Banana PB&J Cupcakes

I love the thought of banana, peanut butter and jam. I saw a great recipe for Jam Filled Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting from Evil Shenanigans blog and thought I would try them. The cupcakes on the blog are made from scratch. I wanted to make these fairly quickly so I doctored up a cake mix and made the cupcakes from that. They turned out beautiful!

Banana PB&J Cupcakes

1 box white or yellow cake mix
1 small box banana instant pudding
2 bananas, mashed
1/3 c. milk
4 large eggs
1/2 c. canola oil
1 c. grape jelly, or any other flavor you prefer

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line 2 muffin pans with paper liners.

Combine cake mix and dry banana pudding. In another bowl, combine all wet ingredients. Pour dry ingredients into wet gradually, beating on low until combined. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Divide between muffin cups and bake at 350 for approximately 20 minutes, or cupcake springs back when pressed lightly.

Frosting:

3 heaping Tbsp Crisco shortening
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 c. confectioners sugar
milk to desired consistency

Blend all ingredients in hand or stand mixer until fully combined. This recipe frosts 12 cupcakes if piping on the cupcakes.