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.
I’ve made these twice now. My cupcakes tasted fantastic! But barely rose. Is this normal with this recipe?
Hi Nicole! If you take a look at our photos on this page, you’ll see that ours have a very slight rise to them. Glad you enjoyed your cupcakes!
Yummm! How long can i store these made for a Christmas party? Also will canned dulce de leche sufice?
Hi Jackie! Yes, we actually used canned dulce de leche for this recipe, though you can definitely make homemade as well. As stated in the directions, these cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let come to room temperature before serving. Please let us know what you think of this recipe 🙂
Fun cupcakes and delicious! The filling in the middle makes these special. Def recommend making these!
Hooray!! I’m happy you enjoyed them 🙂
I have no idea what I did wrong but the bottom of each cupcake was pooling in butter when I took them out of the oven! I put the pan on a rack to cool for about 5 minutes and then when I went to transfer them to the rack individually, there were pools of butter under each one?! They’re completely cooled now and I tried one before icing all of them (in case they were a huge fail) and they taste AMAZING. I don’t know what I did wrong! Any suggestions?!!
Oh no! Normally when butter pools out of a cupcake, it’s usually due to undermixing when creaming the butter and sugars together. Just to double check, do you use a digital scale to measure your ingredients? Also, was your butter at a cool room temperature? I wonder if maybe your butter was too soft.
Looks delicious! I want to make it into a birthday cake. I was wondering how big of a cake can this recipe make and how much would you change the cooking time to?
Thanks xx
Hi Kelly, I talk all about converting cakes to cupcakes in this post here! Good luck!
Hi, Ive made these a few times by now and they taste wonderful. I am wondering about the video – it looks like they are made with a whisk attachment? I thought the K-beater was the attachment most preferred for makig cupcakes?
Hi Gabriela, you can use either attachment!
I have made this about 4 times now.. I and my family love the recipe. Easy to understand and make.
So unbelievably happy to hear this!
Here’s a great recipe for making the dulce de leche in an instant pot: https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/instant-pot-dulce-de-leche/#steps. I used the Longevity brand found at Asian market. Easy & yummy!
Hi , I just finished backing these cupcakes and have all of the frosting ect set aside , can I freeze them frosted?
As we will never go through 15 cupcakes lol
Thank you
Jackie
Hi Jackie, I’d recommend freezing the cupcakes unfrosted! If you check out my Make Ahead Guide, I give detailed tips on how to store & freeze cupcakes and frosting: https://app.monstercampaigns.com/c/imcrqniubsszo8rjyn2q/
I liked the flavor Combination and it tasted great. The only thing was that the muffin was dense like banana bread not a muffin. Not sure if it was something I did to make it that way but overall good
The cupcakes themselves were really moist, rich with banana flavor and very tasty and easy to put together. I found the icing was a bit too cocoa flavored and there was way too much of it, I found it took away from the cupcake flavor so used only about half of it
Awesome recipe! I especially loved the batter, it came out perfect at exactly 18 minutes – super moist, and rich banana flavor. I made these for my friend’s birthday, and everyone who tried them raved about them!