Banana Pudding Cupcakes
Sweet bananas and creamy frosting with a hint of cinnamon, these Banana Pudding Cupcakes are a new spin on a classic dessert!
The Best Banana Pudding Cupcakes
Growing up, one of my favorite treats that my mom used to make was banana pudding. That and monkey bread! It was a special day whenever we got one of those desserts!
Pudding itself is kind of “meh”…but when you add bananas, whipped cream, and Nilla wafers it becomes something magical! The perfect combination of sweet, creamy, smooth, and crunchy. Actually, I’m not gonna lie…I loved when the cookies started to get soggy and soak up all the flavor of the pudding. It literally melts in your mouth!
If you love banana pudding as much as I do, then you won’t be able to resist these sweet banana pudding cupcakes!
This little cupcake is so flavorful and tastes just like a classic banana pudding, but in a clever handheld bite!
The cinnamon frosting adds a little spice to this recipe and ties the whole cupcake together! Even though most of this recipe is made from scratch, it’s actually pretty easy to make. And so worth the little bit of extra effort! Though we did use a cake mix for the cupcakes to save a little time!
What You Need to Make Banana Pudding Cupcakes
The following is a shopping list with links to buy some of the ingredients and supplies used in this recipe; disclosure policy available here.
For the Banana Pudding
- Whole Milk
- Sugar
- Egg yolks
- Cornstarch
- Vanilla Extract
- Banana Extract
- Salt
For the Banana Pudding Cupcakes
- Box of Yellow Cake Mix
- Water
- Unsalted Butter
- Eggs
For the Cinnamon Frosting
- Unsalted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Heavy whipping cream
- Ground cinnamon
- Vanilla wafer cookies
Note: Full ingredient amounts and directions are available in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Kitchen Tools Used
- Stand mixer — You can also use an electric hand mixer if that’s what you have at home. But if you’ve been eyeing a gorgeous KitchenAid mixer, check out the refurbished options! We bought ours refurbished and saved a ton of money!
- Frosting decorating bag — We love these reusable silicone piping bags because you can wash and use them over and over again. A star tip makes those gorgeous icing swirls that you see at fancy bakeries.
- Cupcake pan & cupcake liners
How to Make Banana Pudding Cupcakes
This isn’t a complicated recipe at all, but because pudding takes time to chill, you’ll want to start working on your cupcakes a few hours in advance.
That way everything has time to chill completely and set. If you’re trying to work with pudding that isn’t ready, it could slide right off the cupcakes.
I recommend making the pudding the night before or in the morning so it has ample time to cool and set.
First, Make the Banana Pudding
In a medium saucepan whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, milk, vanilla, banana extract, and egg yolks.
Cook over medium heat, whisking frequently. Cook until bubbly and mixture begins to thicken, about 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat.
Transfer the pudding into a mixing bowl and chill.
Next, Make the Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350°F and prep a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Combine all cupcake ingredients using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, then scoop the batter into your prepared muffin tin so that each cup is 3/4 of the way full.
Bake for 19-20 minutes or until they turn a light golden brown. Allow to cool completely.
Finish with Frosting
Once the pudding is chilled and cupcakes are totally cool, you can make the frosting and decorate.
Use your stand mixer or hand mixer to whip up the frosting ingredients until well combined and stiff peaks form.
Layer each cupcake with a scoop of banana pudding (spread so that the top of the cupcake is coated), a generous dollop of frosting, and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
We topped each cupcake with a Nilla wafer too, just like the classic banana pudding recipe that I grew up with!
Can You Make These Cupcakes the Night Before?
This is actually a recipes that you can do most of the prep for a day in advance or the morning before you plan to serve it. In fact, giving yourself extra time will be helpful, as pudding takes a few hours to set thoroughly.
I recommend making the pudding in advance, perhaps the night before you want to serve the cupcakes. This gives it lots of time to chill.
You could bake the cupcakes the night before as well, to save time. However, I suggest waiting to decorate until right before you want to serve them.
Can I Use Store-bought Pudding Mix?
Probably…but I haven’t tested this so I’m not sure exactly how it will turn out. My main concern is that different brands of pudding will have different textures. If you pick a brand that ends up with a runnier consistency, it might not work well for this recipe.
It’s a little bit of extra work to make from-scratch pudding, but this way we can control the consistency and ensure the best results. So worth it!
More of our favorite fun cupcake recipes
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Banana Pudding Cupcake Recipe (Printable Copy)
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Banana Pudding Cupcakes
Equipment
- Stand mixer
- Muffin Tins
Ingredients
For the Banana Pudding
- 2 cups Whole milk
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 2 Egg yolks
- 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons Banana Extract
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
For the Banana Pudding Cupcakes
For the Cinnamon Frosting
- 2 cups Butter unsalted, softened
- 4 ½ cups Powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
- 3 - 6 Tablespoons Heavy whipping cream
- 3 Tablespoons ground cinnamon for garnish
- 24 Vanilla wafer cookies
Instructions
To Make the Banana Pudding
- Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, milk, vanilla, banana extract and egg yolks in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Cook until bubbles form and the mixture starts to thicken (about 6-8 minutes.) Remove from heat.
- Pour pudding into a heat safe bowl and cool to room temperture. Move to fridge to finish chilling for at least 2-3 hours (or until fully set).
To Make the Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F and prep a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- Using a hand or standing mixer, beat together cupcake ingredients until well combined.
- Scoop batter into the prepared muffin tin so that each cup is 3/4 full. Bake for 19-20 minutes.
- Cool completely before frosting.
To Make the Cinnamon Frosting
- Using a standing mixer, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, heavy whipping cream, and vanilla extraxt until you have a smooth consistency and stiff peaks form.
- Scoop frosting into the piping bag, if desired, for easy decorating.
To Decorate
- Scoop a heaping Tablespoon of banana pudding onto each cupcake and spread evenly.
- Pipe a generous dollop of frosting on top of the pudding.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon and top with a vanilla wafer cookie.
Notes
Nutrition
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Am I missing something? I don’t see bananas of any form, smashed bananas, banana flavoring, or anything banana anywhere in the ingredients or recipe. How are these banana cupcakes with no banana of any form?
There’s definitely supposed to be banana extract in the pudding! I updated the recipe, not sure how it got omitted but I appreciate you letting me know!