Banana Ghost Cupcakes

There are ghost popping up on websites and blogs everywhere right now, reminding me of a particular ghost cupcake that I had wanted to make. Scouring through my cupcake books, I just cannot find that ghost anywhere! I am hoping to replicate the cute little ghost as best as I can from memory (the one in the above picture in the center top came the closest). Where is Scooby-Doo when you need him? (To help me find the ghost!)

 For the cupcake, I used a Banana Cupcake recipe adapted from the Pink Princess Cupcakes Book that was suggested to use for the Teacup Treats, Pixie Princess, and Sunshine Princess designs. However, I didn't use it for any of those cupcakes and decided to use in on a non-princess cupcake!

 

 Banana Cupcakes

(Adapted from Pink Princess Cupcakes by Barbara Beery)

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs (room temperature)

3/4 cup mashed bananas (about 3 medium sized bananas)

1 cup self rising flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

 

In mixer, cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs in one at a time mixing well after each. Add in vanilla extract and bananas. Add in flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg just until mixed. Fill 12 liners 2/3 full of cupcake batter. Bake in 350 degree preheated oven for 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool.

The cupcakes have a light flavor. I do appreciate a lighter, less sweet cupcake from time to time. These are another cupcake that would be perfect for after dinner, just the right amount of flavor. I could eat one of these right after the other!
They are topped with Cool-Whip that I squeezed through a piping bag and the eyes are Wilton Rainbow Chip Crunch.

These are close to the ghost I remember, but something is different. I will probably find the recipe after Halloween! Maybe it wasn't a cupcake at all? A brownie maybe? Whenever I do find it, if it is on the internet, I will be sure to pin it to my Halloween & Fall Board on Pinterest! On my ghost hunt, I did find another fun...very fun cupcake to make soon!

Happy Haunting!

*Update 9/30/2011: Thanks to Liz at Hoosier Homemade, I have found my ghosts! They are in the "What's New Cupcake?" book. The ghost in the top picture on this post in the center does look like the ones in the book. The difference is in the book the ghost sits on top of Oreo dirt! Mystery Solved!

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 These Cupcakes are Haunting People at:

Chef In Training: Tuesday Talent Show

Rook No 17: A Little Birdie Told Me
The Kurtz Corner: Tuesday Tutorials
Celebrating Family: Family Time Tuesday
Crazy for Crust: Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Hoosier Homemade: Cupcake Tuesday
Lady Behind the Curtain: Cast Party Wednesday
This Chick Cooks: These Chicks Cooked
A Place Called Home: Creative Halloween Ideas
Bacon Time: Party Mindie Style

These Cupcakes are Featured at:
Family Fun Crafts

Banana Yogurt Bread

Let me start by saying, I have never made Banana Bread. In fact, I have only made bread once in my entire life and it was probably 15 or 16 years ago. Since then, my 2 bread pans sat lonely, never used. When I saw this Banana Yogurt Bread on Lemon Drop, I knew I had to make it! Linda made this bread look so easy to make and yummy. I immediately Pinned it on Pinterest, my newly discovered time zapper! This recipe was just posted in the past week and I didn't want to just share so soon without asking, so with the Lemon Drop blessing...here it is!

Banana Yogurt Bread

recipe source: Lemon Drop

the recipe below makes 1 loaf of bread

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter at room temperature (I used margarine)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1-1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 medium bananas, peeled and mashed

1/2 cup Greek yogurt (or full fat sour cream)- (I used Fage Plain Greek Yogurt)

   

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x5" loaf pan with cooking spray. In bowl of stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla and 1 egg. Blend until combined and add remaining egg. In separate bowl, whisk together remaining dry ingredients. Fold into wet ingredients until just combined. Stir In bananas and yogurt. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and level the top. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

This recipe looked so good, I doubled it!

I have to say I was a little nervous while it was baking, hoping that I didn't mess up her directions. I actually followed everything exactly, other than I used margarine instead of butter. 10 minutes...it looked like nothing was happening! Soon enough though, it began to look like bread! Seriously, this amazed me!

