweatpants uniform I have been wearing too much the past year..
A dress that spins is just so important. Pre-wedding spin party in the hotel parking lot. With @bethatkinsonpr and my amazing amazing hubby who I lovingly shooed out of my shot 😂💗A video posted by kathy / healthyhappylife (@kathypatalsky) on Jan 7, 2017 at 10:19pm PST
SO happy for this creature. The 💗sweetest, 👏most talented, 🤓insanely creative, 💃🏻charming, ✨gorgeous, 🙏generous, 😹hilarious and 👑magical princess bride. Congratulations @rabbitfoodformybunnyteeth and @tmmattjr ✨💞👏✨A photo posted by kathy / healthyhappylife (@kathypatalsky) on Jan 7, 2017 at 10:40pm PST
Oh and ya, I'm basically 16 and he's Justin Timberlake. #ShawnMendes
2. I'm back to gluten in moderation. I'm trying to go back to eating gluten after about ten months off it for thyroid/Hashimotos/autoimmune experimenting. So far so good. I have no clue if gluten free does anything PRO or CON for my thyroid issues. But I miss it so much and just want to see what happens. So these cupcakes used whole wheat flour. But you could use a gf blend if you want. If you use gluten free flour, you might want to add a flax egg too.
Anyways.... back to these amazing cupcakes! Happy week to you.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 stick vegan butter (½ cup) - softened
- 1 cup vegan sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups flour, whole wheat pastry flour used
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (optional)
FROSTINGS:
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, organic
- ⅓ cup vegan chocolate, melted
- ½ cup vegan butter (1 stick)
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, organic
- ⅓ cup peanut butter, softened and oily
- ½ cup vegan butter (1 stick)
- coconut oil for baking pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 and grease muffin tin with coconut oil.
- Add the banana, vegan butter, cider vinegar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl. Beat well with mixer.
- Add the cinnamon, flour, baking powder and baking soda. Beat on low with a hand mixer until a batter forms.
- Fill the muffin tins. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges start to brown and the tops are nice and fluffy.
- Cool muffins for ten minutes in pan, then carefully remove and cool on a cooling rack for at least and hour. Speed up the cooling process by placing muffins in the freezer!
- Frostings: These are super easy! You combine the three ingredients for each frosting in a large mixing bowl. Mix with a hand mixer until fluffy. Chill and swirl on top! Process: You want to first combine the vegan butter with either the peanut butter or melted chocolate. Beat until smooth and fluffy, then add in the sugar and beat until whipped and smooth and fluffy.
- Now all you have to do is get the frosting on the chilled cupcakes. You can use a spatula and just swirl it on top. Or you can pipe it on top like I did for a few. I add the frosting to two different frosting bags, then add them together in one larger bag and swirl them out together.
RockMyVeganSocks says
Look at you all glammed up, girl! You're gorgeous =) It's fun to get dolled up once in awhile.
"I'm trying to go back to eating gluten after about ten months off it for thyroid/Hashimotos/autoimmune experimenting."
It does!! I suffer/suffered from Hashimoto's since the age of 15 and sadly had my thyroid removed about a decade ago. I notice a HUGE difference since going gluten free in 2012. I didn't actually notice right away. When I do notice, is after I have a cheat day. I don't know if you are on any Hormone Replacement Therapy, but I lot of the research I have done shows that it actually interferes with the medication from helping your T3 & T4 levels. Gliadin,the protein found in gluten, gets your body in a fight or flight mode when you have it as it triggers an autoimmune reaction. I feel like this sounds a little disjointed, I'm not always great at expressing what I'm saying, but I promise it will do good things for you to stay away from gluten for the most part (cheat days are totally fine!).
I'm going to try making these awesome sauce cupcakes gluten-free =)
Kathy Patalsky says
Ps thank you!! Feels good to be princessy
RockMyVeganSocks says
I feel like I'm probably 90% myself. I was 100% free for awhile and felt really good, but I do enjoy gluten every now and again. And we of course can't no for sure what causes all of the symptoms going on in our body. I have to limit soy :/ I try to only have it twice a week, my doc recommended once a week, but it's just such an easy protein source.
Kathy Patalsky says
I wish my doctors would weigh in on nutrition. They just won't because they say it doesn't matter 🙈 so frustrating to get such mixed messages from the people who are supposed to know it all. I'm glad you have found relief of your symptoms. Hashimoto's is such a mysterious and all encompassing autoimmune disease with so little support from mainstream medicine, besides basic thyroid hormone therapy. What has really helped me most of all is chatting with others about it in person and in online groups. Sharing similar stories and therapies has helped a lot.
RockMyVeganSocks says
They say it doesn't matter? Really? That surprises me. My first doctor honestly didn't have much to say on the matter and I started seeing a Naturopath and she really helped me stabilize my levels and feel good. But when I moved to California, my endocrinologist actually gave me a fact sheet with most of the info the naturopath had given me. I also just did a fair amount of my own research as I was frustrated at the lack of general knowledge there was. I'm glad you're finding help chatting with others - I haven't really come across many who have Hashimoto's. I was actually excited when you mentioned it (which is kind of sad as that isn't something to be excited about at all), but it was nice to know there are others working through this, it's like building a sense of community.
Kathy Patalsky says
I know it's crazy. And my Endo is a really highly respected doctor at Cedars. My endo before didn't care about anything except the TSH. Soooo frustrating. 🙈
RockMyVeganSocks says
Oh that's so weird. I guess I'm lucky my endo takes a holistic approach.
Kathy Patalsky says
Oh also, how about soy? Do you do ok with it with your hashimotos?
Kathy Patalsky says
I've been on synthesis for 18 years... I'm like 90% gluten free so I feel good there. Slice of bread here and there basically.. it's tricky figuring out cause and effect with this one for me. I've read studies on both sides. I do feel bad when I overindulge in gluten though, or so it seems
Elien says
These look so very cute and yummy! Also, now I most definitely want a DIY for that macgyvered frosting tool 😀 would've never guessed from your photos!
Kathy Patalsky says
Haha oh good I fooled you all 😂 lol I totally could only frost the ones you see with the pretty swirl. I was so sad BC the frosting was amazing!
Heather McClees says
Love those photos of you, so pretty! And these cupcakes look dreamy! Glad to hear you are feeling better! XoXo