Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting: Soft, Simple & Made for Overripe Bananas
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These banana cupcakes with chocolate frosting turn overripe bananas into something worth saving. Soft, real banana flavor, topped with rich chocolate frosting — a simple recipe that works every single time.
Banana Cupcakes With Chocolate Frosting
If you’ve got bananas going brown on the counter, don’t bin them. This is exactly what they’re for.
These banana cupcakes with chocolate frosting are straightforward to make, genuinely soft, and taste like real bananas, not the artificial kind.The chocolate frosting on top is rich without being sickly, which means the two actually work together rather than competing.
I make these when I want something homemade that doesn’t take half a day. One bowl, no mixer, about 30 minutes start to finish. They keep well, too, which is a bonus if you’re not eating them all in one sitting (no judgment if you do).
Grab those spotty bananas before they go too far. This is the recipe for them.
Promise you’ll like these easy-peasy banana cupcakes. Not only could you make the cupcakes in no time, but you would also enjoy the light, fluffy cupcakes with a far superior taste to the shop-bought ones to accompany your cuppa.
These yummy cupcakes have a moist, tender texture and a delicate flavor of bananas and vanilla. And the chocolate frosting made these cupcakes decadent and simply moreish.
As with most recipes I share, I made this with ease and practicality in mind. So you can see that the ingredients I use are very simple and easy to get. And you’ll love the method for recreating these cupcakes because it’s like dumping everything into a bowl and mixing it all.
So if you love bananas and have a weakness for chocolate, this cupcake recipe is worth a try. And if you prefer the banana cupcake as is, I promise it’s worth the bake, too.
And if you want more banana recipe ideas, try these 3-ingredient banana oatmeal cookies from Level Up Bakes.
Make the Most of Ripe Bananas
I don’t know about you, but I often find myself looking at overripe bananas in my fruit bowl. Especially when my schedule is hectic, and I forget to remind my boys to eat those bananas.
So, at a time like this, I try my best to come up with recipes that use overripe bananas. From banana bread, banana cake, banana muffins, banana pancakes, and banana cookies. Until I go bananas. Ha.
And this banana cupcake is one of the ways I use those overripe bananas.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It uses up those sad, spotty bananas — The browner they are, the sweeter and more flavorful your cupcakes will be. Don’t throw them out.
- One bowl, no mixer — You don’t need any special equipment. A bowl, a whisk, and a muffin tin are all it takes.
- They stay soft for days — Ripe bananas add natural moisture, so these don’t dry out overnight. Great for baking ahead.
- The chocolate frosting isn’t too sweet — It’s rich and slightly bitter from real cocoa, which balances the banana nicely rather than making the whole thing feel like a sugar hit.
- Easy to scale up or down — Making a small batch for home or a big batch for an event? The recipe adjusts without any issues.
- Simple ingredients you already have — Bananas, flour, eggs, butter, cocoa. Nothing unusual, nothing you need to hunt down.
- Consistent results — No tricky steps, no resting time, no guesswork. You’ll get the same good cupcake every time you make it.
- Works for any occasion — Lunchboxes, birthdays, bake sales, or just a Tuesday. They fit anywhere without feeling out of place.
Do Bananas and Chocolate Go Together?
Of course. Bananas go very well with chocolate.
And if you add a bit of creamy dairy product such as butter or cream, the combo of banana and chocolate will be even better. This is what I have come up with in this recipe.
The super-moist banana-flavored cupcakes topped with chocolate-flavored frosting are something you don’t want to miss. I’m confident you’ll totally agree with me once you try these cupcakes.
What Chocolate Frosting Can You Use?
There are many chocolate frosting options you can use for these cupcakes.
Chocolate buttercream, chocolate hazelnut spread, chocolate spread, or even chocolate ganache. Any frosting with cocoa powder will be good.
In this recipe, though, I use chocolate ganache. I must admit that I often use shop-bought chocolate hazelnut spread as it is almost always there in my kitchen pantry.
Ingredients You Need
Would you be happy if I said you only need 7 items for the cupcakes and 2 for the frosting? So, in total, you will need nine things to make and bake these delicious cupcakes.
Those key ingredients are overripe bananas, plain flour, margarine (or baking spread), egg, baking powder, soft brown sugar, vanilla extract, chocolate chips, and heavy cream (double cream).
