Monkey Cupcakes

I am including my recipe for Monkey Cupcakes, which are SUPER easy to make. They turn out very cute and silly and can be customized however you want. I love the cake I made too, but the cupcakes are special.

Monkey Cupcakes
baked in 3 inch cup pans, makes 12 or 24 reg (2-1/2 inch)size

Veg Oil spray
flour for dusting pans

1 pkg yellow cake mix
1-1/2 cups mashed bananas
1/2 c water
1/2 c veg oil
3 large eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Prepare pans by spraying and dusting with flour. Heat oven to 350.

Combine cake mix, bananas, water, oil, eggs and cinnamon in large mixing bowl and blend 30 seconds. Scrape down sides and mix on med speed 2 min. Spoon into prepared pans filling 3/4 way full. Bake 24-28 min for large cupcakes or 18-20 for standard size. Cool 5 min and remove from pans. Place on wire rack to cool 15 min. Meanwhile, prepare icing.

Frost cupcakes and place uncovered in refrigerator 20 min to set frosting. Store under glass at room temp up to 3 days or in fridge up to 1 week. Freeze up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in fridge before serving.

To decorate like monkeys, place 2 M&Ms for eyes. With a icing from the grocery store, pipe a semicircle for a wide grin and nose if you want. For ears, secure one mini Nilla wafer cookie (cut in 1/2) into the frosting until they hold (using a little extra frosting if needed). Use a regular Nilla wafer for the mouth (cut off the top 1/3 of the wafer) . Sprinkle sprinkles around the edges for hair/fur.