My husband spends a lot of time working with and volunteering for the elderly. I admire him so much for his huge heart. When I make large batches of food (which is pretty much always), I’ll often send some along with him to give out. One of the people he sees pretty frequently LOVES banana pudding a whole lot. She treats my husband like a grandson and insisted on sending him home with two of the banana pudding cupcakes that she received for her birthday. So I in turn decided to make my own version of banana pudding cupcakes for her! There were three components to the recipe.
Oh my goodness, when I tried one I was in heaven. The cupcakes were gorgeously flavored and had just the right texture. I wanted them to be really firm to hold up to having the filling in the middle. Getting to that banana pudding in the middle was just pure joy. My husband’s elderly friend absolutely went nuts for these banana pudding cupcakes and I hope you do too! xoxo
Banana Pudding Cupcakes
Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
3 hrs 20 mins
These banana pudding cupcakes are so amazing and decadent! The banana cupcakes are filled with banana pudding and topped with banana cream cheese frosting.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Banana Pudding Cupcakes, Cupcakes
Servings: 16 cupcakes
Calories: 542 kcal
Ingredients
FOR THE BANANA PUDDING
- 2 1/4 cups milk divided
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 whole egg yolks
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 2 teaspoons banana extract
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 whole banana overripe and mashable
FOR THE CUPCAKES
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 1/2 sticks butter softened to room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 whole eggs
- 1 tablespoon banana extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
FOR THE FROSTING AND TOPPING
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 1 stick butter softened to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon banana extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
- 24 whole vanilla wafers
Instructions
- First, make the pudding. Combine 2 cups of the milk and the sugar together in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Let it come to a gentle simmer. While that happens whisk the egg yolks together in a bowl. Then in a separate bowl stir the other 1/4 cup of milk thoroughly with the corn starch. Scoop a 1/2 cup of the hot milk into the bowl with the egg yolks and whisk them together to temper the eggs. Then whisk that mixture back into the pot with the rest of the milk, letting it cook for just 15-20 seconds. Continue to whisk while you pour in the cornstarch mixture. Let the pudding bubble and thicken for a minute while you keep whisking, then finally whisk in the banana extract and butter until it is smooth. Transfer the pudding to a bowl and place plastic wrap directly on it to keep it from developing a skin. Set it in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.
- Make the cupcakes while the pudding chills. Take two cupcake trays and line 16 of the wells with paper liners. Pre-heat the oven to 350 and set up a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together in a bowl to aerate the dry ingredients and then set them aside. Combine the butter and sugar in the stand mixer bowl and beat them together until fluffy. Add in each egg one at a time, followed by the two extracts. Turn the speed to low and slowly add in the dry ingredients until you have a sticky, thick batter. Evenly distribute the batter among the 16 wells, filling them just about 3/4 of the way. Bake the cupcakes for about 20 minutes, until golden and crackly around the edges. Let them cool completely.
- Make the frosting while the cupcakes bake and cool. Wash out the stand mixer bowl and paddle attachment first. Then combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl and beat them together thoroughly. Add in the cinnamon and banana extract next. Then turn the speed to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the frosting until you are ready to assemble the cupcakes. When you are ready to assemble the cupcakes, mash the banana for the pudding first. Fold it into the rest of the pudding to make it thicker and more flavorful.
- Use a 1 inch circle cutter to cut out a hole in the center of each cupcake, being careful to not go all of the way to the bottom. Spoon the pudding into the holes generously to fill the cupcakes. Scoop the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and frost each cupcake. Then take 8 of the vanilla wafers and put them into a zip top bag. Crush them into crumbs with a rolling pin, then sprinkle each of the cupcakes generously with the crumbs. Finish by sticking a whole vanilla wafer on top. There will be leftover crumbs and pudding that can be made into great dessert later! Store the cupcakes in a sealed container in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Banana Pudding Cupcakes
Amount Per Serving (1 cupcake)
Calories 542 Calories from Fat 208
% Daily Value*
Fat 23.1g36%
Saturated Fat 13.5g84%
Cholesterol 140mg47%
Sodium 212mg9%
Potassium 185mg5%
Carbohydrates 78.7g26%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 54.1g60%
Protein 7.1g14%
Calcium 80mg8%
Iron 1.8mg10%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
OMGoodness!!
How awesome are these little beauties Leigh! 😀
I am a HUGE fan of cupcakes, they are my favorite dessert of all the sweets out there.
Especially lemon cupcakes, actually anything with lemon in it is fabulous to me. 🙂
How nice of your hubby to help out the elderly and to get thanked with cupcakes.
I always seem to have bananas in my kitchen, so this deelish cupcake will be added to my ‘must-make’ list.
Plus, it’s a CUPCAKE….a definite bake!
Have a nice evening Leigh!
Aw, thank you so much!! Yes, if you like cupcakes these babies are so decadent. My favorite part is the pudding in the middle. Enjoy!! 🙂
I’m salivating just looking at the pictures, then reading about them made me want to lick my screen! 🙂
My husband is not a fan of bananas, but put them in something baked and he absolutely loves it. I may have to give these a try one day. I don’t bake often, but it’s something I want to start doing more.
Oh, thank you so much!! I hope you try them and love them!
They look so beautiful! Looks like an amazing recipe. Pudding cupcake never go wrong!
Exactly! A pudding filled cupcake is like two desserts in one!
These look so tasty! Love banana flavour!
Thank you so much!! I do too 🙂
OMG best idea ever!! I am drooling! lol 🙂
Thank you so much!!
I love me some banana pudding, but injecting it into cupcakes.
Yes, it combines two of my favorite desserts in one! Thanks so much for stopping by :-).
The Nilla wafer on top takes the cake (or CUPcake!) What a yummy and nostalgic treat!
Oh thank you very much!! That means a lot.
These sound absolutely AMAZING! I love banana pudding, it’s one of my favorite ever desserts, and these sound really simple to make. I’ve been looking for an easy cupcake recipe to make with my son this weekend, I think we just found it. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Aww, baking with little ones is so fun!! I hope you and your son have a blast and enjoy them, thanks so much for the kind words! 🙂
I love banana pudding and cupcakes. This sounds so perfect!
Thank you so much!!
These look so delish and those festive cupcake wrappers are sooo very cute.
Thank you so much!!
Banana pudding is one of my favorite desserts of all time. It’s pretty genius to put it inside of a cupcake. Yum!
Thank you so much!!
What a fun idea for a cupcake flavor!
Thanks very much!!
I’ve never made banana pudding anything, but my mouth is watering reading this (and looking at the photos, of course). Yum!
Thank you so much!!
Yum! I love banana cream pie so I have no doubt I’d love these as well. Pinning!
Oh yes, if you love banana cream pie you will love these!