At 55 minutes, the toothpick inserted came out clean. I sat them on a baking rack to cool in the pans like I would a cake...something that I know something about. I wanted to wait for the kids to get out of school to cut the bread.

Once it was cooled, still warm, but cool enough. I had to take it out of the pan to check it out. It came right out, well with a couple shakes! It looks like bread and it smells like banana bread!

And then...

I cut into it...after all I had 2 loaves in case one didn't make it until school got out!

YUM!

My 3 year old said this is the best tasting "banana cake" ever! I thought it was so funny she called it "cake!" I ate it "as is," no butter on top or spreads of any kind. It didn't need it! The bread is moist and fluffy and full of flavor! I even ate another piece when composing this blog! This was definitely a hit! I am so glad I doubled the recipe! It tasted absolutely wonderful and will be a family favorite for years to come I am sure!

    

Thank you Lemon Drop for sharing this Banana Yogurt Bread Recipe!

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This bread is shared at:

This Chick Cooks: These Chicks Cooked, Daily Organized Chaos: Foodie Wednesday, Pinch of This, That, and the Other: Whisking Wednesdays, Dollars and Cents: Sweet Temptations, Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday, Coupon Cookin': Tasty Traditions, Sweetology: Tea Party Tuesday, Mangoes and Chutney: Fat Camp Friday, Crumbs and Chaos: Seasonal Inspiration, A Well-Seasoned Life: Sweet Indulgences Sunday, Mom's Crazy Cooking: Twelve Days of Christmas Goodies

 
This bread is featured at:

Pinch of This, That & the Other: Whisking Wednesdays

A Well-Seasoned Life: Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Hello Kitty- Apples and Bananas Cupcakes

These cupcakes taste great without icing, they are low calorie and low fat, and really could be eaten for breakfast or a lunchbox snack! However, I have leftover icing from my Wilton Decorating class this week and Hello Kitty liners and Candies that are begging to be used!

I started by finding a Banana Cupcake Recipe that I liked from Disney Family Fun and then changed it up a bit to suit my tastes. This recipe makes 23 standard sized cupcakes.

Ingredients

2 Cups All Purpose Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Cup Applesauce*

1-1/3 Cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon Wilton Clear Almond Flavoring*

3/4 Cup Milk (I used 1%)

3 Mashed Bananas (about 1-1/4 Cup)*

(*These are the ingredients that I changed from the original recipe)

Preheat oven to 375. Mix together the applesauce and sugar, then beat in the eggs, added baking soda and salt and alternately add in the flour and milk, finally add in the bananas, mixing on low until combined. I filled 23 liners about 3/4 full and baked for 19 minutes. Take the cupcakes out of pans and cool on wire rack until fully cooled. I like to put a papertowel on top of the wire rack so that the cupcake doesn't get grooves in the bottom. I find by cooling them this way the wrapper stays nicer and peels of easier.

I calculate these cupcakes (with no icing) to be only about 110 calories each with only about 1 gram of fat. I came to this calculation by adding the calories of all of my ingredients and dividing by 23 for the 23 cupcakes that I made and then doing the same with the fat. I am no nutritionist or mathematician...so I can't promise this is 100% accurate, but it should be in the ballpark!

I love cupcakes and eat lots of them, so I do try and make substitutions whenever possible to lower the calories and fat in my cupcakes and family and friends actually preferred the taste of the lower calorie/fat cupcakes. I have learned a lot of the substitutions from the Hungry Girl books, email newsletters, and website. You can have a low calorie/lowfat cupcake without sacrificing taste!

Try one of these before you decorate them, my daughter and I love them as-is!

I had Almond flavored buttercream icing leftover from my Wilton Class this week, so I am using that to decorate my cupcakes. I first made a ring around the cupcake with the bright pink with a size 12 tip. Then I put a 1M swirl on top of that, sprinkled with pink sanding sugar and added the Wilton Hello Kitty candy piece to the top!

Here's the class picture!