Brown Sugar Banana Cupcakes with Avocado Buttercream

I haven't been great about posting over the past month - not due to lack of cooking, but strange busy-ness and otherwise lazy-ness. I've been making a lot of salads from Mark Bittman's cookbook - as it has been surprisingly hot and humid over the past two weeks and cooking for longs periods of time sounds extremely unappealing. It has finally cooled down (yay) and the past few days have been sunny and in the 70s. I biked almost the entire Minuteman Bikeway yesterday - which was fun, but was not good news for my quads. That's a story for another time.

Last week was busy with work events, and on Friday we had a BBQ as a sort of send-off for those who are leaving us soon for grad school (sad face). Work BBQ = a great opportunity for cupcakes. I found this recipe on Tastespotting, and I can't say no to something with avocado. And banana. Together.

Brown Sugar Banana Cupcakes with Avocado Buttercream

Cupcakes

makes 12-20 cupcakes, depending on your scoop
1 1/3 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 egg
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup sour cream (I used yogurt instead because I hate to buy sour cream for a recipe and waste it....the cupcakes were still delicious)
1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Combine dry flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and set aside. In a bowl, whisk egg and add brown sugar, mixing until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Add sour cream and melted butter and mix. Stir in dry ingredients, then add mashed bananas and mix until batter comes together. The batter will be thick. Using an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measure, scoop batter in liners. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely.


Avocado Buttercream
2 ripe avocados
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Cream avocado and butter together until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and add vanilla. More sugar can be added if you’d like the frosting thicker. Frosting can be store in the fridge for up to 3 days. I recommend refrigerating the cupcakes.

Original recipe here