Banana Foster Cupcakes

Today I woke up, excited to actually be working, due to the fact that it is summer and so hours are very limited at my job. After getting ready for work, and having a conversation with Kyle that I hope we both get more hours at our jobs since bills are coming up, my manager calls to inform me that it is too slow at work and that there is no need to come in. Needless to say, I had a mini breakdown about money, jobs, and all things materialistic. After I dropped Kyle after work I came home and was still pouting about not working. I started to go over in my head how we were going to pay our bills without having to take out of our savings, how we were going to have enough money for our Newport Beach trip coming up this fall, and how I should not have bought those fun veggies and oils last time I went grocery shopping. Then a small thought came to my head. I am not in control of my life. That the Lord has things in His own hands and that he knows the path that my life will take. He knows what struggles we will have, what bumps we will hit, and what glory we will give to Him. This suddenly calmed me down, knowing that my life is not just in the hands of me, but in the hands of my Savior. 

Since I was now at peace, I thought what better way to just clear my head for an hour, then to bake. As pathetic as it was, since I got called off of work and was not making any money today,  I could not get myself to go to the grocery store to get cocoa powder and coconut to make what I wanted. So I had to scrounge around our house and found browned banana I had frozen, sugar and flour. And I am so glad I did because these little cupcakes are to die for. At first I was just going to go for the same old banana bread but I figured I would spend some extra time and spice things up. 

I derived my recipe almost all from a banana bread from my sister's blog Love At First Bite. I substituted greek yogurt for the sour cream and added some nutmeg. But since her recipe is my favorite, I figured I wouldn't mess with it much. NOTE TO ALL: when you find an amazing recipe that you love and that works for you, don't change it. Good recipes are hard to find, so treasure one when you have it. I made three versions of this cupcake, on accident because the first two did not suffice me. I added nothing to the first one, basically making it a banana muffin. However that was too boring for me so I whipped up some powdered sugar, milk, and cinnamon to make a basic glaze...This was still too boring for me. So I thought for a little while and the thought banana foster came to my head. I whipped some up, put it on the cupcake, took a bite and was in heaven! The warmth of the cupcake with the sweetness and chewy-ness of the foster was superb. Next time, if I am not in the mood to make banana cupcakes I think a great version of this would be a cake. You could make a three-layer banana cake, with a cream cheese frosting in the middle of the layers and then top it off with the banana foster. That would be equally delicious!

Banana Foster Cupcakes

yields 12 cupcakes

for the cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

dash of ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

one stick unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

2 large browned bananas mashed

1/4 cup greek yogurt (or sour cream)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

handful of sweetened shredded coconut (optional)

Preheat oven to 350º F. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking soda. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, mix butter and both sugars, until well blended. Add egg and mix well. Add in the bananas, vanilla, and yogurt, mixing until well blended. 

Fold in the flour mixture in three batches. Mixing well in between each until flour is moist and fully incorporated. Fold in the coconut. 

Grease your cupcake pan, and fill each one up and 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes our clean and the center is firm.

for the banana foster:

two tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

dash of cinnamon

dash of ground nutmeg

1 ripe banana, sliced

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and whisk together until fully incorporated. Raise just a little higher and add bananas. Do not mush the bananas but instead get a spoon and keep flipping them in the sauce until they turn a deeper yellow and appear soft. Transfer to a bowl. Spoon about 3-4 banana pieces on each cupcake and serve while warm.