Coming back after a lovely month-long holiday at home is plenty enough to drag anyone into a slump. Layered with an acute sense of seasonal affective disorder, severe jet lag, and a nosedive into the new academic term, and it might be a case of mild clinical depression.

 

At odds with the moody English climate and the idea of jump-starting my life again, I found that this particular cupcake therapy was just enough to get me out of that homesick downward spiral.

 

 

Peanut Butter Nutella Banana Cupcakes

Bake time: 16-18 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

Yield: 18 cupcakes

 

Ingredients

 

Muffins:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour

• 1 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoons baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup mashed bananas

• 2 eggs

• ¼ cup vegetable oil

• 1 cup brown sugar

• ¾ cup buttermilk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 12 chocolate truffles or Nutella

 

Peanut Butter Frosting:

• ½ cup butter

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter

• 4 cups confectioners' sugar

• ⅓ cup cream

 

 

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).

• In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

• Beat all wet ingredients including brown sugar in separate large bowl until creamy, adding and beating the buttermilk last. Carefully fold in the flour in 3 batches just until combined. Over mixing will result in dense cupcakes.

• Line tin with liners or coat with baking spray. Fill each cup halfway with batter. Dollop a hefty teaspoon of Nutella into each center. Add more batter on top to fill the cups until just a little over ¾ full.

• Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the muffin pan on a cooling rack and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before removing the cupcakes. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

• Make the peanut butter frosting while the cupcakes cool. In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter and butter until light and fluffy.

• Alternate adding sugar and cream until desired consistency and sweetness is reached.

 

 

I opted to use whole-wheat flour to give the cake a bit more structure, but plain flour will work as well. The key is using bananas at optimum ripeness. This means allowing the skins to brown completely. I know it looks like you oughtta chuck 'em in the bin, but they're perfectly fine when you peel them, and they'll impart more flavor and sweetness that way. You'll need about 3 bananas for this recipe.

 

As nice as a cup of tea sounds to pair with the cupcakes, nothing like a tall glass of ice cold milk can truly bring you all the way back to the US of A.