Roasted Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

This is a recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book. I've made banana bread a bajillion times but I've never made it with roasted bananas. Have you ever roasted bananas? A banana cupcake sounds like something I might take to a play date but a roasted banana cupcake sounds like something I might take to a dinner party. Martha's recipe did not have chocolate chips but I just wasn't all that excited about the batter after the very many steps it took to make so at the last minute I tossed in some Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips. Good move. Martha's recipe paired the cupcakes with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting which I planned on making but since I added the chocolate I decided to go with cream cheese frosting and chocolate curls for garnish. By the way, my kids think it's so cool that I can make chocolate curls.

I delivered the cupcakes to my official taste testing family and they all gave thumbs up. My family gave thumbs up as well. Next time I'll just make bigger cupcakes.


Ingredients
3 ripe bananas, plus 1 to 2 more for garnish (I used chocolate curls for garnish, made by using a vegetable peeler and a chocolate bar. I found a use for the vegetable peeler!)
2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
(I added chocolate chips. just eyeballed it)

Directions (don't be deceived; there are way more than 4 steps)
Makes 16 cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 3 whole unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet and roast 15 minutes (the peels will darken). Meanwhile, sift together cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Remove bananas from oven and let cool before peeling. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

2. With an electric mixer on medium--high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add roasted bananas (I added all the juicy, syrupy stuff you get by roasting the bananas), and beat to combine. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of sour cream, and beating until just combined after each. Beat in vanilla.

3. In another mixing bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, whisk egg whites to soft peaks; fold one-third whites into batter to lighten. Gently fold in remaining whites in two batches.

4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. (I made 24 cupcakes instead of the recommended 16 so they were small. 16 would have been better. I cooked them for 16 1/2 minutes)