Friday 1 June 2007

Banana muffins

Any sort of muffin is easy and quick for a child to make ... small children seem to have an inordinate passion for mashing bananas - Nigella Lawson

As do adults, I'd say! If you are looking for an easy item for your weekend breakfast or brunch, these fit the bill quite well. Simple ingredients, easy to make, fairly healthy, and (for those of you with kids) easy enough for the kids to help with.
The verdict
Unusual or substituted ingredients: Nope - all straightforward pantry items, plus a couple of (preferably overripe) bananas. (This was not a recipe I made after the Queensland cyclone which pushed the price of bananas up to $15-$16/kilo!!)
Special utensils or cookware: Just a regular muffin tin (not a huge muffin tin though!). I also use paper muffin cases, so I don't have to worry about greasing the muffin holes.Repeatability: Yes, eminently repeatable - in fact, I've probably made these at least 8-10 times, sometimes when we want something a bit special for breakfast (well, special when compared to say, toast!) or if we have people over for morning tea, as we did last Sunday, when I made this batch. Not the most attractive looking mixture I have to say, but don't let that put you off!
Sauciness: The sweetness in the muffins comes from the bananas, but also from 2 "oozingly heaped" tablespoons of honey (you won't be surprised to find they are Nigella's words!!). The honey though also makes the muffins a little sticky - most times I've made this recipe, the paper case has not come away cleanly from the muffin (like they usually do with cupcakes), but that's ok, a bit of time peeling the paper off just enhances the anticipation of the eating!

Overall pleasure level: For a simple breakfast, these are delicious! I'd say a 7. They are quite good for you - no sugar, only a little butter, just honey, bananas, flour and a bit of vanilla (and probably baking powder too). And while I've never made them with kids, I can see that they would be the type of recipe kids would enjoy making.