Banana Nut Cupcakes

For the cake:
Heat your oven to 350 degrees F and line 24 cupcake tins with paper cups.

To toast your walnuts, lay them out in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine your dry ingredients: flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Set this bowl aside.

In a separate bowl, combine your wet ingredients: eggs, canola oil, vanilla extract, crushed pineapple, mashed bananas and 1 cup chopped walnuts.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, fill your cupcake tins 2/3 of the way full.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Now, they could be finished at this point. Add a little butter and you’ve got a delicious muffin for breakfast any day of the week. However, if you’re in the mood for a delicious cupcake, top these with the following recipe for cream cheese walnut icing and a sprinkle of sea salt.

For the icing:
Using an electric mixer, combine the butter and cream cheese until it is smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, scraping the sides of the bowl when needed. Beat in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Stir in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Resist the urge to eat large spoonfuls of this icing or you won’t have any left for your cupcakes.

Once your cupcakes have cooled completely, give them a generous topping of your cream cheese icing.

Finally, top each cupcake with a sprinkle of sea salt (optional).