A few months ago, in the midst of bar exam doldrums, I came across this recipe for banana bread bars with brown butter frosting that looked mindblowing. But, given our extremely sedentary (nearly vegetative) lifestyle at the time, I omitted the frosting and ended up making only the bars, with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. And they were absolutely fantastic just on their own! No frosting necessary (though the brown butter frosting does sound pretty out-of-control). The cake was pillowy, moist, and banana-y, but not so dense and cloying as a typical banana bread; I was actually surprised by how soft and chewy the texture was. They were so good that even Bowl #2, enemy of sweets, ate at least half the pan. As good as they were, though, at the time I felt it was a little lackluster just to post a couple of squares of banana cake with no frosting, so I figured I’d make them as cupcakes or as a regular loaf later on, and shelved the idea.
So I forgot about these awesome bars for awhile (how dare I!) And then I saw this chocolate hazelnut banana bread from Cooking Light on Instagram, using Nutella, and it all came together. I have kind of a thing for swirls in food … and Nutella. So I made these! Banana cupcakes — technically muffins, since they have no frosting, but they’re much more cake-y than muffin-y — with Nutella swirl. (And then obviously realized I’d seen it elsewhere, like here, and here. I’m pretty sure this happens every single time I think I’m being original.)
And then I made them again … and again. My mother wanted to give them to friends — such a win for me and my newbie baking skills! I got to make three whole batches. I tried a few variations, which I’ll get to in just a second, but each time the cupcakes turned out wonderfully. The swirl is just enough to add a bit of chocolate hazelnut flavor, but not too much to be overpowering, which is good because the cupcakes are quite rich as it is. The cakes themselves are light and fluffy, very much a cupcake, and not a banana bread or banana muffin. Edit: Best of all, I just calculated the calories, and they’re actually not too bad for you! They’re full of Greek yogurt and use about a third less sugar than some other recipes I came across, so they come out to about 130 calories per cupcake. Not fantastic, but not totally wracked-with-guilt-y, either. 🙂
So the variations. Since I had the rare luxury of making so many at once, these three batches also ended up being an opportunity to experiment on oil versus butter in baking cakes. For the first batch, I followed the original recipe and used 4 tablespoons of butter. After coming across this comparison by the Cake Blog, I made a second batch with only oil, and then, being somewhat dissatisfied with both, I combined the two and used both butter and oil in a last batch.
The butter and oil versions I baked in the same day, so I was able to compare side-by-side. (So fun!) My oil version was taller and lighter, just as the oil cake on the Cake Blog was, and the crumb was open and noticeably coarser. The butter version did not rise nearly as much, but stayed denser, with a crumb that was more even, and a texture that was somewhat chewier. (A note on this below, though.) Both the oil and butter cakes were quite moist, but, unlike the author of the Cake Blog article, I did think that the oil version had a flatter taste than the butter one. It was still very good, but the butter version just tasted somehow fuller, with significantly more depth to the banana flavor — on the whole, I thought it was much more satisfying. Still, as cupcakes they didn’t rise very much, and were a bit heavy for my liking. Plus, I didn’t like the idea of so much saturated fat and cholesterol if I could avoid it.
So then I went for the hybrid, when my mother surprised me with one more request for a batch yesterday. The last batch, I used 2 tablespoons of butter and only 1 tablespoon of oil, instead of the 1.5 that it probably should have gotten according to conversion ratios I’ve seen, since the cupcakes seemed like they could spare a little fat. And I was happiest with these results. The cake had the nice round butter flavor that I liked before, and the crumb was more even and resilient than the oil version’s was, but it was nice and light — and actually had the highest dome out of any of the cupcakes (somehow). Success! I’ve written the recipe below with the combination, but you can also go for 4 tablespoons of butter and no oil, or 3 tablespoons of oil and no butter, and I’m pretty sure you will still like these.
