Banana Peanut Butter Dulce de Leche Cupcakes
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Best. Cupcakes. Ever.
These are the best cupcakes I’ve ever made. I know that’s a bold claim, but I stand by it.
I used to make these for my bakery and every time this flavour would come into rotation, both staff and customers would go NUTS for them.
They start with a super moist, easy banana bread base that has toffee pieces baked into it, then you fill each cupcake with a generous squirt of dulce de leche, then you top it with a silky peanut butter swiss meringue buttercream, more dulce de leche, and salty chopped peanuts.
I’m not going to lie, there are quite a few components to this cupcake, but it’s sooooo worth it!
What ingredients do I need?
Here’s your grocery list:
-2 Ripe, spotty bananas
-Eggs
-Granulated Sugar
-Canola Oil (or another neutral flavoured oil)
-All Purpose Flour
-Baking Soda
-Sea Salt
-Toffee Pieces (Homemade or storebought)
-Dulce de Leche (Homemade - see my super easy technique in this post - or storebought)
-Egg Whites (from a carton)
-Unsalted Butter (softened)
-Natural Peanut Butter
-1-2 small piping bags with 1 medium sized round tip (I used a Wilton #12 ) and 1 small round tip (I used a Wilton #4 - if you use a coupler you can swap out the tip and use the same piping bag for filling your cupcake & drizzing dulce de leche on top)
You will also need a kitchen scale , a stand or handheld mixer for the frosting, a few bowls, a spatula, a whisk, a muffin/cupcake tin, cupcake liners, and a #16 cookie scoop if you want to make dividing up your cupcakes super fast and easy.
Here’s how to make them:
You can find the full recipe below but I’ll go over the steps in a little extra detail here.
First, gather all of your tools & ingredients, and put 12 cupcake liners in your muffin/cupcake tin. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
First, make your cupcake batter:
Whisk together your flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, mash your bananas with a fork until there are no large lumps. Add your eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla and whisk until combined.
Dump your flour mixture into your banana mixture along with the toffee pieces and gently mix with a silicone spatula until just combined.
Use a #16 scoop if you have one to scoop your batter into the cupcake liners. You should get exactly 12 cupcakes. Your liners will be quite full. Alternatively, you can use a spoon to divide the batter among the 12 liners.
Put your cupcakes in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until they spring back when gently poked, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. I like to turn my cupcake tin around halfway through baking to get a perfectly even bake, but depending on your oven, you might not need to do this.
Once they are baked, place the cupcake tin on a wire rack and let them cool completely.
To make the frosting:
Cut your butter into chunks about 1 TBSP in size. Set aside.
Put your egg whites & sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer or into a heatproof bowl (if using a hand mixer). Put a pot filled with a few inches of water onto the stove and bring to a boil. Place your bowl on top of the pot and whisk your egg white/sugar mixture often until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar is melted. Whisk the mixture on high speed in your stand mixer or with a hand mixer until it is white and fluffy and cooled. Add your vanilla and mix until incorporated.
With your mixer still on high speed, add your butter chunks one at a a time, waiting a few second between each. Once they are all in, continue to whip the buttercream until it looks fluffy and glossy, 5-10 minutes depending on how soft your butter was when you put it in (softer butter will mean less mixing required)
Once your buttercream is ready, measure out 500g of it and add your peanut butter to that. Mix it in until completely incorporated. Save the rest of your buttercream for another baking project or for the next time you want to make these cupcakes, because you will want to make these cupcakes again (it keeps in the fridge for several weeks or in the freezer for months!)
Once your cupcakes are cooled, grab a small piping bag with a medium round tip (I used a Wilton #12 with a coupler so I could switch the tip later). Alternatively, if you are using a disposable piping bag you can just cut the tip of it to approxiately a 1/4” or 6mm opening. Fill your piping bag with dulce de leche and fill each cupcake with dulce de leche by poking the tip of your piping bag into the middle of your cupcake and squeezing while pulling the piping bag up and out. If you are not using a tip, you might need to first make a hole in the middle of your cupcake using a chopstick or a butter knife.
Once your cupcakes are filled with dulce de leche, put your peanut butter buttercream in your large piping bag with an open star tip (I used a Wilton 1 M). Pipe swirls on top of your cupcakes.
