Cooking lesson: Ditching applesauce for cuppy cakes

Alright, so the applesauce idea is a lame one. I knew it as I typed it but the book suggested it for "A" and who am I to argue!?! Well, Jacey loves to cook and he's really been missing his cooking class so I didn't have the heart to tell him we were going to cook today and then ask him to scoop jarred applesauce into a cup. On top of that, he told me today, only 2 days into the letter "A," "Momma, A's done. Let's do Brown Bear or bumble bee." So, we had some bananas and we whipped up these delicious Banana Cupcakes. They are divine. 8 Weight Watcher points but worth it!

Don't be afraid to let your kids measure, pour, mix, and break eggs. You'll be surprised how quickly they catch on. I recommend demonstrating the correct way to do it first and then letting them do it their way after having seen what it is supposed to look like. Also, since you're only sharing these with family, lots of tastes along the way. Jacey decided some time ago that flour isn't for him! Ha!

Banana Cupcakes
Makes 18

1 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 medium ripe bananas
1/3 c. buttermilk
1 stick (8 tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat to 350. Line muffin pan with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl. Mash bananas and buttermilk in another bowl. Separately, cream butter and sugar together with mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs to sugar/butter mix. Add flour mix and banana mix alternately to sugar/butter just until blended. Stir in vanilla at end. Spoon into liners and bake 15 to 20 mins.

Icing
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 stick butter (softened)
1 box (16 oz.) powdered sugar
a touch of vanilla

Mix all ingredients with mixer. Put into ziplock bag. Snip tip and pipe onto cupcakes.