Banana Mocha Protein Cupcakes

I feel like I need to start this with letting y'all know, I'm not cool enough for affiliate links at this point. All products that I have listed here or businesses I've brought up are not compensating me for their endorsement. I just personally really like their products! Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the good stuff.

Since I started picking up baking back in August we've had friends and family alike that we've brought the sweets over to and that we've sent them home with. We have one particular friend that has dedicated hours basically every day smashing PRs and lifting crazy weights. He and his gym buddies have also been some of the biggest supporters of my new endeavor.

I mad batch after batch of carrot cake, pink champagne, and pumpkin spice latte and sent them out the door with our buddy. I figured that they have helped us out enough by ridding us of so many sweets, it was time to start offering something a little less guilty for my favorite supporters. And so, the Protein Cupcake Collection was introduced.

That's right, not just one single flavor, but three different delicious creations. With a little added whey protein and a little less flour. Actually, no all purpose flour. The only flour this recipe calls for is oat flour making these particular recipes gluten free. The one I want to share here today is the Banana Mocha Protein Cupcake. The others to come will be Peanut Butter Cupcake and Cinnamon Bun Cupcake. It's worth noting, when I make these I purposely change up the buttercream frosting to ensure I'm adding some more fun flavors to complement the sponge.

I highly recommend following all parts of this recipe for the sponge and the buttercream to get the full effect of the protein incorporation along with the flavor. Banana Mocha incorporates a delicious mix of a banana bread like sponge with that complementary coffee flavor in the buttercream.

For this particular recipe I've been using our time in town to make my usual trip to Trader Joes to pick up the basic necessities, ie bananas, vanilla, vanilla whey, and brown sugar. I use Bob's Red Mill oat flour for the base which I just grab from our local Hardesters. As for the coffee in the buttercream, we have a one year old at home. My husband and I are basically addicted to caffeine at this point we get our coffee in bulk, so I use a bit of a strong brew of the Kirkland Brand Summit Roast from our Keurig. You can use whatever coffee you have on hand. Really I think those are the main elements that bring the flavors together.

This recipe has a few nuances given that it's a protein cupcake, but for the most part it's the usual routine, sans the all purpose flour. I won't bore y'all with the rest of the step by steps. I'll go ahead and add in the recipe and directions and let you go from there.

First batch of protein style Banana Mocha Cupcakes

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Protein Collection

Banana Mocha Cupcake

Ingredients:

Sponge:

• 1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 medium bananas)

• 2 large eggs

• ¼ cup Greek yogurt (nonfat or low-fat)

• ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice)

• ¼ cup vegetable oil

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 cup oat flour (or finely ground oats)

• ½ cup vanilla whey protein

• 2 tbsp brown sugar

• 1½ tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ½ tsp cinnamon

• ¼ tsp salt

Buttercream frosting:

• 1 cup softened butter

• 3 cups powdered sugar

• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder

• 1/4 cup cooled coffee

• 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1–2 tbsp almond milk for texture

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with parchment liners.

Separate out the eggs into yolks and egg whites. In a bowl, whisk mashed banana, eggs yolks, yogurt, milk, oil, and vanilla.

In another bowl, mix oat flour, protein powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda,

cinnamon, and salt.

Combine wet and dry ingredients until smooth.

Beat the egg whites until you have soft peaks and fold them into the rest of the batter.

Divide batter evenly into liners and bake 16–18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before filling or frosting.

Buttercream

Beat butter until light and fluffy.

Gradually add powdered sugar and protein powder. Once those are fully mixed in, slowly pour in the coffee until it's at the consistency you'd like.

Adjust consistency with a small splash of milk if needed.

Frost cupcakes once cooled.