Chocolate chip, BananaBanana Bread Muffins.

Occasionally there are times when you purchase a fresh bunch of green bananas at the grocery store and you set them aside for a day or two to ripen.  Then you get busy, forget about healthy snacks and go for the biscuits and you continue to intentionally/unintentionally forget all about them until the next time you look and they are past an appetising stage of life. They are brown.  It happens.  In the past I have disposed of them whilst trying my best not to imagine my Grandmother saying, "Waste not want not" over my shoulder like Jiminy cricket.

Well, guilt no more! I found this great banana bread recipe last summer (see here) which I found works perfectly when divided into individual muffins.  Due to the last minute nature of throwing this recipe together I have now tried both castor and brown sugar alternatives, both are great.  I have also used varying numbers of bananas so you shouldn't panic if you are short.  The great thing about muffins is that you can experiment by adding all kinds of ingredients! 

Below is my own recipe, slightly altered from the original.

Ingredients:

• 250g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
• A pinch of salt
• 115g butter (or Flora Proactive for lower cholesterol option) 
• 115g dark brown soft sugar (or white castor sugar)
• 2 eggs beaten
• 125g-500g mashed over ripe bananas (Depending on how many bananas you have to spare, I found that a minimum of 3 large or 4 small work adequately.)

Optional extras: Chocolate chips, nuts, vanilla essence, cinnamon extract, soft fruits such as blueberries, strawberries, apple sauce ensuring that when measured with the bananas the combined weight is no more than 500g.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180c/ Gas mark 4 and line baking tray with regular sized cupcake cases.
2. Combine flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.  Stir in the beaten eggs and mashed bananas.  Stir to moisten and add extras (chocolate chips in this instance) and fill paper cases to around 2/3 full. 
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle comes away clean.  Leave to cool and enjoy! 

Perhaps the best part is that the recipe makes about 21 muffins and if your friends and family can't help you eat them all in one sitting then they freeze very well.  Place in air tight ziplock bags and either leave out to defrost as required or zap in the microwave for a few seconds and warm them up!




My Grandmother will be proud!