Hummingbird Cupcakes

Just in time for Valentine’s Day…

Ummm, have you ever had hummingbird cake?! ‘Cause if you haven’t, your life’s about to change. I didn’t know it was called “Hummingbird Cake” until very recently, but I’ve always loved the stuff, just as a nameless piece of scrumptious food heaven. With pieces of pineapple, coconut, walnuts, and roasted bananas hidden within, it’s pure amazing. Yep, you read that right… roasted banana. So good. So so good.

I’m not really a big cake girl. Good cakes.. ones with texture, flavor, and depth- I love. But white cake with a bunch of white fluffy sugar frosting doesn’t agree with me. This, I assure you, is not that. This is light, flavorful, and just the right balance of sweetness. In an effort to make it a little healthier than your standard sweet treat, I’ve used coconut oil for the batter- not only is it good for you, but it adds flavor, too!

You could easily make these without the frosting, but in my little opinion, the cream-cheesy goodness goes might well with the fruity cake. You could also make it a cake or loaf of sorts- just increase your bake time to make up for the size difference. Whatever you do, enjoy!!

Makes 16 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

For the cupcake batter…

1 cup flour (use your favorite kind)

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar (coconut or raw cane work well)

1 egg

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup crushed pineapple, with juices*

1/4 cup shredded coconut

1 large banana

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

*for crushed pineapple, you can either crush fresh pineapple by hand or get store-bought

For the frosting…

6 oz cream cheese, chilled

2 tbsp ghee (or butter), chilled

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Begin by roasting banana…

Place banana on some foil or a baking sheet, with peel on and unopened

Bake for about 12 minutes, until nearly blackened

Remove from heat and set side to cool

Once cool to the touch, peel the banana

Set aside until ready to use

Meanwhile, place flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl

Mix well until evenly blended

In a smaller separate bowl, mix the light brown sugar and white sugar

Mix to blend

Then add egg

Stir to evenly mix until creamy

Add melted coconut oil and vanilla to the sugar/egg mix

Stir until smooth, using a fork or whisk

Now add the egg/sugar/coconut oil mix to the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients (flour, etc)

Stir until doughy and smooth (no need for electric mixers here- you don’t want to overmix it)

Add crushed pineapple, walnuts, and shredded coconut

Stir together and add roasted banana

Fold everything together until well-mixed, but still a little chunky

Batter is done! Now time to bake 🙂

Line muffin pan with paper-liners, or grease if not using liners

Fill each liner about 2/3 full- cupcakes will expand/rise while baking

Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean

Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool- about an hour or so

Meanwhile, whip together the frosting…

Cut chilled cream cheese and butter into small slices/bits

Place cream cheese and butter in a small mixing bowl

Mix cream cheese and butter together until creamy

Fold in powdered sugar, vanilla, and chopped walnuts until everything is smoothly mixed

Once cupcakes are cool enough, spread frosting over each one

Of they are warm still, the frosting will begin to melt over the bread…

I know, it’s super tempting to not just go ahead and

frost so you can hurry up and eat them (I’d be lying if I said I didn’t gobble a few before they were “ready”)

Decorate if you want…

And enjoy!!

To store, seal in an airtight container and refrigerate- will last for a few days very well…

if they last that long that is 🙂

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