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Monthly Archives: July 2012

Banana Muffins

 

I always thought this receipe would be one of the first ones I put up on this blog and I’m surprised it’s taken me this long.

That’s because these banana muffins are so quick to make and you can’t really go wrong with this easy receipe and even vary it slightly if you like by adding some chopped nuts or chocolate chips or  - if you can find them in the shops – peanut butter chips!

Making these muffins is also the best way of using up old bananas that may have gotten left at the bottom of the fruit bowl, you know those forgotten bananas that that no one wants to eat as they’ve gone all bruised and brown or even black.

Well, they are perfect for this receipe.
And don’t attempt to use bananas that haven’t gone dark yet – for this receipe, the browner the bananas the better! If you remember this you can’t really go wrong with these crowd pleasers…

For 12 cupcake sized muffins you’ll need:

  • 3 big, over ripe bananas
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup of sunflower oil
  • 1 egg, lightly whisked
  • 1 ½ cup plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • optional: 1/2  cup chocolate or peanut butter chips or walnut pieces

Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 and line a muffin tin with paper cases.

Mash the bananas with a fork.

In a large bowl mix the flour with the bicarbonate of soda and baking powder.

Now add all other ingredients and mix them together.

It really is as easy as that!
As long as you mix up the flour with the raising ingredients first the order of the rest doesn’t matter and you can even mix everything together with a wooden spoon or fork (as with all muffins this is preferable to using an electric whisk to get the right muffin texture).

Fill the muffin cases evenly and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffins comes out clean. Leave to cool down in the tin for a few minutes then lt the muffins cool on a wire rack.

They will keep in a cake tin for a few days!

Berry Bircher Müsli

We have summer!

It’s been such a long wait this year that it is worth me mentioning this. We’ve had 3 days of sun in a row with about 25-30 degrees and it’s been great.

In this weather I like to use my balcony for breakfast – it gets the sun in the mornings, which is lovely. And, instead of slaving over a hot stove to cook up something exciting, I have been enjoying a summery and healthy “Bircher Müsli”  which is so quickly put together that I often have it during the week before work as well as on lazy weekends. It’s rather healthy and full of slow release energy thanks to the oat flakes.

Of course, the original “Bircher Müsli” is a Swiss müsli, which may be another reason why I like eating it in the  summer… it reminds me of family summer holidays in Switzerland, when I grew up. However, this is not quite a traditional receipe but my version of it, made without nuts but with seeds and grain flakes, all of which you can find in health food shops.

As for the measurements, it’s actually not that easy to write up a proper receipe, since I very much make up the quantities as I go along. So use this as rough guidelines only – in other words, feel free to vary them as you like. The same goes for the ingredients.

Whatever your ingredients for the dry müsli mix, I suggest making up a big jar of it, so you can scoop out a few tablespoons for each portion you make up – just remember to do this the night before as it needs soaking in the fridge!

You will need:

  • 1 cup Oat flakes
  • ½ cup Barley Flakes
  • ¼ cup Spelt Flakes
  • ¼ cup Toasted Rye Flakes
  • ¼ cup Pumpkin Seeds
  • ¼ cup Sunflower Seeds
  • Apple Juice
  • Fat Free Vanilla Yoghurt
  • Fresh Berries such as Strawberries, Blueberries and Raspberries

 

Combine the flakes and seeds and store in a jar.

The night before you want to eat the Bircher Müsli, add a few tablespoons of the flake and seed mix to a bowl and add some apple juice, just enough to cover the müsli. Leave to stand in the fridge overnight so that the apple juice sweetens and softens the müsli.

In the morning add as much yoghurt and as many berries as you like. I tend to stir everything in and then top it with another dollop of yoghurt and a few more berries.

Mmmmmmm….

Duffins

 

What is a Duffin, I hear you ask?
The answer is: a donut-like muffin!

I hadn’t heard of them either until the other week when I was reviewing a café near Holborn , who had a tray of freshly baked ‘Duffins’ on their counter. I was instantly intrigued by the sweet smelling muffins rolled in cinnamon sugar and couldn’t resist buying and trying one. And, oh boy, was I glad I did, as the buttery muffin, full of vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg flavours was very yummy indeed.

As soon as I was back in front of a computer I started looking for Duffins on the web and found that they originated in North America (no surprise there then) and they seem to be this year’s big new thing.
I’d even go as far as saying that they may become this year’s ‘whoopee pie’ if you know what I mean…

Anyhow, I found a good Duffin receipe which I tweaked a tiny bit to make them taste like the Duffin I had tried. So I added the nutmeg for example. The original receipe also asked for using extra light olive oil, for example, but I think baking with virgin olive oil is a bit of a waste, when sunflower or groundnut oil work just as well. My colleagues certainly didn’t seem to mind, when they were wolfing them down to appreciating sounds of “mmmm” and “ahhhmmm”.

Have a go at making the Duffins, which are best eaten with a fresh cup of hot coffee!

Receipe based on this one.

For the Duffins you will need:

  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1½ cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • ¼ cup sunflower oil (or other neutral tasting oil suitable for baking, such as groundnut oil)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg

And for the topping:

  • 1 tbsp butter, melted
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ cup caster sugar

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4.

Grease a 12-muffin tin, ideally with an oil spray, if you have it (other sites suggest pouring a tiny bit of oil in the forms).

In a large jug or bowl, beat together the sugar and egg until light and fluffy. Now, pour in the oil, milk, and vanilla and almond extracts and mix to combine.

In another large bowl mix the flour with the baking powder and salt. Now pour the fluid mix into the flour mix and stir well.

Divide the batter evenly into the muffin cups, filling them about half full and bake for 15-20 minutes (toothpick test!).

While muffins are baking, melt the butter for he topping in a small bowl. I found blitzing it for 20 seconds in the microwave did the trick nicely.

For the topping, pour the caster sugar and all the cinnamon on to a soup plate and mix until all is combined.

Once the Duffins are done and only slightly cooled down for 5-10 minutes, lightly brush the top with the melted butter.  Remove each duffin from the pan and dip the top in the cinnamon sugar straight away and follow this rolling it around the whole plate, covering the whole Duffin.

Enjoy!

 

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