Salted Monkeys? Maybe, but at the very least it's some REALLY good Cupcake Porn!

So, do I have your attention yet? Yup. They are pretty much amazing. Just say'n.

To be 100% honest, they were a bit of dumb luck. I had a few ideas swimming around in my head and decided to go ahead and give them a shot. Well, it WORKED! These are super stinking yummy! For reals! Super Yummy. Just say'n.



And, just because I knew you would ask, I actually remember to write down what I tossed in there so I could share the recipe with you!!! Yay!!! The only thing is, if you make them and share them online, please link back here! I actually came up with this one on my own, so I'm kinda proud of it. LOL!



One thing you should know...I'm a doctor-er. (I am fully aware that doctor-er is not a word and I'm okay with that. It works for me.) Anyway, as I was saying, I am a doctor-er. Meaning, I actually started with a mix and then created my own flavors from there. You could just alter your favorite yellow cake recipe if you would like. I thought about doing it that way for about ten seconds, but then I realized that that took more time AND money, so I stuck with my doctoring plan. Just say'n. So...here it is:

Ingredients:
1 Box Yellow Cake Mix (get one that is super moist - they really are better)
2 medium slightly over-ripe bananas (as in, nobody's going to eat them, but they aren't like liquefied or anything gross like that)
3/4 c milk (I used skim)
1/4 c Canola Oil (I suppose you could use any vegetable oil. Actually, if you want a strong, full flavor, you could even use a light olive oil for these)
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Some Allspice. (Yup. I forgot to measure it. I think it was about a tsp. or so.) Just make it smell good. HA!

Frosting:
1 can of packaged whipped cream cheese frosting
1 tsp. almond extract
1 bag Planters Sea Salt and Olive Oil Almonds (Well, really you only need about half the bag or so, but you will want to eat the rest. They are SUPER yummy!)

Mix the cake ingredients until very well blended. (Make sure your bananas are mashed up and mixed in.)
Pour into lined cupcake tins (3/4 full)
Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or so. You can do the toothpick test on these.

Mix the tsp. of extract into the cream cheese frosting thoroughly.
Smash up a large handful of almonds.

After the cupcakes cool, frost them with the frosting and sprinkle a generous amount of crushed almonds on them including the dust.



Enjoy!

I think I am calling them Salted Monkeys, but I'm not sure yet. What do you think? Good name? Any other suggestions? I'd love to hear 'em!

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