Monkey Cupcakes

Last night I decided to "up my game". I made monkey cupcakes for my big monkey to take to class today (it's her birthday?).

Usually, I make both the cupcakes and the frosting from mixes (and trust me, the kids don't care) but last night I decided to (I have no idea why) make the cupcakes from scratch (still used a can of frosting though - I didn't completely do a 180). I think it actually took about the same amount of time (since I just did one big batch instead of 3 little ones) but man was the kitchen much more messy!

First off, the batter was DELICIOUS. I could have eaten the whole thing raw! Once they were cooked, they SMELLED FANTASTIC. The taste - wow!!! Moist, chocolaty, and OH SO GOOD!!

I got this recipe off of recipezaar, which was cool because I was able to scale for the number of cupcakes I wanted.

Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:
18 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 cups granulated sugar
1 cups light brown sugar, packed
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
3 tablespoons brewed coffee
2 5/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups good cocoa powder
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.
Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee.
In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended. Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

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.