Brownie Banana Bread Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting.
Today is a special day! It’s a certain someone’s birthday… you know, that guy I live with? Yeah. It’s his birthday.
He turns 83 today!
Oye. Okay, he’s really only in his 30s. I guess the “he’s older than me” jokes got old themselves about three years ago. I’d say I need some new material but the fact is that he gives me new material daily. Sometimes even hourly.
This marks the 5th birthday that Mr. How Sweet and I will celebrate together. In fact, we started “officially” dating only a few days before his birthday 5 years ago. “Official” simply meaning that I had to stop flirting with other boys and he had to stop drunk-dialing girls. True story!
I thought he was super old. I am the oldest child – the oldest cousin, grandchild – oldest everything. So to be dating someone that was 10 years older than me… it seemed like a big deal because it was just different than anything I was used to. I denied the feelings for a long, long time (read: like seven months) before he finally broke me down and got me to commit. Romantic right?
Next came our first “official” date. I’m not going to explain anymore of this “official” business but you are more than welcome to speculate. He planned a fun night: going to see a Pirates games (if that’s what you want to call it) which really translates to eating a bunch of Pittsburgh-themed food while watching fireworks, then going out for dinner and drinks. It was the perfect end to summer and I was even too annoyingly enamored with him to care that he was taking me a baseball game outdoors in 90 degree heat. AKA: my worst nightmare. I’m a huge sweater.
Just before we arrived he decided to glance at the tickets and realized they were actually for September 30th – over a week away. Oops! Secretly I thought this was perfect because it would be a fun way to celebrate his birthday… which was on the 30th. Trying to figure out what to buy your new boyfriend for his birthday is challenging… you don’t really know each other well enough to be fully aware of his favorite interests (or insanely annoying quirks) and well, when he’s a good bit older than you and has his own place, and when you have only ever dated boys who lived with their parents and taken you to the Olive Garden where they order the Tour of Italy every.dang.time… yeah, it’s challenging.
So I stopped fretting about what to plan and simply had to find the perfect gift for his birthday… which was on the 30th.
Right?!
Yeah. Not sure if you’ve looked at a calendar… but today is September 20th, so you can imagine how great it is forgetting your new boyfriend’s birthday two days after you started dating. Someone clued me in that morning on the 20th back in 2006 – of course after I had talked to him numerous times with no mention of a birthday. I argued back, “uhh… no. His birthday is on the 30th. I know this!” To which I was just stared at with a blank glare.
Turns out, his birthday is September 20th. Who knew? Instead of admitting defeat and turning his day around, I acted like the stubborn ass that I am and pretended that I “purposely” forgot just so I could surprise him. And my pathetic attempt at “surprising” consisted of me tying a balloon to his door like he’d just had a baby or something and buying him a season of Entourage on DVD, because seriously, what do you get the guy you’ve been seeing for two whole days?!
I still have a difficult time deciding what to buy for his birthday considering he has almost everything and what he really wants (a vintage $60,000 Rolex, anyone?) I can only dream to afford. So I just make him food and give him a bunch of stuff he doesn’t need.
He loves chocolate chip cookies and cupcakes after they’ve been in the fridge, so I went the cupcake route. As I was frosting them, I called out, “you like banana bread, right?”
Him: “Ugh, no. You know I don’t like banana bread! I only like bananas when they are green and banana bread has black bananas in it. Blech.”
Hmmmm. I thought that sounded eerily familiar.
Fail. What the eff? Why do birthdays and I not get along?
Lucky me, these looked too appetizing for him to turn down. After I frosted them and packed them away for the night, and after we returned home from seeing Straw Dogs and fulfilling my Alexander Skarsgard void, he opened the fridge and yelled, “What the %$&@ is in this container? I think I want one.”
I then spent the next 20 minutes watching him eat four cupcakes over the sink with a can of Diet Coke. Apparently cupcakes are the new chocolate chip cookie.
So there’s that. If that isn’t love… I don’t know what is.
Oh! And by the way, Mr. How Sweet has a name. I know…weirrrd. But let’s be serious – you’ve probably wanted to virtually stab my eye out every time I type the words “Mr. How Sweet” as much as I mentally punch myself in the face each time I write it. His name is Eddie. Or Ed, which my dad calls him because he thinks it’s more manly. I might still call him Mr. How Sweet or I might call him Ed or I might call him something completely different, but I sure as heck won’t call him late for dinner.*
Brownie Banana Bread Cupcakes
Ingredients
Brownie Layer
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips, lightly tossed in flour
Cupcake Layer
- 1 1/3 cups flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
- 3/4 cups of butter, 1 1/2 sticks, at room temperature
- 8 ounces (1 block) of cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 3/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Brownie Layer
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy – about 3-4 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, and mix until combined, scraping down the bowl a few times. With the mixer on medium speed, add in flour, salt and cocoa powder, mixing until just combined. Line a cupcake tin with liners, then spoon about 1/2-3/4 of a tablespoon of brownie batter in each cup. Press down with the back of a spoon coated in non-stick spray.
