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These Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes are to die for! It’s a banana cupcake with a cream pie filling that’s topped with a delicious banana frosting. You won’t be able to eat just one of these homemade cupcakes!
If you love banana desserts as much as I do, you should also try my classic Banana Cream Pie Recipe or this Banana Pudding Cheesecake.
Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes
So this past weekend, I did a little photo shoot for the blog and cookbook. I figured it was time to take a few photos of myself and the fam and we had so much fun with it. I met up with a friend from high school who does photography now and I love her photos. I even got my hair and makeup did. It was fancy. 😉 We did the shoot at my parent’s house so I could use their beautiful white kitchen. I got to see a little peak at the photos on her camera and they already looked so great! I can’t wait to see them finished!
Jessie got to have her first professional photos taken and she loved it. She even got to eat a little bit of cake. And while I’m sure our photographer, Cynthia, has had to use words like ball, toy, etc to get a dog’s attention for photos, Jessie’s favorite word is definitely “treat”. She knows what’s up. There was a lot of us yelling “treat!” to get her to look at the camera.
Then, since we were with my parents, we got a few photos with them too. My dad isn’t much of a smiler. We were all yelling at him to smile, then all of a sudden Cynthia yelled, “treat!” It totally worked – we all died laughing – including my dad. 🙂
My Whole Family Loves These Banana Cupcakes
Of course if there was any kind of treat that would tempt him to a smile, I think these cupcakes would be it. I had actually frozen a few to bring to him and he immediately put one in the fridge to defrost when we got there.
I am not even kidding you when I say these are my new fave. Irresistible! Even the hubs was a huge fan – and ate the frosting! It was bananas! Pun intended. 🙂
I had fun making them too. My friend, Lindsey (same name!), was in town and hung out in the kitchen with me while I put them together. As soon as I started cutting out the cores to fill the cupcakes, she was all over it. Not a crumb left. 🙂
What Do These Banana Cupcakes Taste Like?
So the cupcake is a super moist and fluffy banana cupcake. It’s really like cake too – none of that banana bread-like cake stuff. It’s cake. And they’re pretty straight forward to make too. Just don’t skimp on the creaming of the butter and sugar and don’t over mix the batter. The only two things you need to remember, ok? Ok.
How To Make The Cream Pie Filling
The cupcakes are filled with cream pie filling. You guys this is the stuff dreams are made of. So good. And don’t be intimidated to make it if you haven’t before, it really is easy. Some sugar, milk and cornstarch are heated to a simmer. You want to get that sugar melted and the cornstarch a-thickening. Next, you add a touch of the hot milk mixture to the eggs. It’s called tempering the eggs. See if you just toss the eggs in there, you get scrambled eggs. That’s not gonna be tasty in a cupcake. When you add a bit of hot milk to the eggs first, you slowly warm them. Then, when they are added to the hot mixture, they don’t scramble. The whole mixture is boiled for a couple minutes to thicken everything, then you add a bit of butter and vanilla and set it aside to cool. Once it’s at room temperature, you’ll add a bit of whipped cream to get that lightness and extra-creaminess. Sheer dessert heaven.
And then there’s the frosting. It’s got a secret ingredient I know you’ve been dying to find out about. It’s banana chip crumbs! Yep, banana chips that were crushed up in a food processor to get crumbs. I wanted an awesome banana flavor in the frosting, but not artificial and not with mashed bananas. So banana chips! They worked like a charm! The food processor has it’s work cut out for it – they aren’t the easiest things to crush. It’ll get loud. But they crush! And they are amazing in the frosting! And as the frosting sits, it gets even better.
Like I said, these cupcakes are to die for! If you are a banana fan, you absolutely MUST make these! Like, MUST! You will thank me later. 🙂
More Banana Recipes You Might Like:
Easy Banana Bread
Overnight Banana French Toast
Banana Pudding Icebox Cake
Banana Split Ice Cream Cake (Gluten Free)
Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Moist and Chewy Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Bananas Foster Layer Cake
Banana Muffins
Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 28 min
- Cook Time: 24 min
- Total Time: 47 minute
- Yield: 12-14 Cupcakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes are to die for! It’s a banana cupcake with a cream pie filling that’s topped with a delicious banana frosting.
