Hummingbird Cake Bites

Total Time: 50 mins
Preparation Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


• 1 cup sugar


• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 2 eggs (lightly beaten)


• 1/2 cup vegetable oil


• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple (with juice)


• 1/2 cup pecans (toasted and finely chopped)


• 1 cup banana (very ripe and mashed)


• 4 ounces low-fat cream cheese (softened, neufchatel preferred)


• 4 tablespoons butter (softened)


• 1 cup powdered sugar (sifted)


• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350°f line mini-muffin tins with 48 paper liners; set aside.


• 2 toast pecans in a medium-heat iron skillet, on the stove top, stirring constantly, until fragrant. set aside.


• 3 in a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, soda, salt and cinnamon. stir in eggs, oil and vanilla just until dry ingredients are moistened; do not beat. fold in the pineapple (and juice), pecans and banana.


• 4 gently spoon batter into the cups, filling each about 2/3 full. do not overfill. you will have just enough batter for all 48 cups.


• 5 bake 20 minutes; if using two pans at once, rotating the top and lower pans at the 10-minute mark for even baking. (if you have a convection oven, this is not necessary.) bake in two batches if you have only one pan!


• 6 cake bites are done when they are dark golden brown and gently crowned on top. remove from oven and cool at least 20 minutes before frosting.


• 7 swirl a small amount of icing over each cake bite in a decorative fashion. serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap until ready to serve. (wooden picks can be inserted in a few of the bites to keep plastic wrap from smearing the tops.).


• 8 makes 48 cake bites.

recipe

• 9 cream cheese frosting directions:.


• 10 in a small mixer bowl combine 4 ounces softened cream cheese, 4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter, 1 cup sifted powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract ~ beat with mixer until smooth.


• 11 place in a zipper-top plastic bag with one corner snipped (or use a cake decorating bag).