Banana Muffins

If you, like me, are guilty of neglecting your bananas, then this recipe is for you. Long gone are the days where your browning bananas are bin-worthy. Now you can have delicious muffiny goodness and not a single scrap of fruit wasted. It is absolutely foolproof, so it’s perfect for weekday baking when you only have an hour to spare.  This particular recipe comes from the days when I lived in Canada and is a perfect example of why North America does muffins so well. They are quite simply the best muffins in my recipe file.

I almost always have them with dark chocolate chunks thrown in, but they work just as well without.

NB – this recipe is measured in cups. You can buy cup measurements at most supermarkets and all good cookery shops!

You will need:

• 3 large ripe bananas
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 ½ cups plain flour
• 100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped OR a bag of chocolate chips

1. Stick the oven on 190°c (375°F, gas mark 5). Whip out your apron, and get some bouncy music going. I usually get Rihanna on the go for this one.
2. Mash the bananas in a large bowl. You can use a potato masher or a fork, whichever is to hand.
3. Beat the egg lightly in a jug, then add to the banana and mix with a spoon.
4. Add the sugar and butter and mix well.
5. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix. You don’t need an electric whisk – a wooden spoon is best.
6. If you want to add chocolate, go for it. I like to use a high quality dark chocolate, like Lindt 85%. Best when chopped roughly, so every now and then you get a huge mouthful of chocolate in your muffin.
7. Spoon out the mixture into muffin cases and bake for 20 mins. You might want to turn them around half way through if your oven is anything like mine. Muffins will be cooked when you can stick a skewer in that comes out clean (NB melted chocolate on the skewer is fine).

Best enjoyed when slightly warm!

SNEAKY TIP:

Why not make mini muffins? Make as above but bake for only 10 minutes or so. Delicious!