Ingredients
BANANA CUPCAKES
- 10 tbsp (140g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar (207g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg white
- 1 large egg
- 1 2/3 cups (217g) all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (120ml) mashed bananas (the riper, the better)
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk
- 2 tbsp (30ml) water
CREAM FILLING
- 1/4 cup (52g) sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 3/4 cup (180ml) milk
- 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
- 1 tbsp (14g) salted butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
BANANA FROSTING
- 1/2 cup (112g) salted butter
- 1/2 cup (95g) shortening
- 4 1/2 cups (518g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup banana chip crumbs
- 5–6 tbsp (75-90ml) heavy whipping cream or milk
Instructions
TO MAKE THE CUPCAKES:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
2. Beat butter and sugar until light in color and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add vanilla extract and mix until combined.
4. Add egg white and egg in two batches, mixing until combined after each.
5. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl, then combine mashed bananas, milk and water in another bowl.
6. Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until well combined.
7. Add the milk and banana mixture and mix until well combined.
8. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
9. Fill cupcake liners about halfway. Bake for 17-19 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs.
10. Remove cupcakes from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to finish cooling.
TO MAKE THE FILLING:
1. Add sugar, cornstarch and milk to a large saucepan and mix until smooth.
2. Cook, stirring continuously, over medium-high heat until mixture begins to thicken and bubble.
3. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Add a little bit of milk mixture to the egg yolk and whisk together, then add egg mixture to milk mixture.
5. Place pan back on the heat and bring to a light boil. Allow to boil for 2 minutes, stirring continuously.
6. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Stir until smooth, then set aside to cool too room temperature.
7. Once cooled, beat the heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.
8. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream filling.
TO MAKE THE FROSTING:
1. Beat butter and shortening together until smooth.
2. Add half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
3. Add the vanilla extract, banana chip crumbs and 5 tbsp heavy cream and mix until smooth.
4. Add remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
5. Add remaining heavy cream, if needed and mix until smooth.
TO ASSEMBLE THE CUPCAKES:
1. Cut the core out of the cupcakes. I like to use a cupcake corer.
2. Fill the holes with about 1 tablespoon of cream filling.
3. Pipe frosting onto the cupcakes. I used the Ateco 808 large round tip.
4. Top cupcakes with a banana chip and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Cupcakes are best for 2-3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cupcake
- Calories: 559
- Sugar: 55.4 g
- Sodium: 125.5 mg
- Fat: 30 g
- Carbohydrates: 71.1 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 80.4 mg
Filed Under:
Enjoy!
Can’t wait to try these! How long can they sit out, say for a shower? You mentioned freezing them, can they be frozen after frosting?
I think the longest you’d want them to sit out would be a couple hours. While the cupcakes and frosting would freeze fine, the filling may not do as well because of the cornstarch.
This recipe is delicious! I love your recipes. Every one of them that I have tried has been fantastic. Thank you for sharing!
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you!
These cupcakes turned out perfectly! I halved the cake recipe but not the frosting.. made for deluxe piled high icing! I do not know how to attach a photo.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Have you tried this recipe as a cake with the filling between layers?
I haven’t, but it should be fine. For a full 8 inch cake you may want to double the recipe.
What are banana chip crumbs?
Cupcakes turned out great!!!! I struggled with the filling (I was using arrowroot starch instead of cornstarch, so maybe that was it?) so I settled for folding in instant vanilla pudding into the homemade whipped cream. Still turned out beautiful and delicious!
The cupcake itself was a little on the dense side. Definitely not light and fluffy! But still tasty! Next time I’ll add a little more sugar to the custard because i think it could have been a tad sweeter. Just a personal preference. Overall i would definitely make these again
How much more butter for the icing if I don’t use shortening?
Just use the same amount.
Hi there – I’m really interested in making these for my boyfriend’s birthday coming up soon, because they’ve gotten so many good reviews!
