Banana Chocolate Chip Cakeins W/Peanut Butter Creme Cheese Frosting

I call these "Cakeins" because they're kind of a cross between a muffin and a cupcake. They're sweet and moist (and frosted) like a cupcake, but the base recipe is a muffin recipe. I wanted a peanut butter/banana/chocolate thing and toyed with several different ways to accomplish that. In the end, I opted for banana and chocolate in the batter and peanut butter on top. I pretty much got what I wanted. My guys actually loved them without the frosting. After they had one, I had to fight them off of the others so I could frost them. I hope you like them as much as they did.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cakeins w/Peanut Butter Creme Cheese Frosting
Copyright 2012 Brendilly Bakes, All rights reserved

Cakeins:
3 C. White Whole Wheat Flour
1t. Baking Soda
1t. Kosher Salt
1/2t. Baking Powder
1t. Ground Cinnamon
1t. Freshly Ground Nutmeg
1 1/2 C. Granulated Sugar
1/2 C. Agave Nectar
1 C. Canola Oil
3 Eggs
2t. Vanilla Extract
4 ripe Bananas, coarsely mashed
1 1/2 C. Milk Chocolate Chips

Frosting
8oz. Creme Cheese, softened
1/2 C. Creamy Peanut Butter
1t. Vanilla
1 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar

Directions:

1. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mash bananas and set aside.
3. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in medium bowl.
4. In a large bowl, combine sugar, agave, oil, eggs, and vanilla until well combined.
5. Add all but 1T. of the dry ingredients and mix well.
6. Toss chocolate chips with remaining flour and add to batter along with the mashed bananas, and mix gently until everything is just incorporated.
7. Fill muffin cups with an ice cream scoop to get even amounts.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until tester inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
9. Set on wire rack to cool in the pans.

This is what they look like when they first come out. Notice how you can see chunks of banana. That's what you want.

When you are ready to frost:

Place softened creme cheese and peanut butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and using the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed until well combined. Add vanilla and combine. With the mixer running on low speed, add powdered sugar a 1/4 cup at a time, combining well and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix until all the sugar is used. Check for taste and adjust if necessary.



This is what they look like when they're being enjoyed. Yummalicious!!