Banana Butterscotch Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Icing & Toffee Bits

Banana Butterscotch Cupcakes
Topped with Brown Sugar Icing and Toffee

Today's recipe is Fluffy Banana Cake baked into cupcake liners and topped with a basic buttery icing to which I added a few tablespoons of brown sugar and after icing topped with some toffee bits for a little more of the butterscotch/caramel flavour and to add a little pizzaz.

This wonderful recipe is delicious baked in 8-inch cake pans but works well and bakes up great as cupcakes.  Fold in toffee bits, chocolate chips, white chocolate, even walnuts to the batter to add a little crunch or flavour.  These treats are moist and definitely sweet even without icing.

In today's recipe I used butter instead of the shortening called for in the original Sunbeam Mixmaster Recipe book from 1951/1952.  Seriously, we have been using this recipe forever and it was included in the recipe book accompanying my mom's Sunbeam Mixmaster which she received as a wedding gift way back when.  The recipe is great and has never failed us.  I have taken the liberty to paraphrase some of the instructions!

Fluffy Banana Cake (or Cupcakes)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Prepare muffin tins or cake tins.

2 large or 3 small ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

Sift together:

2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Into large bowl of mixer put:

1/2 cup shortening (room temperature)  I used butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Beat on medium-high speed for 1 1/2 minutes.  Scrap down sides of bowl.

Now add 1/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk into bowl of mixer and mix in quickly.

Add the sifted flour mixture alternately with the mashed banana while beating on a low speed. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in flour in 3 additions and banana in 2 additions.  Mix only until flour has blended in.

Fold in any optional ingredients you may be using such as nuts, chocolate chips, etc.

Divide evenly into prepared pans and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes in preheated oven. Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely before icing.

Uniced Banana Butterscotch Cupcake
Still tasty, sweet and moist!

Cupcake with icing and toffee
Even Better