I appreciate that some people would prefer using butter instead of margarine. If you’re one of them, you can use butter instead. Just remember that butter creates a firmer texture in cupcakes. So, your cupcakes will still be spongy and fluffy, but not as soft and tender.
When it comes to sugar, coconut palm sugar is actually the best option. And I think it’s healthier too. So feel free to use it instead of soft, dark brown sugar.
As for the chocolate chips, you can substitute them with ordinary baking chocolate. Just chop it into small pieces so it will melt easily and evenly.
How to Make Banana Cupcakes With Chocolate Frosting
As mentioned above, I use an easy method that even a six-year-old can do.
In short, mash the bananas until they are really smooth. Then, place the mashed bananas in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the margarine/ butter, brown sugar, and egg. Using a stand mixer or handheld mixer, mix until combined,
Add the remaining dry ingredients, i.e., flour and baking powder. Beat on low speed, then medium speed until creamy and fluffy. Lastly, add vanilla extract.
Spoon the cupcake batter into the prepared cupcake tin with liners. Bake in a preheated oven at 180℃/ 356℉ or gas mark 4 for about 18-20 minutes. Your cupcakes are ready when they are firm and springy to the touch. Or if a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Leave the cupcakes on a cooling wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
While baking, you can prepare the frosting by melting the chocolate with cream. You can do so by using a microwave or a double boiler on the stove. Stir the mixture until the chocolate frosting looks smooth and shiny. Then leave it to cool completely, and whisk the slightly set chocolate ganache until it becomes a creamy, fluffy milk chocolate frosting.
Once the cupcakes are cool and at room temperature, frost cupcakes with whipped chocolate ganache.
How to Store Your Banana Chocolate Cupcakes
You can keep your frosted banana cupcakes at room temperature for about three days. If you store them in the refrigerator, they last longer, up to one week.
Should you need to, you can freeze the frosted cupcakes for about six weeks. But ensure you eat the thawed cupcakes within a few days, and do not refreeze them.
Banana cupcakes with chocolate frosting recipe
Equipment
- Spatula
- Cupcake tin
- Cupcake cases
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 egg
- 5 ounces all-purpose flour/ plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2.5 ounces margarine or baking spread
- 3.5 ounces dark soft brown sugar or palm sugar
For chocolate frosting
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips.
- ½ cup heavy cream/ double cream.
Instructions
For the cupcakes
- Mash the bananas as smooth as possible.
- Place the banana in a mixing bowl together with margarine, brown sugar, and egg. Using a handheld mixer, beat the ingredients until you get a lumpy batter.
- Add the flour and baking powder. Then beat again until you get a smooth batter.
- Preheat the oven to 180℃/ 356℉ or gas mark 4 and line the cupcake tin with cupcake cases.
- Spoon the batter into each case and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes until the cakes are firm yet springy when you touch them.
- Place the baked cupcakes on a cooling wire rack.
For the frosting
- In the meantime, place chocolate chips and cream in a mixing bowl. Then pop it in a microwave and heat it at high-heat (700-800w) for about 1 minute.
- Give it a good stir. You can see that the chocolate is melting. Mix it until you get as many chocolate chips melted as you can. Heat it again for about 10 seconds if it’s not fully melted. And stir well.
- You can also melt the chocolate and cream on a double boiler. Just boil some water in a pot and put the mixing bowl over the boiling water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.
- Let the hot steam melt the chocolate. Stir well until chocolate and cream are mixed thoroughly into a smooth chocolate ganache.
- Leave the chocolate ganache to cool at room temperature and slightly set. Using a handheld mixer, whip the ganache until you get a smooth and shiny chocolate mousse.
- Once cooled, frost the cupcakes with chocolate mousse.
Notes
- This recipe is ideal to make use of your overripe bananas. The riper the bananas the better.
- If you want to use chocolate spread, you can use any chocolate spread you like. I often use the hazelnut chocolate spread as we almost always have it in our kitchen pantry. I find 3.5 ounces/ 100 grams of chocolate spread is enough to cover 12 cupcakes.
- I prefer using muffin cases for my cupcakes as I find the size is ideal.
Nutrition
Devy founded So Yummy Recipes and Drizzling Flavor to share her love of food after exploring various cultures and cuisines for more than two decades. Her mission is to help others easily recreate traditional and non-traditional food with readily available ingredients. Her works have been featured in Reader’s Digest, Al Jazeera, MSN, Yahoo, Bon Appétit, and more.