Cupcake Layer
- Combine dry flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and set aside. In a bowl, whisk egg and add brown sugar, mixing until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Add sour cream and melted butter and mix. Stir in dry ingredients, then add mashed bananas and mix until batter comes together. The batter will be thicker than normal cupcakes. Using an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measure, scoop batter in liners over top of brownie batter. Bake for 15-18 minutes, then let cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
- Beat butter and cream cheese in the bowl of your electric mixer until completely combined and creamy, scraping down the sides a few times. Add in brown sugar and powdered sugar, beating on low speed and gradually increasing to medium speed. Add in vanilla extract. Beat frosting for 4-5 minutes on medium-high speed until really creamy and combined. This frosting is not very thick or study, so make sure to either frost immediately before eating, or keep in the refrigerator for up until 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Be sure to follow @howsweeteats on instagram and tag #howsweeteats. You can also post a photo of your recipe to our facebook page.
I appreciate you so much!
*yeah… desperately need some new material.
196 Comments on “Brownie Banana Bread Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting.”
The love of my life is ten years older as well! I’ll never forget his age since it’s mine +10.
Happy birthday Eddie! You are one lucky man to have these fancy cupcakes for your birthday!
So I have been reading your blog for a while now and using your awesome recipes for dinner and everything is amazing. These in particular look so unique I will have to tackle them sometime over a weekend. Anyway I laugh out loud literally when I read your posts because they are so much like some of the things I grew up with, the boyfriends living at home with their parents only taking you to Olive Garden pretty much explains my entire senior year in high school lol…and you’re right…they ALL ordered the tour of italy because eating Italy was cool. Keep up the great posts, they’re hilarious and delicious…
Thank you for reading!!
YUM! Happy Birthday Mr. How Sweet!
Happy Birthday to your hubby! These look fantastic. I loved this story. So cute. :)
Happy Birthday, Mr. How Sweet!
You are the only other person that has mentioned having a slight infatuation with Alexander Skarsgard. I’m so glad I’m not the only one! Actually, I’d rather be the only so I have a better chance at nabbing him, haha. Do you watch True Blood? YUM!
OMG. I’ve been obsessed with him since 2008. You have no idea.
I would not be ashamed about stalking that man! OK, I’m going to go watch True Blood now =P
I just fell further in love with you because of this recipe.
These look so good–like a chocolate banana milkshake in cupcake form! …or am i the only person in love with chocolate banana milkshakes?!
No way… love ’em.
Happy Birthday, Eddie! Hope you know that we are all in love with your wife and will steal her away from you if you ever turn your back ;) Cheers!
happy birthday to your man! those cupcakes look fabulous! and even after only 2 years of being together, i’ve already resorted to food for my husbands birthday…i can’t think of a single thing he would want more!
this is a GENIUS idea!
happy birthday to your ‘old man’ haha :)
what a cute story, too!
What a sweet post! Happy Birthday Mr. How Sweet…er, um…I mean Eddie. No- I mean Ed. Is Ed/Eddie short for Edward? I think I will still call him Mr. How Sweet-it has a nice ring to it! Jessica and Eddie-that has a nice ring to it, too!
Oh- I almost forgot…the cupcakes look to die for! :-)
Happy birthday to Mr. How Sweet/Eddie/Ed! These cupcakes look delicious!
Happy Birthday to Mr.HowSweet and… ME! he has to be cool- i think everyone born on this day is.. right?! :)
i’m with him on the banana bread.. but i must admit these look yummy.
Happy birthday! :)
These look absolutely amazing!! Happy Birthday to Mr. How Sweet!!!!!!
10 years seems like a big age difference, I can barely tell myself that 4 years isn’t too much, but I never would have guessed that you two were 10 years apart!
And I do cringe every time I hear Mr. How Sweet. :) It’s kinda lame but you know i love you.
Thank you! I think you’re the only one who came out and honestly said that and I can not agree more. I seriously cringe every time ANY blogger uses the word Mr. ______. Barf.
I just made the brown sugar frosting and I can now die happy. Really. I’m missing 2 ingredients for the cupcakes so I’m off to the store. I think I need more brown sugar now too….Heavenly!
I could not stop eating the frosting at all. So good!
You left the chocolate chips out ;-)
Happy Birthday to Mr. How Sweet (for me, he will always have that name ;)).
I love hearing love stories :)
And those Brownie Cupcakes looks delicious.
I like that you call him Mr. HowSweet but I guess Eddie will do! Hope he enjoys those cupcakes they look great!
I can’t even take all of this in! YUM!
It’s nice to finally know your hubby’s name! Happy Birthday, Eddie! :) You are a lucky man to have this lady baking for you!
Haha! You crack me up! Every time I try to do something special for my boyfriend for birthdays, holidays, etc something falls through or it fails miserably. But your right, if I have a yummy homemade treat then all is good! Happy birthday to your husband!
P.S.