Quick question for you – do you think at the bottom of the cupcake pan, I could include a thin crust of butter and nilla wafers and everything will still turn out OK? Thank you!
Definitely! The crust would be great!
Hi,
Thanks for sharing this recipe it looks and sounds delicious! Just wondering could this be made into one big cake instead of cupcakes? using the same measurements.
Thank you 🙂
I would recommend checking out my Banana Cream Pie or my Banana Cream Layer Cake. I hope this helps!
These are FANTASTIC!!! I followed the recipe exactly and the frosting is not too sweet, the middle was sooo yummy and the flavors all went together perfectly! Everyone loved them! THANK YOUI!
That’s wonderful to hear! Glad you enjoyed them!
Just finished making these as a surprise for my husband who is in love with banana cream pie. I am positive he’s going to like these. I used just butter for the frosting and next time I think I may only put half the amount of frosting on each cupcake that I did because it was very sweet. Everything was delicious!
Update: I refrigerated the cupcakes overnight because I planned on bringing them to work with me the following day, and they actually turned out pretty good. The frosting still tastes a little like shortening, but not as strong. Everything together tastes pretty good, maybe I’m not that bad a baker after all!
I must suck at baking because my cupcakes did not turn out well. The cupcake itself was good, though it reminded me of cornbread in texture and almost flavour. The filling tasted good, but once I folded the whipped cream gently into it, it fell flat. I also think once I let the cream mixture sit to room temp the eggs may have curdled a bit – they weren’t like that when I cooked it! 🙁 Also, the frosting all I can taste is the crisco and after that, I knew it was a fail. These cupcakes looked sooooo good and i was so sad that they didn’t turn out well. ????
Lindsay, thank you so much for your banana posts and recipes! My son is very picky and rarely eats anything I cook (it’s not me, it’s him – I swear! lol).
Usually I get him a ???? banana cream pie from Marie Calender’s every year for his birthday because he’s not into ???? cake that much ( and because M.C.’s has their famous pie sale around the same day as his birthday)
This year will be different, thanks to you. I bookmarked this page, with all the banana recipes as THE Banana Page! ????
I’ll let you know how it goes, which are his favorites, etc. It’ll be like having a tester for your banana recipes…the world’s only self-proclaimed banana dessert expert. lol ????
Thanks again, everything looks and sounds so good, I can’t wait to try each one. It’ll also be exciting to see my son’s reaction to all the banana desserts I’m going to give him for his birthday! ????
I’m glad to hear you’re excited about the banana recipes! We too love banana in our house so I’m glad to find another banana lover. 🙂 I hope you enjoy them!
I just made these tonight for my bestie’s going away party, and they are a HOMERUN!! Wow! They are simply out of this world! I doubled the recipe and ended up with just over 3 dozen cupcakes. They were easy to put together and look gorgeous!! I can’t wait for her to try one or 5 (lol!!) tomorrow! Thank you!!! 🙂
Awesome! 🙂 So glad you love them! Thanks Leanne!
I bought banana chips for this recipe, and by themselves, they taste terrible – nothing like a banana. Did I buy the wrong kind? They’re called banana chips, but the label says they’re fried in coconut oil. They’re awful! Should I have gotten dehydrated bananas instead? Can I use banana extract and leave out these chips? They don’t taste anything like a banana, or do they taste better after added to the butter and sugar for the icing?
Hmmm, not sure. I just took a look at the ones I have right now and they say “sweetened banana chips”. They don’t say they are fried in coconut oil, but I’m not sure. I usually find mine in the deli/fresh produce section. You could certainly use banana extract if you prefer not to worry about the banana chips.
Thank you!! I will look for ones that say nothing about coconut oil. (Btw, I made the peanut butter cake from your site and it was FABULOUS!!)
When making crumbs from the banana chips, I’m assuming the chips need to pretty much be turned into banana dust? Otherwise the frosting won’t be smooth?
Also, I never use shortening in my frosting but I see many of the frosting recipes for your cupcake recipes do. Can I make the same frosting recipes without shortening? Would I just add more butter or how would that work? Thank you!
Yes, they should be pretty ground up.