Lastly, a side note — I do think that the butter version was a bit denser than it should have been because the butter and yogurt were not as warm as I thought they were before I began to cream them together, and thus the mixture had a few lumps and wasn’t as aerated and well-blended as I would have liked. The second batch, and especially the third, were made with the ingredients solidly at room temperature (which may have been the reason that it had the highest rise in the end). I also modified the recipe to cream together the butter, sugar, and egg first, then the yogurt later, to help avoid lumps even if the ingredients are colder. Lesson learned — don’t get impatient, and be sure to follow the room-temperature rule! Eggs, butter, milk, and yogurt at room temperature when you begin!
Banana Cupcakes with Nutella Swirl
yields 12 cupcakes (or muffins).
for the cupcakes (adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything and Life’s Simple Measures)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp butter, softened*
1 tbsp oil*
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 large or 2 small to medium very ripe bananas (should yield a little less than 1 cup mashed)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
for swirl:
2 tbsp Nutella spread (I think this would be tasty with peanut butter, too!)
1 tsp oil
*If using butter only, use 4 tablespoons of butter; if using oil only, use 3 tablespoons of oil.
1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners. (Note that these have a tendency to cling a bit to the liners, so I don’t know whether you want to lightly grease it, or use foil liners.)
2. Cream together butter, sugar, and egg until fluffy. Add oil, Greek yogurt, mashed banana, and vanilla extract, and whisk again until blended. [If using oil, cream together only the egg and sugar for a minute or so, until airy. Then add oil, Greek yogurt, mashed banana, and vanilla extract, and whisk again until blended. If using butter, cream the butter, egg, and sugar, then the Greek yogurt, mashed banana, and vanilla.]
3. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and salt together. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir gently until incorporated. The batter will be quite thick.
4. Divide batter evenly between liners. You should have just enough — scraping down the bowl should result in the liners filled about 2/3 full. (Which is good, because otherwise I’d be licking up so much raw batter.)
5. For the Nutella swirl, warm about two tablespoons of Nutella with a few drops of oil in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Stir until fluid, then drop small dots of Nutella over each cupcake, three or so each. Very gently run the very tip of a butter knife or a toothpick through each dot in a circle to form swirls. You can also use peanut butter, or omit the swirl entirely.
6. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes, or until tops are golden and spring back when touched, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Mine were done at 12 minutes exactly.
I hope you enjoy! Thank you so much for reading! 🙂
saucygander
That looks so good!
tworedbowls
Aww, thank you so much! They are both tasty and fun to make, you can’t beat that 🙂
Paula Gilmour
From Cape Cod but living in Costa Rica. Lot’s of bananas here. These are wonderful!
Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Angie G.
Those cupcakes look entirely sinful!
tworedbowls
Angie! You know what? When you commented, I thought, hmm, are they?! I assumed so, because they definitely taste that way, but they also use so much Greek yogurt. So then I calculated — and they’re about 130 calories per cupcake! Not greaaat, but for a cupcake, not too bad. 🙂 There’s really only a bit of Nutella on each, a tad less sugar than some other recipes, and there’s also a little more protein from the Greek yogurt. Yay! (But also, now you’ve got me wondering what it would be like if I just omitted the fat altogether and just used the yogurt! Next time…)
Janine
These look delicious! Love the finished swirled look
tworedbowls
Thanks so much, Janine! I’m so addicted to swirled anything 😉 so easy yet so pretty, haha.
meg
I love seeing your butter/oil experiment, I sometimes go for butter and had my assumptions about how it affected crumb, but I’ve never done a side by side or combo comparison. I’m not sure if I can make these, because if I keep nutella in the house I eat it by the spoonful…I would love to make these for friends, though.
tworedbowls
It was SO FUN! I would normally have never had enough time or people to feed to be able to try it, either, so I was so excited to be able to do it. I do wish that I’d controlled all the other factors better (oh yeah, 9th grade science!) but it seemed more or less consistent with what others found. Also, totally agree with you on the Nutella. These Nutella treats are a rare romp for me… that’s what vacation’s for, right? 🙂
Perky Pancake
Wow, these look amazing! I love banana and Nutella so what a combination. Will definitely give them a try. Thanks for the recipe!
