Brownie Bottom Banana Bread Cupcakes

I absolutely LOVE banana bread.  I will eat a whole loaf, by myself, in one sitting.  Not the little ones, but the big ones.  There is almost nothing better that warm banana bread with some butter on it.  Usually, when I make my banana bread, I add chocolate chips to it.  mmmmm.......so good!!  Then one day, I came across this recipe from one of my favorite bloggers over at How Sweet It Is.  Of course I had to give it a whirl.

Brownie Layer
1/4 c. butter
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 c. flour
2 tbsp. cocoa
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 c. chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients.  Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.  Spray with non-stick spray (it helps the cupcakes come out of the liners better).  place about 1/2 tbsp into each liner.  Pat it down to fill the bottom.  Next, add the cupcake mix.

Cupcake Layer
1 1/3 c. flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 bananas, mashed
1/4 c. sour cream
1/2 c. butter, melted

In a bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients until well mixed.  Then add the dry ingredients.  Mix until combined.  Add 1/4 c. of the batter to each cupcake.  Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Brown Sugar Frosting (Glaze)

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

3/4 c. butter

8 oz. cream cheese

3/4 c. brown sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients.  Place in the fridge to firm up a bit.  This frosting isn't one that holds it's shape, it came out more like a glaze for me, but then again, almost anytime I attempt frostings (with the exception of the frosting I use on my cinnamon rolls) they always turn out soft and more glaze-like.  I think it is because I don't add enough powdered sugar because I don't really like the taste of powdered sugar.  It makes them too sweet.  Anyway...so expect this to be slightly soft, but I'm sure if you added more sugar or even used shortening in place of butter, it might hold it's shape better, but I'll let you play with that because I'm not a big frosting fan. =)

There are a few things I might change next time I make these.  I will make the brownie layer bigger (I love chocolate).  I might try a variation of the frosting, but not sure what I would do yet.  

Overall, I liked these =)    They are a nice change from the usual banana bread.  I think the recipe would be great as just plain banana cupcakes for those weird people (like my husband) who don't like chocolate and banana together, and I am planning a recipe to use the brownie base with something else.  Can't wait!

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