Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Out of this world!!! The combination of sweet flavors is just incredible. You NEED these in your life.
Texture: The cupcakes are ridiculously moist and soft, the dulce de leche stuffing is thick and sticky, and the chocolate cream cheese frosting is rich and luscious. Each bite is pure heaven.
Ease: Nothing too complicated here, though you will dirty some dishes.
Appearance: Like something from a bakery!
Pros: My new favorites cupcake.
Cons: Rich and indulgent.
Would I make this again? YES.
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We live in a ridiculously awesome world, but I can see why people might be tired of cupcakes. That’s why whenever I share a cupcake recipe with you all it has to be a REALLY fantastic one.
Fantastic is definitely a word to describe these dulce de leche banana cupcakes with chocolate frosting because I think everyone should make them immediately after reading this post.
Super moist and tender banana cupcakes are filled with dulce de leche then topped off with chocolate cream cheese frosting. I challenge you to think of anything better than that. It’s seriously my new favorite cupcake recipe and I hope it’ll be yours too.
By the way, in case you haven’t seen it before, dulce de leche comes canned and can be found at many grocery stores in the Latin food section. The most common brand is Nestle (it’s packaged in a tin can).
I’ve also seen higher end versions at specialty stores like Sur la Table, Williams-Sonoma, and World Market. You can also make your own dulce de leche with sweetened condensed milk.
More Recipes You’ll Love:
- Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
- The BEST Chocolate Cupcakes
- Red Velvet Cupcakes
- The Best Classic Banana Bread
- Brown Butter Dulce de Leche Cookie Cups
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Dulce de Leche Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
For the banana cupcakes:
- 1 cup (127 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (67 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (57 grams) sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 large overripe bananas, mashed
- About 1/4 cup prepared dulce de leche
For the chocolate cream cheese frosting:
- 8 ounces (227 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups (375 grams) powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup (43 grams) good-quality cocoa powder
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat until combined. On medium speed add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined. Add the mashed bananas and beat until combined. On low speed gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Use a spring loaded scoop to fill each cupcake liner three-quarters full. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and let cool completely.
- Use a small knife or apple corer to cut a small hole in the middle of each cupcake. Place the dulce de leche in a zip top bag and snip one small corner. Squeeze out about 1 1/2 teaspoons of dulce de leche into each cupcake.
For the frosting:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high until smooth and creamy. Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder into a large bowl. On low speed gradually add the sugar and cocoa, beating until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and blend until smooth and creamy.
- Place the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip. Pipe frosting onto the cupcakes, directly over the filling. Serve or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let come to room temperature before serving.
This post was originally published in 2014 and recently updated with weight measurements and new photos by Ashley McLaughlin Photography.
These cupcakes are so good I made them twice in one week.
Something to know is that this makes a cake crumb and not a banana bread crumb. So the crumb is going to be lighter and more open.
Also the batter looks a bit curdled so don’t get nervous when that happens, just keep mixing.
The second time I made them I decided to use the hand mixer instead of the stand mixer and I switched the order in which I added the ingredients. I mixed the bananas and sour cream together, and alternated adding the dry with the wet ingredients.
These two different methods did not affect the crumb of the cake at all, they were identical to the first batch.
Very good cupcakes!
These are terrific tips, Martina! So glad you enjoyed these cupcakes so much 🙂
So yummy! Had leftover salted caramel from making the apple cake recipe so I used that instead of dulce de leche and it was fabulous.
I made this yummy recipe yesterday. I know I let my butter get too warm and I let them cool in the pan too long before removing them to cool individually but would those mistakes make my cupcakes taste more like banana muffins? Not a cakey texture at all
Hi Heidi! Cooling in the pan too long shouldn’t have too many repercussions on the finished results (just maybe making the outside softer and perhaps slightly overbaking from the residual heat of the pan – but not so much that it should be terribly noticeable). The temperature of the butter, on the other hand, could account for some of the textural differences. It sounds like there might be something up with your leavener – you can read more about all the things that leavening agents do in Tessa’s article here! Feel free to reach back out for further troubleshooting – we are always happy to help!! 🙂