tworedbowls
Thank you so much!!!! Ooh, please do let me know how you like them if you try them 🙂
CateyLou
I love baking with yogurt! It gives baked goods such a great texture. It was really fun to see your butter / oil comparison. So interesting!
tworedbowls
Me TOO! I’m always trying to sneak yogurt into recipes… for eggs…oil… especially sour cream, since I never have it. It’s not failed me yet 🙂 And yay, so glad you liked the comparison! I was so thrilled to be able to do it. When I’m home with just my boyfriend I can never justify making so much.
Johnnysenough Hepburn
Really like your comparisons. Most recently I’ve been baking quick breads with yoghurt and evo oil with good results. The ratio I used was 4 tbsp yoghurt and 3 oil. Nice texture, even though some might think it’s too cake-like for a bread. But, with banana bread I do like using a little butter for its flavour with a combination of molasses (dark) granulated sugar. Really works with the bananas 🙂
tworedbowls
Thank you! Ahhh, I so completely agree with you here! I use a 2:3 ratio of Greek yogurt to oil for my other cupcakes and love the texture and moistness — and don’t miss the butter in the slightest — but for these banana cupcakes I definitely felt like the butter added something special to the flavor. And awesome suggestion with the brown sugar — I was just thinking that would have been incredible too (but sadly didn’t have any on hand).
Averie @ Averie Cooks
I love baking science and comparisons like these! I used to be butter-only in everything. But a couple years ago I’ve switched to using oil in quickbreads and muffins and cakes, for the most part. The exception to that is traditional banana bread where I feel that melted butter is best. And in quickbreads, if I am using butter, I always melt it. No time to deal with creaming, dirtying the mixer, etc. So it takes on an oil-ish nature but with flavor of butter. But…I do think oil keeps things softer. Most of the time I will sacrifice flavor (of from the butter) to preserve a super soft texture. And those banana bread bars, Ive had those bookmarked for like…18 mos. Need to try them. Your muffins look wonderful!
tworedbowls
Ooh, thanks so much for all of this! This is so great to know. I definitely agree oil keeps things softer, which I’m a huge fan of — and I’m with you on the opinion that it really doesn’t change the flavor for most baked goods other than those with banana. Worth it for the texture, for sure. And YES, how about those monkey squares? At some point, when there’s a big potluck or someone’s birthday rolls around, I’ll have to go all out and make those, frosting and all, even if eating one puts me out of commission for the rest of the day 😉 Can’t wait to see your take on it if you try them. Thank you for the wonderful comment, Averie!
detailsjuliette
Looks deliciouuuusss, yum!
tworedbowls
Aw, thank you so much! 🙂
Anonymous
Oh, yummmm. If it weren’t for my food intolerances, I would try out this recipe in a heartbeat. (mind you, if I made enough substitutions I could get it to work…but the substitutions would involve gluten-free flours, lard (instead of butter/vegetable oil), and coconut yogurt. These would cause further changes in texture…
tworedbowls
Ahhhh, that’s so tough! Have you ever been to Minimalist Baker (http://minimalistbaker.com/)? They have some fantastic recipes with gluten-free flours and generally very wholesome ingredients that are easy to substitute. So sorry that mine won’t work as written — though, if you do happen to try it with the substitutions, definitely let me know! I’d love it if this worked for different diet types.
