Banana Pudding Cupcakes

My little boy had been asking for cupcakes all day today.  For those of you who know him you know he can be pretty persistent about getting a C-U-P-C-A-K-E!  We were out running errands so I thought I would make him happy by picking up a cupcake at Starbucks...but much to my surprise they were out of those yummy things.  So we came home and I started looking for what I might have on hand (I refused to go to the grocery store one more time) to throw together a cupcake surprise for him.  Here's the end result - Banana Pudding Cupcakes! 

I only had half a cake mix, so this recipe will need to be doubled if you are using a whole cake mix! 

Ingredients:

Half a box of French Vanilla or Yellow cake mix
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1 single serve container vanilla or banana pudding
1 egg and 1 egg white
Vanilla Wafers (9 for cupcakes and about 15 more for garnish)
1 banana sliced and tossed in a little lemon juice to keep from turning
Icing:
Whipped Topping (I used the kind in the can)
Crushed Vanilla wafers and wafers cut in half for garnish

Directions:
Mix cake mix with 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1 egg, 1 egg white and container of vanilla pudding until well blended.  Do not follow cake mix instructions on the box.  Line muffin pan with cupcake liners and lightly spray with Pam.  (This is a nice trick to keep cake from sticking - just don't spray too much!) Put a small amount of cake batter in each cupcake liner (about a spoon full) Then add one whole vanilla wafer and top with two slices of banana.

 

Now top each with enough batter to completely cover the bananas.  As you can see I fill mine pretty full.

Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes or until done in the center.

Remove cupcakes from oven and let cool completely.  

Do not top with whipped cream until you are ready to serve the cupcakes and only top with the cupcakes you are going to be eating at that particular time, using the whipped cream in the can allows you to make them really pretty.  After adding the whipped cream garnish with vanilla wafer crumbs and half a vanilla wafer.  They are gorgeous and really taste like Banana Pudding!

E-N-J-O-Y!