Switch the tip on your dulce de leche piping bag to a smaller round tip (I used a Wilton #4) or use another disposable bag with the tip cut to approximately 1/8” or 3mm. Drizzle dulce de leche on top of your buttercream. Optionally, you can also sprinkle your cupcakes with chopped roasted salted peanuts for a little crunch and extra decoration.
Store cupcakes in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days or in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 6 months. Bring cupcakes up to room temperature before eating for best flavour and texture.
Happy Baking!
Here's the recipe!
Banana Peanut Butter Dulce de Leche Cupcakes
These cupcakes are perfection! Plush banana bread cupcakes with toffee pieces baked in are filled with dulce de leche & topped with a silky peanut butter swiss meringue buttercream.
Ingredients
- 232g All Purpose Flour
- 6g ( 1 tsp) Baking Soda
- 3g (3/4 tsp) Salt
- 2 Medium Overripe Bananas
- 270g Granulated Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs, room temperature
- 5g (1 tsp) Vanilla Extract
- 110g Canola Oil
- 50g Toffee Pieces (homemade or storebought)
- 320g Granulated Sugar
- 235g Egg Whites (fresh or from a carton)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 10g (2 tsp) Vanilla Extract
- 565g Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 75g Natural Peanut Butter
- 1 Jar Dulce de Leche (homemade or storebought)
- A small handful of chopped roasted, salted peanuts (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 and line a standard size muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
- Mash your bananas in a large bowl using a fork until no large chunks remain. Add sugar, vanilla, eggs, and canola oil and whisk together.
- Add flour mixture to banana mixture along with your toffee pieces and gently stir together with a spatula just until all flour is incorporated.
- Scoop into your muffin liners using a #16 scoop or a spoon. Divide all batter evenly between the 12 liners - they will be quite full.
- Bake your cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently poked with your finger, or a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Place the muffin tin on a wire rack to cool.
- Fill a pot with water about halfway and bring to a boil. Make sure your mixer bowl will sit on top of the pot without the bottom touching the water.
- Add your sugar, egg whites, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Place bowl over the pot of boiling water and whisk frequently until mixture is hot to the touch and sugar is dissolved.
- While your sugar/egg white mixture is heating, measure vanilla into a small bowl and set aside. Cut up your butter into small pieces that are approximately 1 tablespoon in size.
- Place bowl on mixer and whip on high speed until fluffy and white and the bowl is neutral to the touch.
- With mixer running on low, add your vanilla, then turn back up to high and start adding your butter one chunk at a time.
- Buttercream might separate, but keep whipping and it will come back together.
- After all of your butter is added, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl, then continue to whip until buttercream is fluffy and white and shiny, about 5-15 minutes (Time depends on the temperature of the room and the temperature that your butter was)
- When your buttercream is ready, measure out 500g of it into a bowl and add your peanut butter. Mix with a spatula until fully incorporated.
- Once your cupcakes are cooled, grab a small piping bag with a medium round tip (I used a Wilton #12 - Alternatively, if you are using a disposable piping bag you can just cut the tip of it to approxiately a 1/4” or 6mm opening.) Fill your piping bag with dulce de leche and fill each cupcake with dulce de leche by poking the tip of your piping bag into the middle of your cupcake and squeezing while pulling the piping bag up and out. If you are not using a tip, you might need to first make a hole in the middle of your cupcake using a chopstick or a butter knife.
- Once your cupcakes are filled with dulce de leche, put your peanut butter buttercream in your large piping bag with an open star tip (I used a Wilton 1 M). Pipe swirls on top of your cupcakes.
- Switch the tip on your dulce de leche piping bag to a smaller round tip (I used a Wilton #4 - or use another disposable bag with the tip cut to approximately 1/8” or 3mm.) Drizzle dulce de leche on top of your buttercream. Optionally, you can also sprinkle your cupcakes with chopped roasted salted peanuts for a little crunch and extra decoration.
- Store any leftover buttercream in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks, or in the freezer for several months. Bring up to room temperature an re-whip to use again. If it is too small an amount to re-whip, warm up the buttercream in the microwave in 5 second bursts, stirring after each one, until smooth and shiny.
Notes
-You will have leftover buttercream. The reason I didn't scale down the recipe is because when you make a smaller batch it is hard to get it whipped to the right consistency because there's just not enough in the bowl for a stand mixer to whip it well. Save your extra buttercream for your next baking project, or for making these cupcakes again later!
-There are links to other blog posts in this blog post about how to make your own dulce de leche and how to make your own toffee pieces if you want to (both totally worth it in my opinion!)
