Banoffee Cupcakes are moist banana cupcakes filled with dulce de leche and topped with a whipped chocolate ganache frosting. The combination of banana, dulce de leche, and chocolate is hard to beat! These caramely banana cupcakes are sweet, nutty, decadent, and are sure to be a crowd pleaser.
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If you're not familiar with banoffee, it is a classic flavor combination from England of banana and toffee, usually made into a pie. My spin on this traditional dessert is banoffee pie cupcakes made with store bought or homemade dulce de leche (instead of making a toffee sauce from scratch). I've also added brown butter in the cupcake batter for extra nuttiness and caramel flavoring, like in my Chocolate Chip Banana Bundt Cake!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- It's a great use for the overripe bananas on your counter!
- Using store-bought dulce de leche is a big time saving trick instead of making homemade toffee sauce.
- Chocolate ganache frosting is always a good thing, and whipping it makes a fluffy, rich topping.
- A tried and true flavor combination that may be new to you and your friends!
Ingredients
- Overripe bananas are key to getting the right flavor and texture in your banoffee cupcakes.
- Unsalted butter gets cooked on the stove until nutty, adding lots of flavor to the cupcake batter.
- Sour cream adds richness and helps keep the banana cupcakes really moist.
- Use high quality semi-sweet chocolate chips since it is one of only two ingredients in the ganache frosting. Using good chocolate really improves the flavor and consistency!
- Store bought dulce de leche is a great option for the filling, or you can make your own with a can of sweetened condensed milk.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- Top with whipped cream, cream cheese frosting, or buttercream instead of the whipped chocolate ganache.
- Use store bought dulce de leche or make your own with a can of sweetened condensed milk.
- Skip the center cutout and simply spread the dulce de leche on top of the cupcakes before frosting.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
How to Make Banoffee Cupcakes
Step 1: Brown the unsalted butter, then remove from the heat and let cool. This can be sped up by placing it in the fridge, but be sure to stir it every 5-10 minutes so it doesn't solidify.
Step 2: To make the ganache, pour hot cream over the chocolate chips. Let sit, covered, for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. Let the ganache cool and thicken while making the cupcakes.
Step 3: In a large bowl, whisk the cooled brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar to combine. Mix in the eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream, and mashed bananas.
Step 4: In a separate bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Then, fold this mixture into the wet ingredients.
Step 5: Fill 15-16 cupcake liners about ⅔ of the way up with batter, and bake at 350°F until a toothpick comes out clean (about 18-22 minutes). Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 6: Whisk the cooled and thickened ganache until it is light and fluffy with stiff peaks.
Step 7: Cut holes out of the cupcake centers, fill with dulce de leche, and place cutout piece of cake back on top of the filling.
Step 8: Pipe the whipped chocolate ganache on the filled cupcakes.
Expert Baking Tips
- Make sure the cupcakes have completely cooled before cutting out the centers and frosting. Filling and frosting the cupcakes while still warm will lead to melted dulce de leche and frosting and create quite a mess.
- Use a sharp knife or cupcake corer to remove the center of the cupcakes. Be careful not to cut all the way through the bottom of the cupcakes, but just about ⅔ down.
- Use an extra large star piping tip to swirl the frosting onto the cupcakes.
Recipe FAQs
Banoffee is a pie from Great Britain that is made with bananas, toffee, whipped cream, and usually has shaved chocolate on top.
Dulce de leche is sauce made of sweetened milk that's similar to caramel and common in Latin America. You can find a ton of info about it, including various ways to make it, in Pies and Tacos's Dulce de Leche Guide!
The biggest difference is the filling and frosting! Muffins are also typically slightly denser and potentially a little less sweet than a cupcake.
You'll need 1.5 cups of mashed bananas which is usually about 3 medium-large bananas.
Storage
Room Temperature
These banoffee cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days.
Refrigerator
Chilled cupcakes should keep for about 1 week in an airtight container.
Freezing Instructions
If you want to make these ahead of time and freeze them, I recommend waiting to make the frosting and dulce de leche. Freeze fully cooled, unfilled and unfrosted cupcakes in a freezer-safe container for 1 month. Defrost before you plan to serve them and fill and frost once at room temperature.
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📖 Recipe
Banoffee Cupcakes
Equipment
- Cupcake pan with liners
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring spoons
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Electric mixer recommended for frosting
- Piping bags and tip
Ingredients
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
- 1½ cups (255 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1½ cups (354.88 ml) heavy whipping cream
Banana Cupcakes
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter measured then browned
- ¾ cup (150 g) light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large (2 large) eggs room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons (1½ teaspoons) vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60 g) sour cream room temperature
- 1½ cups (350 g) bananas mashed then measured (1½c = about 3 medium bananas)
- 1½ cups (187 g) all-purpose flour weighed in grams or spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) salt
- ½ cup (156 g) dulce de leche for filling
Instructions
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
- Measure the chocolate chips into a medium/large heat-resistant bowl.
- Heat the cream until it's simmering (in the microwave or over the stove). Pour the hot cream over the chocolate so that it's covered completely. Place a plate or wrap over the bowl to trap in the heat and let it sit untouched for 5 minutes.
- Starting from the center of the bowl, swirl a spatula around, working your way to the sides of the bowl until it's a smooth mixture. Let it cool and thicken. I recommend making the cupcakes while it cools.
- Whisk (vigorously by hand or with a mixer) the ganache for a few minutes, until it's light and fluffy with stiff peaks. Then, transfer it to a piping bag with a piping tip.
Banana Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F and fill cupcake pans with liners (should make 15-16 cupcakes).
- Cook the butter in a skillet over low-medium heat while stirring constantly until it smells nutty and brown bits accumulate on the bottom. Then, carefully pour it into a large heat-resistant mixing bowl and let it cool.
- While the brown butter is cooling, mash and measure the bananas. Then, in a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- When the butter's cooled down, mix in the sugars really well. Stir in the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and mashed bananas.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until the flour streaks disappear.
- Fill the cupcake liners about ⅔ full and bake until a toothpick comes out clean (15-20 minutes).
- Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, and then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Assembling the Banoffee Cupcakes
- When the cupcakes are completely cool, cut out the centers (about ⅔ way down), but save the tops of the cutouts.
- Pipe dulce de leche into the centers of the cupcakes but leave room to place the tops back on over the toffee.
- After placing all of the cupcake cutout tops over the toffee, pipe the frosting on each cupcake.
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