These cupcakes are so flavourful (who doesn’t like chocolate and banana?) and moist you’ll be surprised there is only 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in them. And actually because of the bananas’ sweetness, doesn’t have a whole ton of sugar either, which makes it great for kids birthday parties and such.  My family loves these and anytime I make them (and I have made them A LOT) they are always well received, and I always find amusement in how shocked people are that in 24+ cupcakes there is only that little bit of fat! [cake part only…can’t have buttercream icing without butter…]

chocolatey banana in every bite

I just hosted my cousin’s baby shower this past Sunday and the comments about the cupcakes were that they were tasty, moist, delicious, tender, and what!? no way?! in regards to the fat content of the cake…pretty good responses right?  I really hope you try out this recipe! Your family and friends will love it as much as mine do.

prep: 20 min   bake: 15-17 min   yield: ~24 cupcakes at least

what you need:

*ingredients at room temperature will give best results

• 1 3/4 cups cake flour (all purpose flour works too)
• 1 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3 large bananas
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (mild tasting like canola or grapeseed oil)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup milk (almond milk, coconut milk, etc. work too)
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extra
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

what to do:

1. Line 2 cupcake baking sheet with paper muffin cups.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F (325 F if you have a convection oven).
3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and white sugar.
4. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork until very mushy, then whisk in oil, eggs, water, milk, and vanilla extract.
5. Use a double boiler method to melt the chocolate chips (small amount of water in a small saucepan, aluminum bowl on top with the chocolate chips in it) – this indirect heat keeps the chocolate from burning.
6. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, mixing until incorporated but don’t over beat.
7. Add in the melted chocolate and stir/mix one more time to get chocolate throughout.
8. Pour into lined trays – about 3/4 full only – and then bake for 15-17 minutes. This really depends on your oven – so be sure to cheque at 15 minutes. If they are still soft at the top and wiggle when you move the tray, they will need another minute.
9. Remove from oven and allow to cool a little bit – once they are cool enough to handle, transfer immediately to a cooling rack to cool completely.
10. Once they are cooled completely, you can ice them with whatever you’d like! Some of my favourites for this cupcake are buttercream icing, peanut butter buttercream icing, or a straight up chocolate ganache.  Enjoy!

Mrs. Bontius’ “bontiful” spread