Good thing this Banana Coconut Cupcake is a single serve dessert, because you won’t want to share even a bite of such an easy, fluffy, frosted cake in a cup! Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free.
After completely snubbing bananas in Monday’s ice cream post, I think I owed this to them. And to you. And to myself. Because sometimes we all deserve a cup full of fluffy banana coconut cake with frosting even fluffier that comes with one spoon and one spoon only.
Considering we are just emerging on the other side of all that Valentine’s chocolate craziness, you may be thinking that’s a lot of chocolate frosting for one cupcake. Yes, yes it is. But the frosting is made mostly of coconut with just a little touch of cacao because chocolate goes too well with both banana and coconut to leave it out. I’d like to tell you the frosting is made mostly of air so just go ahead and pile it on with reckless abandon, but that would be a bit of a stretch. However, it does have a wonderfully whipped airy texture–like a cacao-flavored cloud of cream!
I am getting a little ahead of myself though, distracted by the frosting and forgetting about the coconut-filled cupcake underneath. I originally whipped up this recipe on a hungry whim planning to snap a pic, post it on Instagram, and dig in. But it was too good. So I had to make another immediately and devour it in record time devote a blog post to this simple 5-ingredient cake snack.
The cupcake. It’s been a while since I’ve made anything with bananas, I almost forgot how perfect they are as a base for baked things. They sweeten, they bind, and they just get more flavorful in the oven. With so many of the cupcake jobs covered already, there isn’t too much more to add. Maple syrup for extra sweetness. Baking powder for fluff. Coconut shreds for some tropical flavor. And oat flour because it wouldn’t be much of a cake without it. Sprinkle a little more coconut on top, then it’s off for a 1 to 2 minute spin in the microwave or a 15 to 18 minute stay in the oven–your choice!
Okay now we can get back to the frosting. Because without frosting it would just be a cute cup full of especially coconutty banana bread. With frosting it looks almost party-appropriate and definitely deserving of the cupcake title.
The frosting. It could almost be a treat all it’s own (and the leftovers were for me!) All it is is coconut cream + cacao powder whipped until smooth with a whisk or hand beater. You can sweeten it if you want with a teaspoon or two of maple syrup. But I kind of have a thing for slightly bitter chocolate flavors, so to me the natural coconut sweetness alone is perfect.
I don’t know about you, but I find cans of coconut milk can be really hit or miss. Sometimes they whip up to be creamy and thick, other times grainy or too watery or just weird. And there’s no telling which way it could go until you open the can. The funky ones get poured into a jar and saved for smoothies or other blender business, but for whipped frosting the texture has to flawless.
I recently discovered these little cans of coconut cream that not only seem to always have the perfect texture for whipping even without refrigeration, but also are the perfect size for a single-serve recipe like this. Although fluffy frosting leftovers are never really something to worry about.
I hope you enjoy this fluffy-frosted cupcake party of one!
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Banana Coconut Cupcake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 minutes
- Total Time: 12 minutes
- Yield: 1 cupcake 1x
Description
Good thing this Banana Coconut Cupcake is a single serve dessert, because you won’t want to share even a bite of such an easy, fluffy, frosted cake in a cup! Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free.
Ingredients
Cupcake
- 1/2 a ripe banana (mashed)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 cup oat flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp shredded coconut + more for sprinkling on top
Frosting
- 1 can coconut cream
- 1–2 tbsp cacao powder
- 1–2 tsps maple syrup (optional)
Instructions
- Combine all the cake ingredients in a small bowl. Mix until combined.
- Transfer to a cup or ramekin and top with more coconut.
- Microwave on high for 1-2 minutes. Or you can bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes at 350F.
- Allow to cool while you make the frosting.
- Scoop out the coconut cream into a mixing bowl. Whisk by hand or with a handheld mixer until smooth. Add the cacao powder and optional sweetener. Whisk until fully combined and creamy.
- Once cool, pipe or spread the frosting on the cupcake, top with a sprinkling of coconut, and enjoy!
More single serve sweetness…
-Sticky sweet Vegan Monkey Bread Mug Cake
–Mango Blueberry Nicecream with (my favorite part) Rice Crispy Clusters
-As fudgy as breakfast can legally be -> Fudge Brownie Oatmeal
–Funfetti Mug Cake because sprinkles.
-The oh so gooey Flourless Chocolate Pudding Cake
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This looks so delectable. Alix and I saw the cinnamon roll mug cake you posted on reddit from A Virtual Vegan, and this falls right in line with that easy and accessible deliciousness. It all looks SO GOOD. As always. <3
Omg that little mug treat looked so good, right?!? I just love almost instant desserts 🙂 Thanks Casey!
