Bananatana Muffins

 
Hi Friends! I have my favourite and most successful recipe so far to share with you this evening. I haven't actually been writing my own recipes for long, and hadn't even intended to, but as what I'm doing has evolved, I've become much more confident in what I can come up with as a cook in my own right, as well as just following other peoples' recipes. This is my first baked cake recipe, where I've written the recipe myself and tried it out, and it received such a good reception from husb and the Tonjus that it was rendered a great success, so here it is, written up, for you to make too.

As you'll see from the method photos, this is a great recipe for making with children. I was so delighted when my little one helped me with this recipe because he actually listened and didn't try to just chuck everything into the bowl or make a massive mess when there wasn't anything for him to do for a moment (ahem; unlike his brother!) You don't even need a stand mixer or food processor, just a hand-held manual whisk. None of the ingredients need prior preparation and they are all so simple and easy to obtain. These muffins are totally wholesome and nourishing, and would be great for a lunchbox and for morning or afternoon snacks, especially if you're off on a hike or other energetic activity and need an energy boost. There is plenty of fibre in them from the oats, wholegrain flour and banana, and plenty of flavour with the help of cinnamon and mixed spice.

Ingredients (makes six, easily doubled)

50g rolled oats
80g wholemeal self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 ripe banana
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp mixed seeds
1 egg
40g sultanas
Level tsp cinnamon
Level tsp mixed spice
Pinch of salt
(Note: baking powder and salt not pictured)

Method

Pre-heat oven to fan 180C.
Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon (don't forget the pinch of salt!)

 

Next, peel the banana and place in a shallow bowl - a pasta bowl is ideal - and mash. In a separate mixing bowl beat the egg with a manual whisk, then add the mashed banana and honey and give it all a good final whisk.

Finally, add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together well, then place in a six hole muffin tin (or use six holes in a 12 hole tin). I used a silicone tin, but if you use a metal tin, either grease the holes or line with muffin cases.  

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 18 minutes, then cool in tin for 5-10 minutes before removing to fully cool on a wire rack.

 These muffins hold together beautifully!

 Enjoy with a nice cup of tea

I hope you enjoy recreating this recipe and love it as much as we did. I made it a tradition for a while in our house that Friday is cake day, and we'd all sit round the table together after school and work (husb finishes early on Fridays) and have tea and cake, but I hadn't done it for a while, so these were the perfect thing to reginite the tradition. 

I'm also planning to enter these into a competition run by The Cotswold Company, purveyors of beautiful oak and pine and furniture, to select 100 recipes for a cookbook they are compiling; The Cotswold Cookbook. This is such an accessible recipe, using no specialist equipment, so maybe it stands a chance... It's certainly no frills but maximum taste, so we'll see how that goes. 

Thanks so much, as always, for reading.

xxx Sam