Yummy Banana Cupcakes

After getting tired of only making banana bread when I needed to use up some over-ripe bananas, I turned to this recipe instead. I tweaked it just a bit to suit our tastes, and it has become a fast favorite. It's easy and delicious, and makes fantastic cupcakes that I love to pack in my kids lunches for school. The cupcakes freeze wonderfully, and this also makes a great bundt cake.

Yummy Banana Cupcakes

1 (18 oz.) yellow cake mix
1 (3.5 oz) pkg. instant vanilla or banana pudding mix
4 egg whites
1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2-4 ripe bananas, mashed
frosting (chocolate, cream cheese, or vanilla)*

Preheat oven to 350* F. Using two muffin tins, line the 24 cups with paper liners and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix and pudding mix. Add the egg whites, water, oil and mashed bananas. With an electric mixer, mix on low until combined them on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scoop the batter into the paper lined muffin cups, using about 1/4 cup batter per cup. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the tops spring back when touched. Let cool completely on wire racks. Once cool, frost with your favorite frosting (chocolate is our favorite). Store in the fridge or freezer. Makes 24 cupcakes.
*Once the cupcakes are frosted, I flash freeze them on a cookie sheet, then place them in individual plastic baggies and store them in the freezer. In the mornings when I am packing school lunches I can easily grab one to toss into the kids lunch sack for a fun, home-baked treat at school, and they are defrosted in time for the kids to eat.
**Variations**
-Pour the batter into a greased 10-inch bundt pan and bake @ 350* F for 55-65 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert onto wire rack and let cool completely. Once cooled, mix 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar with 1 1/2 TBSP. milk and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract into a glaze and drizzle over top of the cooled cake, then sprinkle with chopped pecans.
-Add 1 cup of mini chocolate chips to the batter before baking and just skip the frosting.
-For a breakfast muffin variation, add 1 cup chopped pecans to the batter, pour into paper-lined muffin tins, then sprinkle a streusel-crumb topping over each one and bake as usual.