4th of July Muffin Surprise Cupcakes

We love making surprise foods that friends, kids and guests adore. So, for our 4th of July celebration, we are planning on making our Banana Muffins to substitute for plain cupcakes. Who says "cupcakes" have to be bad for you?

And if you have another healthy delicious muffin recipe you can serve yours as surprise muffin cupcakes ... they are really delicious when frosted lightly. This Banana Muffin recipe is one of our family favorites and we make these all the time when we get down to the end of a batch of bananas. You need three ripe bananas, but if we have a lone, ripe banana no one wants to eat, we simply peel the banana, put it in a baggie and freeze it until we have 3 and are ready to make a batch of muffins.

We love serving these anytime when we have house guests. Serve with yogurt and some fresh fruit and your guests will rave about breakfast!

Favorite Banana Muffins

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3 large ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Cream softened butter, brown sugar and vanilla in a medium size bowl. Add well-beaten eggs and mix well. Mash bananas in a separate bowl and then blend bananas into mixture. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Pour into muffin tins, prepared with paper baking cup liners. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, depending on oven.

Let cool and if serving as a surprise muffin cupcake, frost lightly with vanilla or cream cheese icing. Use the free printable cupcake wrappers to make your cupcake muffins a 4th of July hit!

Stars & Stripes Cupcake Wrappers

Red White & Blue Cupcake Wrappers