Anne ~ Uni Homemaker
You can’t go wrong with banana and nutella. These are delicious!
tworedbowls
Thank you so much, Anne! They’re one of my favorites for sure! 🙂
erika
Oooh I love the side by side comparison you’ve done here!! Well done with the photos and exacting tests! I’ve been baking mostly with oil these days to keep things vegan (and it’s usually easier than melting/creaming butter), but you’re making me rethink this strategy…
ALSO those nutella swirls are gorgeous! You are one talented cookie 🙂
tworedbowls
You are too sweet, Erika! I’m not over here making Momofuku cakes or anything, so I don’t think I’m the talented one here 😉 You know, I do also like using oil most of the time (let’s not talk about how many times I’ve exploded butter in the microwave or how annoying it is to bring it to room temp!) It’s probably only baking with banana where I feel butter makes a big difference — but I bet you wouldn’t even miss it if you didn’t taste them side by side.
Courtney @ Neighborfood
I’m so glad you commented on Neighborfood, as it gave me a chance to discover your space here! Lovely photos, great commentary. This makes me want to test out the butter vs. oil in more recipes. I’m surprised what a difference it made!
tworedbowls
Thank you so much, Courtney!! You know, I feel bad because I think visually the difference was a little more significant due to the creaming, like I mentioned above, but the taste really did differ as much as the pictures suggest, so I guess it’s not so misleading after all. 🙂 So happy you stopped by — there’ll be a post in the near future featuring your awesome pie crust! 🙂
Sadia Mohamed
Wooow! This looks soo yumm! I love nutella and the swirls look soo perfect. And beautiful pictures.
tworedbowls
Thanks so much for your kind words, Sadia! :):) And your blog looks wonderful — so glad you stopped by so that I could find it! 🙂
Anonymous
It looks so yummy!! I must try it.. i love nutella!
tworedbowls
Thank you so much!! I love Nutella too 🙂 hope you enjoy the cupcakes if you try them!
English Mummy
I have just made these with my two and a half year old son – he loves helping me in the kitchen and also loves bananas and Nutella. I have to say they are delicious, and the fact that they are only 3 Ww points is a great bonus. Thanks so much for the post, I can’t wait to explore your blog and bake more…
tworedbowls
You have truly warmed my heart with this comment. I am so touched by the thought of you and your little one making these together! (Can you teach my future unborn children to love helping in the kitchen too?!) Comments like yours are really what makes blogging rewarding for me, so thank you so very much for coming back to let me know you made these. It really made my day 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins — and yes, isn’t it such a wonderful surprise that they’re kind of healthy?! 🙂 Thank you for this comment!
Mina
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I made some the other day for my 10 month old son, with a few modifications and he loved them. I’m hoping to use this as a base for his first birthday cake. 🙂
tworedbowls
Oh, Mina, what a lovely comment! It means the world to me to be able to contribute to something so special. I’d love to hear what modifications you made, too, if you want to share! Recipes are always made to be improved upon / experimented with. Thank you so much for your sweet comment 🙂 and happy early birthday to your little one!
Dee
I can’t wait to see the look on my boyfriend’s face when I surprise him with these cupcake! Many thanks for sharing your recipe and the results of your experiment! I shall return soon 🙂
Mina
Hey Cynthia, I made these again this time sugar-free and added some carrot for sweetness and blueberries too just because my little one loves them! They turned out really well and I make these all the time now. Thanks again for sharing. Mi xo
http://minafoodadventures.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/banana-blueberry-cupcakes.html
Lizbeth Carter
I need these muffins! Just the thing that I have a bunch of bananas and a jar of nutella, oh I cannot wait. http://www.megaoils.com/butter-oil/
Maria
This recipe is by far, the best I’ve made. They taste great, and the Greek yogurt makes for a great texture. I saw your comment about greasing the muffin liners and I shrugged it off but GREASE THE LINERS! I noticed as well that yes, they stick, very much. Both my family and I LOVED this recipe! Will definitely be using some more of your recipes.
shannon
can i use brown sugar instead of white sugat?
shannon
i ha e been making banana cake with different combination but all have yogurt, i always end up with a pale color.. why is that? i tried brown sugar/yogurt; yogurt/butter.. all pale, i cant figure out why, is it the yogurt?0