Banana Cupcakes with Cinnamon Honey Frosting: Oh-my-friggin'-god Delicious

Having been a fan of the Wannabefoodies blog for a while now, I wanted to make sure my inaugural post was worthy. This recipe, fellow foodies, fit the bill. I found it while browsing through another favorite blog of mine; Honey and Jam.

But first, let me get this off my chest...

I have not always been a fan of Martha Stewart. Many of her recipes, that she touts as "good things" are anything but. They're overly complicated or elaborate, easy to screw up, and involved ingredients not easily found at your local grocery.

Maybe Martha saw the light, because this one is a winner.

Martha Stewart's recipe for Banana Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Frosting opened up my eyes to a whole new world of cupcakes. I will not, and cannot, return to the world of Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines.

To call the result a "cupcake" seems wrong however. The spongey, dense texture reminds me more of a slightly fluffy banana bread than of a cupcake. However, the presence of the honey cinnamon frosting decidedly takes this out of the "muffin" category and puts it in a whole new dimension. It's just something you have to try... too sweet to be a muffin, but too fulfilling to be a cupcake.

The frosting is.... Amazing. Stupendous. Incredible. I would recommend getting creative with this frosting and using it with other recipes. I personally decided to go with sourwood honey I picked up from the farmers market while visiting Raleigh-Durham North Carolina. The intricate flavor in the sourwood honey marries perfectly with the cinnamon.

A quick note: This recipe might by convertible to an incredible muffin if you add a bit of cinnamon to the cupcake batter, increase the flour content a bit and skip the frosting. I think these would taste marvelous with melted butter and honey drizzled on top... but I digress.

Banana Cupcakes with Cinnamon Honey Frosting

(makes 12)

dry ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour (spooned and leveled)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

wet ingredients (mix together in a separate bowl):

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (melted)
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (approx 4)
• 2 large eggs (room temperature preferred)
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
2. Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
3. Mix wet ingredients together in a separate small bowl Once mixed, pour wet ingredients into the well you made in your dry ingredients.
4. Stir to incorporate the ingredients together. Do not over mix!
5. Spoon mixture evenly into the 12 muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Approx 25-30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool on a wire rack. Frost once cooled. If desired, garnish cupcakes with a small slice of banana before serving.

Honey Cinnamon Frosting

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 Tbsp honey (I prefer sourwood)

1/8 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

In a medium bowl, beat all ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth and airy. Approx 4-5 minutes.