And yes, you can replace the shortening with butter. Here’s a little info on why I use shortening and making adjustments.
I have never eaten or baked banana cream cupcakes but when I saw yours (picture and receipe) I decided to give it a try because I’m pregnant and have crazy cravings for banana cream pie but only know how to make cupcakes not pies. My first batch did not rise and it was wet/dense inside. So I decided to make a second batch, I restarted from step one, yes I dump my old batter and make a new one. Guess what, that batch did the same thing. So I said third time is a charm. I was wrong, my cupcakes does not come out moist fluffy, it doesn’t rise and is doughy on the inside, and I have no clue where I went wrong, i followed all the directions. This is a cry for help, I’m sure this cupcake taste delicious when you make it, what am I doing wrong. The only thing I can think of is that I use my hand mixer because I don’t have a professional grade stand mixer that cost over $300. Could that be it?
It shouldn’t have anything to do with the mixer. Are you sure you’re fully creaming the butter and sugar? It adds air to the batter that gives them some fluff.
Hi Lindsay,
I put all the ingredients in, filled them half full and baked at 350 degrees and they hardly rised. Don’t know what went wrong. Otherwise they tasted amazing.
It’s hard to say without seeing it. Are you sure something didn’t get left out? I’ve done that before. 🙂
Mine didn’t raise either! Darn first time I have had this happen!
Would these be ok if they were left out on a table during a party? I would like to try them for a bridal shower. But they would be out on the table during the party as I intend to shape them like a wedding dress.
Yes, they should be fine. The filling will soften a bit, but the cupcake should hold it all together.
Made these last weekend, so hard not eat several at a time. A great combination of textures, flavors!
So glad you enjoyed them Mindy! 🙂
i know this post has been up forever, but I’ve made these a few times now and my husband told me the last time that from now in this isnall he wants for his Birthday for the rest of forever! These are a huge hit at our house and we especially love that they have actual banana in them. Thanks for all the great recipes!
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoy them! 🙂
Do I need a mixer for this or will it come out with just a whisk?
Thank you!
I use my mixer.
These look great and I can’t wait to try them!! I usually use buttermilk instead of regular milk in my cupcakes. Can I substitute buttermilk here as well?
I haven’t tried it to know of sure. I *think* it’d be ok.
I saw this recipe and can’t wait to make them! I’ll be doing the food for my my reception and think these cupcakes will go over really well. Im so happy you posted it ????
FANTASTING! REALLY GREAT! I love it! Greetings from Poland
IN the filling ingredients it doesn’t say anything about whipped cream, but your last instruction under the filling is to gently fold the whipped cream into the cream filling. How much whipped cream then?
The heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar listed under the filling ingredients are whipped together to make the whipped cream (step 7 under the filling instructions). I hope that helps!
These were excellent! I was impatient and added my cream mixture to the custard too soon, but they still taste fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing such an excellent recipe!
Is the filing required? I’m thinking of making just the cupcake, without the filling.
The filling isn’t required.
These look outstanding – was looking for a new cupcake to make and these are it.
One comment (and maybe its just me) – you might want to try a different color font in the recipe section. The light grey is barely readable when printed (for those of us old schoolers that still print these things!) Thanx for posting.
Hi Jim, did you use the print button that’s just under the little photo with the recipe? The text should be black when it prints. If not, perhaps your printer ink is low?
Lindsay –
Just didn’t dig through the icons to get to the print button – used the browser print. Made the difference. Thanx!
I just made these today. They were worth every degree hotter my kitchen got this summer afternoon.
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Omg! These were SOOOO good! When I was making the batter, they already smelled heavenly. By the time they came out of the oven, I didn’t wait for the frosting, I just dove right in, and they are perfect! There’s literally no other word to describe these. Soft, fluffy, full of flavor, airy, not dense at all, but just perfect! Sorry for my rave, I definitely recommend these!
So glad you enjoyed them!
The amount of icing sugar you put in the frosting scares me????. Wouldn’t it be too sweet to taste?
I’ve referred to many recipes online and saw that they use a lot of icing sugar in their buttercream too.