I’ll take one, or five of these (if there are any left! ha!)
Happy Birthday to your Mr.!! :-)
OOH oooh ooh! I know this one – I just troubleshot (troubleshooted?) the cream cheese frosting thing last weekend. To keep it more sturdy & less slimy I had to learn all about the chemical issues sugar & cheese creates to conclude DON’T ADD THE CREAM CHEESE TIL THE END! It worked marvelously. (And, btw, you’re so funny I almost die everytime you post – thank you for the laughs!)
I was sooooooooooo hoping that asterisk was going to denote a “grandpa joke”. My boyfriend is an old soul too. He makes what I call “grandpa jokes” all the time. You know what a grandpa joke is. Your grandpa makes them. Happy Birthday Mr. How Sweet!
I made your browned butter peach crisp, and it was AMAZING. I love your blog!
So glad you liked it!
wow i want to eat these right now! They look so yummy!
I can’t think of a better birthday treat!!
Okay I have been reading this blog for a few days and finally thought uit was time to speak up! Perfect birthday treats! I forget birthdays all the time!
HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO U, MR EDDIE, HOW SWEET!!
awwww I’m so glad you told us his name!!!!! hahaha Happy birthday Eddie! :) aka Mr. How Sweet! These look bomb.com. I told the man that I’m gunna make them. He said they don’t sound good. Sorry, but they sound f’ing amazing and I WILL be making them this weekend…even though I don’t even know what ripe bananas look like (ew).
Happy birthday Ed/ Mr. How Sweet. You have the best wife ever! (I thought you should know that if you haven’t realized it yet) These look delicious
I have been reading your blog for years and have never posted before. But I have to say this post was so much fun to read and very very cute! Your food is always interesting and I love reading about your life, and your Mr. How Sweet and your grandma (Mother Lovett, I think?) God bless her. It’s nice to be able to relate to someone even when you don’t know them and they live so far away! (I’m in Toronto, Cananda!) Your blog makes me happy! Thanks for posting!
Happy Birthday, Eddie! These cupcakes look very good! Ripe bananas and cupcake wrappers, check. I’ll be making these for sure!
One word : AWESOME!
My hubby is 11 years older than I am…I like reminding him of that on pretty much a daily basis.
I kinda agree with him on the banana bread thing…but these cupcakes look like I could forgive the rotten fruit because they have been conveniently saved by brownies and frosting.
Yumm!
Happy birthday mr how sweet….can’t wait to try the cupcakes inspired by your birthday;)
Wow… What a combination. These look absolutely amazing. Since they are banana bread, I can eat them for breakfast, right? :)
Holy freakin’ geez…I’ve been reading your blog for awhile and knew we were besties separated at birth but really? You have managed to put most of my favorite things in one recipe. And my birthday is on September 18th so I think you and birthdays are good. Can’t wait to make this. I have to go to the store now…
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What a fantastic read! Thanks, I needed the smile :)
bah. I’ve been following you foreversss and ever since I found you I’ve been resisting the urge to creep you out with how alike I feel we are. Well, I can’t contain it any. more. Down to the Mr. Man who’s 10 years older, who only eats meat with a side of sandwich [sandwich translation: 2 plain (emphasis plain) chicken breasts sandwiching a protein bar], or the previously only Olive Garden boys, and a million and a half other things. I wish I lived closer. and could be your bff. and swap stories. so… yeah I <3 your blog!
Those cupcakes look amazing and I really enjoyed reading about you and your husband! You always have great stories to share!!
OMG this frosting on graham crackers is WONDERFUL btw. I posted a rough pic to your fb page of these! so great and even better cold the next morning for breakfast!
Ack! Jessica! What do I do with the mini chocolate chips? Baking one-handed with 3 mo old – didn’t notice till I had brownie layer in cups that I had chips left cuz my instructions never said what to do with them! ;) Ended up sprinkling them on top of brownie layer… :P
I made these cupcakes today. AMAZING! I have to start giving them away to neighbors and friends or I will eat them all. p.s. Happy Belated Eddie!
It seems like you are always posting such creative and delicious desserts, where do you come up with all these ideas??
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These cupcakes are amazing! Got wonderful reviews from my co-workers and friends when I made them for them! :) One question, where do the chocolate chips go? On top of the banana layer it may look like from your pictures. I left them out, but still got great comments about them! And this frosting is DIVINE! I totally ate it by the spoonfuls the other day. One other issue I had, the brownie layer stuck to the cupcake liners pretty bad, any way to prevent that? :) I love your blog, and I’m so inspired by what you do! I wish to be just like you when I figure out what I’m doing with my life! Any advice on becoming a food blogger? :)
I have been traveling for work for the last few weeks and just had the opportunity to come home to my kitchen and make these — YUM. I subbed box brownie mix + a dash of cinnamon and a tsp. of vanilla for making my own brownie base, and it was still delish. Plus I love the swirl of the brownie/banana bread layers when I bite in to it. This recipe is a keeper!! Thanks!