Cupcake, check. Bananas, check. Coconut whipped cream, check. Chocolate, check. You’ve officially combined sooo many of my most favorite ingredients into my literal most favorite dessert! First of all a single serving cupcake, so freaking cute. Love the small portion size because I can’t be trusted with extras lying around – although I guess the beauty of our lifestyle is that we could indulge in more than a few without guilt! I’ve also found the coconut milk to be a little finick-y, but can rely on the cream to do the job every time! Also isn’t it the best to discover some of your most delicious recipes almost by accident?! So happy you decided to post these! The flavor combination, like I said, looks incredible, and what’s not to love about a single cupcake at the end of the day, just for you?! Love!
Another item to add to the Why Mug Cakes Are Amazing list–no leftovers hanging out to tempt us at 10pm when we aren’t actually hungry but chocolate still sounds good? Although with healthy treats it’s not so much a problem, a couple of PB donuts at 10pm and I know I’d still wake up feeling awesome the next day? I adore all these flavors too, can’t go wrong with chocolate and bananas and friends. Thanks Sara!
Yuuum! You are amazing! So glad you exist and I found you! Can I substitute the maple syrup on your recipes for the date blend you used for your choc muffins/cupcakes? If yes for muffins/cakes, will it work for the oreos? Thanks!
Hi Ella! I am so happy you are enjoying the recipes 🙂 In this case, yes date paste would work instead of the maple syrup because it is a small amount and this is a soft, moist cake. However in the oreos it will not as those need to have more of a crispy texture which the moisture of dates will ruin. The date paste is not a straight substitute, it really varies recipe to recipe as the moisture content and sweetness level is quite different than maple syrup or other liquid sweeteners. Hope that answers your question!
This little guy is the cutest thing ever, no way i would ever share this! So glad you brought the banana back, they work wonders in baked goods like this. Stoked that this even has frosting too 🙂
Aww thank you! The single serve-ness is perfect for not having to share and I think it majorly contributes to the cuteness factor too 🙂
Yes on the banana love! I was just reading about Green Banana Flour and was wondering if you have any experience with using it? It sounds great, but also mysterious! Here’s a link to the company I saw: http://bananaflour.com/
Thanks for another fun recipe .
What a coincidence, I just got a bag of banana flour actually! So far it is some strange stuff–odd smell and taste. It’s going to take a bit of experimenting I think, but I’ll let you know if I figure out a good use for it 🙂
I’m pretty sure that I would devour this in record time, too 😉 Goodness!!!! This seriously looks amazing. Coconutty banana bread topped with a generous frosting…it’s perfect. Gosh, I’m right there with you on the coconut milk! Definitely hit or miss. We use both Trader Joe’s gum-free and Native Forest’s Simple coconut milk…Native forest seems to always be super smooth, but with TJ’s I never know what I’m going to get. I don’t think I’ve seen those little cans of coconut cream! I’ll have to look next time we go shopping. TJ’s recently started carrying a gum-free coconut cream and my first trial of whipped cream didn’t turn out! Ha! 🙂 I love the idea of a cupcake for one…this is perfect for Willow. And I also love this little ramekin/dish – looks like it was made just for cupcakes 😉 This looks wonderful, Natalie! xo
Native forest–yes the texture is so much more reliable with that one. Almost always smooth, although not always super thick. The gum-free vs. guar gum makes such a difference, right?! For frosting I rarely find the gum-free ones to work sadly…I save that for non-photographed treats 😀 I’m proud of TJs for jumping on the gum-free wagon though, wish I had a TJs nearby so I could quit ordering it online in massive quantities. It’s a little funny how much we know about coconut milk varieties and textures haha! That little dish is from my Australia trip, it was made for mug cakes I think 🙂 Thank you sweet friend! xoxo
Oh Natalie, these are just too cute! I love, love the mound of chocolate frosting!! To me a cupcake is alll about the frosting. I actually love a cupcake more than any other type of dessert out there. What’s not to love, something to hold in your hand, no utensils needed and lots of yummy moist sweet cake with a mound of frosting, haha! I love that you added coconut in both the cupcake and the frosting. Major win right there. I like that it is subtle too, I’m not a big fan of too much coconut. I always buy Thai Kitchen coconut milk and never have any problems with that brand, it’s totally reliable. For the baking and sauce uses though, I always use the lite and it’s always the same. I think you nailed it with this cupcake and it’s so healthy that it’s totally guilt-free!!
I could not agree more with you on the cupcakes! They are always my favorite dessert and the frosting is the best part. Plus something about them just feels like a special celebration no matter if it’s actually for a birthday or just for a random blog post 🙂 I know some people take off the bottom and squish it on top of the frosting to make a sandwich–nope not me. The messy-ness and challenge of getting all that frosting and sweet cake in one bite is part of the fun! The Thai Kitchen is my go to for whipping too, but I still get some cans that are duds. Just weirdly solid, almost like cold coconut oil consistency, and not creamy at all. Idk, perhaps they’ve been on the shelf for way longer than I want to know lol.
