Funfetti Cupcakes with Strawberry Banana Buttercream Frosting

One of my favorite fruit flavor combinations is strawberry banana. Don't you love the way the two fruits compliment each other? Obviously, I'm not the only one who does, otherwise we wouldn't have strawberry banana smoothies, blizzards, and all sort of other goodies. 

I also love funfetti cupcakes. They are like a party on your plate. You can always count on a funfetti cupcake to lift your spirits, and they are stupid easy to make. 

Do you want to know the secret? Are you sure you are ready? OK, here we go. Just add sprinkles. That's right. I said, just add sprinkles. Who would have thought it would be that easy?! And yet, it is.

So, I have to ask myself, why don't people make them more often? I mean, seriously, sprinkles come in all different colors. How fun would it be to coordinate your funfetti with your party or event? I mean, I did. Did you notice that my sprinkles are red, white and blue in honor of Labor Day? They sure are.

Shall we get to it, then?

What You Will Need:
KitchenAid Mixer with Paddle & Whisk Attachments
Cupcake Pans
Cupcake Liner Papers
Cooling Racks

Ingredients:
For Cupcakes
1 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
2 cups Sugar
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
4 Large Eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups Soy Flour
1 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
1 cup Potato Starch
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Xanthum Gum
1 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cups Milk, hot
1 bottle or 1/3 cup Sprinkles
For Frosting
2 cups Unsalted Butter, room temperature
3 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
5 teaspoons Strawberry Extract
1 teaspoon Banana Extract
5-6 drops Pink Food Coloring

Directions:
Line cupcake pans with cupcake liner papers and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together soy flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, baking powder, baking soda, xanthum gum, and salt. Set aside.

In KitchenAid Mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth - approximately 2 minutes.

Slowly add sugar, and beat until fluffy - approximately 4 minutes.

Add vanilla.

Add eggs one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition.

Add dry ingredients 1/4 at a time, and mix well. 

Slowly add milk, and mix well. (This can be quite messy, so be careful. Just be patient, and go slow. It will come together.)

And sprinkles, and mix.

Scoop batter into prepared cupcake pans. (Fill approximately 3/4 full.)

Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

Place butter for frosting in KitchenAid Mixer with Whisk Attachment.

Slowly add powdered sugar until combined.

Add extract.

Add food coloring, and mix until well combined and fluffy.

Transfer frosting to a gallon size ziploc bag, and snip one corner.

Frost cupcakes. If you don't go overboard with the frosting, you should be able to frost all 36 cupcakes. I tend to go overboard, so learn from my mistakes. ;)

Refrigerate cupcakes for approximately an hour to set frosting. Now share them with your family, friends, neighbors, guests, or whomever you choose. 

Summer is coming to an end, and it makes me incredibly sad. As you know, it is my FAVORITE season of the year. If you feel the same way, remember this quote in the dead of winter, when you are longing for the long, hot days of summer.

"In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer." ~Albert Camus

Sheryl

Banana Nut Muffins

When the bananas in my house start looking like the ones below, I only have two choices: 1) freeze them for future use in smoothies or 2) make banana nut muffins; because nobody in my house is going to eat them. Let me share a little secret with you, I did both! hehe. I love smoothies with frozen bananas! They are so smooth and banana-y, but that is not what this post is about. So let's get to making banana nut muffins, cuz I love them too.

Makes 24 muffins

What You Will Need:
KitchenAid mixer or hand mixer
Muffin Tins
Muffin Liners
Cooling Racks

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup Sugar
2 large Eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cup Mashed Bananas (3-4) (I used four fairly large bananas, cuz I like them banana-y)
1/2 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vinegar
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup Soy Flour
3/4 cup Potato Starch
1/2 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
1/2 cup Ground Flax Meal (If you don't have flax or don't want to use it, you can substitute 1/4 cup soy flour and 1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour)
1 teaspoon Xanthum Gum
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Chopped Walnuts

Directions:
1. Mash bananas. Set aside. (I just used a fork, because I am all about keeping it simple; but you could use a potato masher or whatever you have. Your hands would even work, if you are into that kind of mess.)

2. In a small container or measuring cup, mix milk and vinegar. Set aside. (The vinegar makes the milk a little sour and thicker. Kind of like buttermilk without the expense.)

3. In a small bowl, whisk together soy flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xanthum gum, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

4. Place muffin liners in muffin tins. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350° F.

5. With your KitchenAid mixer set on medium-high, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.

6. Add eggs one at a time and mix well.

7. Add milk mixture.

8. Add mashed bananas.

9. Add vanilla.

This is what your mixture should look like at this point.

10. Add dry ingredients and mix until just blended. 

This is what your batter should look like.

11. Remove bowl from KitchenAid mixer. Add nuts and mix by hand.

12. Pour batter into muffin tins.

13. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks. 

They are super moist with just enough crunch from the nuts. Thankfully the recipe makes 24, so there are plenty to share. Enjoy!

"Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful of your life." ~ Mark Twain

Sheryl