Banana Pudding Cupcakes Recipe

Soft banana pudding–filled cupcakes with a vanilla wafer crust and banana frosting on top.

Instructions

For the filling:

Mix the milk, instant banana pudding, and salt in a medium mixing bowl, stirring until well combined.
1 cup whole milk, cold, 3 ½ tablespoons (½ of a 3.4 ounce package) instant banana pudding mix, ½ teaspoon salt
Peel a banana and chop it into small pieces, stirring it into the pudding. Cover the pudding with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to set up while you make your cupcakes.
1 medium banana, chopped (about ⅔ cup)

For the cupcakes:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl or on parchment paper and set aside.
1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
Add the butter, sugar, and cream to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat together on medium speed until fluffy and pale yellow (1-2 minutes).
½ cup unsalted butter, softened, ¾ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon heavy cream
Add the eggs to the creamed butter and sugar one at a time, ensuring that each egg is fully incorporated before you add the next one. Each egg will take about 15 seconds.
3 large eggs, room temperature
Stop the mixer to scrape the sides of the bowl, and then add the yogurt and vanilla extract.
½ cup plain yogurt (regular yogurt, not Greek), 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Turn the mixer back to medium and allow to mix for another minute or until the yogurt is fully incorporated. It will look as though it has separated. Turn the mixer back to low, slowly add the dry ingredients, and mix until fully incorporated.
Turn the mixer off and scrape the sides and bottom of the mixer bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure all ingredients are combined. Set your mixture to the side.
Line each well of a muffin tin with paper liners and place a vanilla wafer cookie into the bottom of each liner.
12 vanilla wafer cookies
Fill each well ⅔ of the way with the batter.
Place the cupcakes in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the edges are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes clean.

For the frosting:

Add the softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
Allow the butter to whip on medium speed while adding the heavy cream, extracts, and salt.
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream, cold, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon banana extract, ¼ teaspoon salt
Turn the mixer down to low and slowly add the powdered sugar.
2 cups powdered sugar
When the sugar is mostly incorporated, turn the mixer high and allow it to whip for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.

To assemble and decorate:

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before coring the center out of each cupcake and filling it with pudding. Spread it to the sides with a knife or offset spatula without letting it spill over the edge.
Fit a zip-top or piping bag with a large star tip and fill it with frosting.
Pipe a swirl of frosting on each cupcake and top with a vanilla wafer cookie, crushed vanilla wafer cookies, and sliced bananas.
Sliced bananas, Crushed or whole vanilla wafer cookies

Ingredients

For the filling:

For the cupcakes:

For the frosting:

Instructions

For the filling:

For the cupcakes:

For the frosting:

To assemble and decorate:

Notes