Banana Bread Muffins

I've been feeling somewhat overwhelmed lately with the noise of this world. Creative introvert alert! I find baking so therapeutic, anything that gives you focus, a sense of purpose and an achievement as an end goal is always a winner!

Not to mention something to focus on that your 2, nearly 3 old son can also join in with. Having worked as a Playgroup Assistant, there are so many ways you can link baking to the EYFS. Weighing and measuring is maths and physical development in using fine motor skills. And learning about the world, exposure to the ingredients, how to follow a recipe and what that means. I love teaching and I find I just do it naturally (not that my son is always interested!).

So I found a recipe for banana bread and made it my own. It was so yummy I wanted to share it with you. Feel free to substitute any of the ingredients for your preference (gluten free flour, marg, dairy free spread etc).

Ingredients

• ​2 over ripe mashed bananas (I ended up using green ones which were much harder to mash! Pretty labour intensive!)
• 62g of butter
• 75g sugar (I used golden caster but plain old caster sugar or granulated sugar can be used)
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• ​1 beaten egg
  
• 95g flour (my preference was 50g of plain flour and 45g of wholewheat bread flour. I also used a tsp of baking powder to help it rise).
• 30mls milk

Will make 5 muffins

I wanted to try the wholewheat bread flour to give it more density. Having been on Slimming World since June '16, it's one thing I've learnt with my cake habit. If it's light and fluffy and very tasty, I will struggle not to overeat and scoff my face! I found the finished product made me eat it slower because of the stodge and was easier to resist eating the whole batch at once! The presence of bananas also gave it a more wholesome feel.

Step 1

Put butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a mug and melt in the microwave. Mix together.

Step 2

Mash your bananas and combine with the melted mug ingredients. Mix well.

Step 3

Next add your beaten egg and again stir well to combine. Don't worry if it looks a funny colour. The bananas will naturally go brown after being broken down.

Step 4

Lastly, add your flour and milk, mix well.

Step 5

Now you just need to find some pretty stoneware to bake them in! (Or vessel of your choice.. paper muffin cups, silicone cupcake mold etc).

I had some posh Le Creuset ramekins (courtesy of the husband, a housewarming gift given to him before we met), some handpainted small pottery bowls from Spain and a Laura Ashley floral cup measuring set. Which are so handy when using American recipes! You don't technically need to grease them but I used a bit of the butter Fry Light for mine.

Bake at 150 degrees C for a fan oven for about 25 mins. I also sprayed the top of mine with the butter Fry Light and sprinkled on some sweetener. I did this half way through baking time.

Serving Suggestions

Because of the banana and wholemeal flour, the end result is versatile enough to have as breakfast, an afternoon snack or an indulgent dessert. Just all depends what you put with it!

For breakfast I had it with 0% fat greek style yohurt, chopped mango and blueberries. Protein from the yoghurt, a sugar boost from the fruit and a bit of stodge from the wholemeal flour to fill you up.

It was really nice as an afternoon snack just on its own but eaten fresh on the same day.

As an indulgent treat, you could top it with some ready made chocolate frosting (such as the Betty Crocker, pictured), sprinkle with chopped nuts (pistachios would be amazing!) and maybe even a bit of squirty cream! Or warm it up and have it hot with some vanilla ice cream.

I hope you enjoyed my recipe and please do comment if you make it for yourself. Did you change any ingredients? And what combos did you create? Was it breakfast, a healthy snack or an indulgent treat?