Is buttercream suppose to be that sweet compare to Swiss meringue buttercream?
American buttercream (as used in this recipe) typically gets it’s volume from the powdered sugar, so the more you use, the more volume and stiffness you get. With SMB, the volume comes from whipped air into the meringue. Neither is bad or worse in my opinion, they are just quite different. I personally don’t find this frosting to be too sweet, but I certainly have a sweet tooth and not everyone likes things as sweet as I do. You could reduce the amount of sugar used, but you will get less volume. I hope that helps!
Yes! I’m patting myself on my back! LOL I’m a novice at baking from scratch (Not cooking, and baking cookies, but cakes and cupcakes)so I make my trial and error mistake. However these turned out very well for my first attempt! I don’t have a lot of the little tools that help with the details, but make do with what’s on hand. My “chips” were more of a crumb texture, but I think it helped spread the banana taste through the icing – maybe that’s what you meant? Ha. My changes for the next time would be to use all butter in the frosting, a little less sugar in the frosting, and maybe add some of the banana crumbs to the cream filling. Some. Not a lot.
Other than being a little labor intensive, these were easy to make. I’m sure as I make them more, it’ll be a smoother process, but these ARE as good as you claim! Shoot, just the cupcake by itself is awesome!
Sorry for writing my memoirs here. Thanks again for the recipe!
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed them! 🙂
Gosh, I feel like a competitor on Cupcake Wars! LOL My cupcakes JUST came out of the oven, and I’m letting them cool before making the filling and icing. I don’t have a food processor, and we aren’t coffee drinkers so no coffee grinder of any sort for processing the banana chips. I’m hoping between pounding the chips with a rolling pin and the puree option on my blender, they’ll get down to more of a minced texture.
The cupcakes smell yummy. Here’s hoping they TASTE yummy! Stay tuned … (Thanks for the recipe, Lindsey!)
Yay! I hope you are happy with them!
Hi Lindsay, these look divine! I have a question about the filling – the list of ingredients only calls for 1 egg yolk, but the directions mention “eggs” plural. Is the one yolk all that goes in the filling?
I’m sorry that was confusing! Yes, just one egg yolk. I’ve updated the instructions for clarity. Thanks!
What are you saying about using shorting? Lard or what brand?
I use crisco. If you would prefer, you can replace the shortening in the frosting with additional butter.
If I bake this (banana cream piecake base) in round cake pans (to make a layer cake), what pan size is best?
I’d suggest an 8 inch cake. I’ve made a similar version (doubled the recipe) in three 8 inch pans. They bake for about 23-25 minutes.
I just made these! Can’t wait to try them out. I think I’m one cupcake short because I couldn’t keep my hands out of the batter….LOL
would the consistency of the frosting work to frost a cake to be covered by fondant?
Hmm. It should be thick enough. But it is a bit textured from the banana chip crumbs. I guess it depends on how thick your fondant usually is and if it’d show or not.
I hope they can do without the water! Have them in the oven and noticed the 2 T of water was in the ingredients but not in the directions. Or did I miss something?
Hi Laura! The water just goes in with the other wet ingredients (the milk and bananas). They should be fine without it – just adds a little more moisture. I’ve updated the instructions though. Thanks!
Where do you get banana chips?
I usually find them with the dried fruits and/or nuts at the grocery store.
What a great flavor for cupcakes! These look incredible!
In the directions under making the cupcakes, it doesn’t say when to add the mashed bananas
Thanks for pointing that out! I’ve clarified the instructions. 🙂
I can’t wait to see the pics! And I wish I had some of these cupcakes!!
Lindsay, these look adorable! And I can tell they taste incredible! Would like to have one in my hot little hand right this minute.
These look incredible! I love the idea of putting banana chip crumbs in the frosting, so clever – I need to try this myself!
I always feel so accomplished when we do a family photo shoot, like we’re those organized people who actually mark time with photos. Glad yours went well!
These cupcakes make me happy!
I know! We are totally never that organized. 🙂 Thanks Mir!
These look so cute! I love the crispy banana slices on top. Ohhhh and that filling, to die for!!