Tuesday Treats

There is nothing like some homemade treats to brighten up what is looking to be a very dreary Tuesday. 

The treat of choice this week is Banana Bread Muffins. Just as easy as their name sake cake, but elicit somewhat more portion control (an issue when you live with a man!).

This recipe is literally idiot proof (I would know, I nearly didn't add sugar or milk and bunged them in at the end). 

You will need:

• Muffin Tray and Cases (my polka dot ones are from Tesco)
• Kitchen Scales
• A LARGE mixing bowl (this makes 12 large muffins)
• A Wooden Spoon
• and I used my iPad for the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 250g Self Raising Flour
• 1 tsp of Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp of Bicarbonate of Soda
• Pinch of Salt
• 150g Caster Sugar
• 75g Butter (I used Olive Spread and it was fine)
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp Vanilla Paste
• 2 Large Free Range Eggs
• 3 Ripened Bananas
• 125ml Milk (I used Semi Skimmed Cravendale, but I'm sure any is fine)

 Method:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 190 degrees (180 fan)
2. Mash the bananas in the bowl
3. Add all the dry ingredients (sieved if necessary)
4. Melt the butter
5. Add the butter, honey, eggs, vanilla and milk.
6. Mix the batter with a wooden spoon. Don't worry about mixing too well, the lumps are supposed to be there.
7. Once mixed divide the mixture up into your muffin cases. I used about 3 desert spoons of mixture in each, but as long as they are equal it is not a precise science.
8. The banana bread muffins should take about 20-25 minutes to bake. Check they are done by piercing with a skewer and checking that it is coming out clean.

Once the banana bread muffins are cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for the first 10 minutes in the tray. This stops them from collapsing while cooling.

After 10 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and leave them to cool on a wire rack. I don't have one of these so left my muffins on a glass chopping board.

And there you have it, banana bread muffins that take minimal time or effort to make, but will definitely take a fair bit of will power not to take one each time you walk past. They should keep for 3 days in an airtight container, but in my experience they don't last that long. Well you wouldn't want them to go stale now would you?!





Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson, available from: http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/banana-muffins-876.