Delicious! I subbed coconut with 1 tsk. cocoa powder and maple syrup with about 7 drops stevia in the cupcake and added a dash of salt. The batter was thicker than in the video, so I also added a tiny bit of water. Tured out delicious, perfect to satisfy my evening cravings!
Oooh chocolate on chocolate–I like your style 🙂 I am so happy you enjoyed it Maria, I find it to be a perfect little pre-bedtime chocolate treat too!
That icing holy crap. This sounds so amazingggg.
I sorta mostly just make/eat cupcakes for the frosting haha? Thanks Kim!
Oh yes…that frosting is my go-to chocolate mousse recipe =) so good! Perfect for the instant quick frosting if you’re going to devour it right away or able to store in the fridge! I have a can of coconut cream in the fridge waiting to be used so i’m sort of good to go ha!
Oh you have a lovely legit recipe for the chocolate coconut cream mousse, don’t you! Mmm just looked at those pictures and now I want more haha. It really doesn’t even need the cake part, just a spoon will do. Even if I plan on saving it for later, I almost always end up devouring it right away. Thank goodness for those little cans–built in portion control 😀
Mmm… I love bananas… I love chocolate… I love coconut whip… I love the sound of cocoa clouds of cream ☁️ … AND I’m obsessed with the tiny coconut milk cans 😀 They’re so convenient. Oh, one more love: I love your little cupcake holder ?
Tiny cans of coconut for a tiny cup of cake! Dessert making is just more fun in mini 🙂
How many calories is this?
★★★★★
Hi Cecilia! I am not sure, I personally choose not to worry about nutritional info when it comes to recipes. But if you wanted to plug all the ingredients into a recipe calorie calculator (like this one: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator) then you can easily find out 🙂
oh no! what happened with the print version where there was picture attached? that was much better!
btw this recipe is amazing! this is my fav breakfast recently 🙂
I had to switch recipe plugins and not all (or many actually) of the recipe images transferred over. I just added the one back to this recipe manually so it will print with the recipe again now. I will try to do that for most of them slowly 🙂 I am so happy you love this little cupcake though!!
Thank you very much!! I see! I was worried that pics will not be included at all from now on, and I really like to print recipes with pics! Yes this recipe is amazing, I always do the whole batch like 6 or even more muffins at once;) I also shared and this recipe (& your blog) with couple of people already as they are so easy and so delicious that i am spreading the news;)
thanks a lot!
Aww thank you for sharing, I really appreciate the support <3
This looks delicious. Can you sub coconut flour for pat flour and still get the same consistency?
Unfortunately coconut flour will not work here, it rarely can be subbed for other flours as it has a very unique texture and works so differently in baking. You would end up with a crumbly mess. Sorry!
Darn!! I was looking for a simple coconut flour cake for my little one bday. Search is still on, thank you so much!
HI, I plan to bake those but in mini muffins paper wraps. Do I need to bake them for 12mins as well or a bit shorter since they will be much smaller?
★★★★★
This recipe is just for a single full-size cupcake, so if you wanted an entire batch of minis you will need to double or triple it at least. I haven’t tested it personally, but usually a pan of minis takes about 15-18 minutes to bake. And just a word of caution, oil free recipes like this often stick to paper liners so maybe consider oiling them first. Good luck!
Thank you for the tip! Good point! Do you have another recipe that is also easy and could do minis in paper so it looks nice?
All my recipes are oil free so will stick to paper liners. But spraying or lightly coating the inside of the liners with coconut oil works great!
thank you! will do that!
Gotta try this, Love bananas and coconut, let’s not forget the taste of chocolate.
And all three together are SO good!! I hope you enjoy 🙂
The dessert looks really tempting and healthy at the same time, but I am not a fan of flaked coconut. could be used instead?
What could be used instead? Is what I should have typed.
You can just skip the shredded coconut and add an extra tablespoon of flour instead😊
cup cakes fab but the coconut cream would not whip up for me, what did i do wrong
Every brand and even can of coconut cream differs, was yours too hard or too runny? Maybe try a different brand, I like the Trader Joe’s coconut cream a lot 🙂
I am going to do this frosting for a batch of cupcakes for my daughters birthday. Is this frosting recipe just enough for the one cupcake, or more? A whole can of coconut cream I would assume would be able to frost more than one, but wanted to make sure before going out and buying several cans. Thanks and looks soo good!
Since you have to drain the liquid and use just the solid coconut cream, it would take at least a couple of cans to frost an entire cake. Depends on how thick you want you frosting to be, but I’d recommend doubling or maybe tripling just to be safe!
Thanks Natalie. A definite 5-star rating!!
★★★★★