Roasted Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin stuffed with Cheesecake with Chocolate-Espresso Buttercream

It’s the beginning of roasting season…

…starting with some bananas!

The convenience of having my parents within driving distance to me….is they bring tons of groceries from the suburbs and usually it’s waaaaaay too much! Just imagine, your frig being loaded up with two dozen eggs, 4 lbs of butter, half gallon of milk, various of in-season fruits and vegetables, so for this, just think….grapes (Costco size), tomatoes (at least 8 of them…), limes, lemons, at least 4 stalks of kale, 5 broccoli bunches, 2 bags of avocados, 2 bags of brussels sprouts, few large Fage yogurts…and you get the point…the frig is PACKED to the gills (I know it’s better than an empty frig, but I hate wasting food… so I want to eat it all)! So THEN, I find myself on a race to cook everything in the frig within the next week.

So when they bring me a dozen bananas… and I’m not eating a dozen bananas within one week or before they become too ripe…my last resort at the end of the week is baking them! So here we go!!

Ingredients:

For Roasted Banana Muffin:

• 1 1/4 cups bananas (approximately 3-4 ripe bananas)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (250 grams)
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (250 grams)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk at room temperature
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter (melted)
• 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup chopped chocolate chips (Ghirardelli 60% cocoa).

For Cheesecake Center:

• 1 8 oz. cream cheese (preferably regular)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg and 1 egg white, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

For Fluffy Chocolate-Espresso Buttercream:

• 2 sticks plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (warmer than room temperature)
• 290 grams confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon instant King Arthur espresso powder
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

For Roasted Banana Muffin:

• Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
• Line use baking oil spray for 12-tray muffin tins or use baking liners.
• To roast bananas:
  • Make 3-4 inch slits along each banana and lay on baking sheet.
  • Bake bananas for 10-15 minutes or until the juice starts to run from the slits (the skins will turn black)
  • Remove the bananas from oven and allow them to cool.
  • Once cooled down, remove the peels from the bananas and mash them in a small bowl and set aside (alternative option is to place the mashed bananas in food processor).
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• With whisk attachment on standing mixer, on medium speed, combine the milk, egg (first beat egg with fork in small bowl before adding to milk), pure vanilla extract and melted butter.
• Change out the whisk attachment to paddle attachment, on low speed, stir in mashed roasted bananas.
• Add flour and sugar mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined (To avoid overmixing, you can use a wooden spoon to stir together the wet and dry ingredients).
• Add chopped chocolate chips to mixture (you can either hand chop with a sharp knife the chocolate chips or use a food processor – I prefer the hand chopped texture to the muffin, which adds a nice flakiness to the chocolate chip rather than mini chocolate chip bits).

For Cheesecake:

With paddle attachment to standing mixer, on medium-low speed, beat the cream cheese until smooth (approximately 1 minute).

On low speed, add in the egg and allow it to be fully incorporated and then add egg white. Turn the speed up to medium, and continue to mix batter until smooth and silky.

• Add sugar and then vanilla extract and mix until just incorporated.
• Slowly add flour until just combined.
• Set the mixture on side.

Getting Ready to Bake:

Using tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop heaping amount of banana muffin batter into each of the cupcake liners.

Use another tablespoon to scoop cheese cake batter on top of the banana muffin.

Scoop another tablespoon of banana muffin batter and top over the cheese cake batter. Make sure the banana muffin batter fully covers the cheesecake batter.

• Bake in oven for 15-18 minutes (toothpick test – the toothpick should come out clean).

For Fluffy Chocolate-Espresso Buttercream:

• With paddle attachment on standing mixer, combine unsalted butter and confectioner’s sugar on low speed (KitchenAid mixer speed 2) for approximately two minutes.
• Add pure vanilla extract, cocoa powder, espresso powder and continue to mix for another two minutes.
• Add heavy whipping cream and pinch of salt and increase mixer speed to medium-high (KitchenAid mixer speed 6) for another two minutes.
• Stop the mixer and scrap down the sides of the bowl and mix on high (KitchenAid speed 8) for a few seconds.
• Ready to be used immediately or can be stored in air tight container at room temperature for up to three days (The buttercream can be stored in refrigerator, but will take time to reach room temperature before it can be used).

Decorate as desired!

I used a closed-star tip to create a rose (see recipe in link and scroll towards bottom to learn how to create buttercream roses)

Enjoy!!