Caramelised Banana, Date and Walnut Muffins

This delicious little recipe is inspired by two friends who reminded me how essential it is to have useful ways to use up those brown, overripe bananas that hang around in the fruit bowl attracting flies!

Sludgy, black bananas are totally ideal for cakes and muffins. The riper the banana, the higher the sugar levels, which means a whole lot more natural sweetness. You'll also find that the intensity of the flavour skyrockets as they ripen, so using those soft, gooey ones will really enhance the banana flavour in the muffins.

If they haven't yet reached the brown and sludgy stage, you have two options:

1. Speed up the ripening process by placing them in the fridge or freezer for a day or two, then remove them and let them reach room temperature. You'll be surprised how fast they soften after a day in the cold.

Or, as I absolutely LOVE to do:

2. Caramelise them! Caramelised bananas are ambrosial. You find them in pancake, pie and tart recipes all the time, but they've been sorely overlooked in the muffin department! Cooking bananas will intensify the sugars and bring out the flavour, but will also coat them in incredible crispy toffee which adds another dimension to the muffins altogether.

Health Benefits

The banana is the George Clooney of fruit. There's just no role it can't perform.

Packed with potassium, bananas help normalise the heartbeat and regulate the body's water balance. When we're overworked and anxious, or when digestive upset strikes, the amount of potassium in our bodies severely depletes. Eating bananas replenishes the levels of this essential electrolyte, restoring normal bodily functions and effectively working to relieve stress.

They also contain the amino acid, tryptophan, which is key in the production of serotonin - the body's natural mood-lifting chemical. In this way, eating bananas can reduce depression and lessen the severity of anxiety disorders.

Finally, they're are full of natural antacids, so really help to soothe the stomach and protect against heartburn and stomach ulcers.

Dates are packed with a variety of B-complex vitamins necessary in everyday bodily functioning, and contain the highest concentration of polyphenols - a plant derived antioxidant - among dried fruits.
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/81/1/215S

Walnuts are, among other things, an excellent source of omega-3 essential fatty acids, making them fantastic for the maintenance of cardiovascular health.
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Now let's get cracking... and mixing and baking!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
1 tspn bicarbonate soda
1 tspn baking powder
1 pinch salt
2/3 cup brown sugar (and an extra 1/4 cup for caramelisation process)
1 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup dates, (roughly chopped)
2/3 cup walnuts (roughly chopped)
3 medium bananas (or 2 extra large)
2 tbspns treacle or golden syrup
1 tspn vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 cup low fat vanilla yoghurt (choose a natural, tub-set yoghurt)
1/2 cup sunflower oil (plus 1 tabspn for caramelisation process)
1/3 cup milk

Unless your bananas are brown and mushy, start by caramelising them.

Heat a fry pan on a medium heat with a good dash of sunflower oil and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Slightly incorporate the oil with the sugar so it becomes paste-like.

Slice bananas into rough quarters and lay them in the pan. Fry on a medium heat for approximately two minutes on each side, or until bananas soften and a golden toffee coating forms on their outsides. Allow to cool, then mash them up with a fork and set aside.

Mix flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon in a large bowl. Roughly chop walnuts and dates and add them to the mixture.

In a separate bowl, whisk treacle, eggs, milk, yoghurt, vanilla essence and oil. Pour liquid into the bowl of dry ingredients, and add the mashed banana. Stir until just incorporated, being careful (as always), not to overmix.

Divide into either patty pans, or, as I have done in this recipe, into make-shift baking paper cups. I find the baking paper gives the muffins a really rustic look which works well with these hearty, traditional ingredients.

Place half a date on top of each muffin as a garnish, and bake in a fan forced oven at 190ºC for approximately 20 minutes, or until muffins are golden and have a slight spring to the touch.

Bon appetit my dears! (And thanks for the inspiration Weenie and Leesh!)

Flour Power

Flour is the quintessential staple ingredient.

Even so, at times the choice of flour can be pretty limited, especially if you rely on the corner shop to get your baking supplies.
There will always be plain white flour and, more often than not, self-raising white flour, but neither of those will be too much use to you in making these muffins.

I'll always go for a wholemeal flour in my recipes because it's one easy way to get a boost of dietary fibre without really noticing you're doing so. Wholemeal flour isn't too hard to find. It's in every supermarket and nearly every local grocery store, but it's wholemeal self-raising flour that can be trickier to source.

If you can't find it, there's an easy solution: just double the quantities of bicarbonate of soda and baking powder in the recipe and you'll get a very similar result.

If you can't even find wholemeal flour, then buy plain flour, double the quantities of the raising agents, and add half a cup of wheat germ to the mixture.

There are always ways to get that fibre hit!

Bewitching Beetroot and Cocoa Muffins

These muffins are a luscious, wholesome take on the traditional 'Red Velvet' cupcake.

It's a funny sounding combination - beetroot and chocolate - but one which totally works! The rich sweetness of the beets mellows the natural bitterness of the cocoa, and the deep burgundy colour of the muffins makes you feel as if you're eating some fantastical treat from Willy Wonka's factory! They're rich, moist chocolate muffins without any of the cocoa fats and solids.

In terms of health benefits, they are just miraculous.

Red beetroot has super high levels of antioxidants which help protect the body against heart disease and cancers. It also contains high levels of the amino acid, betaine, which has such potent anti-cancer properties that it's often used in natural leukemia treatments. High in fibre, beets actively reduce cholesterol levels and work to keep that digestive system squeaky clean. Finally, they're packed with high quality iron - (important for blood creation) - and folic acid - (a compound that lowers the risk of birth defects in newborns).


Cocoa is just as wondrous. Recent studies at Cornell University proved that a cup of cocoa is up to 3 times richer in antioxidants than a cup of green tea! So it seems that eating cocoa is one of the most effective ways we can help our bodies neutralise harmful, carcinogenic substances.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder (and extra for dusting)
1 1/2 tspns bicarbonate soda
1 tspn baking powder
2 large or 3 medium red beetroots - (NB: this should equal about 1 1/3 cups of beetroot puree)
1/2 cup sunflower oil
1 tspn lemon juice
1 egg
1/4 cup skim milk
1 cup low fat vanilla yoghurt.

And to make them just that tiny bit naughtier....

CREAM CHEESE ICING:

200 grams reduced fat cream cheese
1 1/2 cups icing sugar (sifted)
good squeeze of lemon juice

Peel beets with a vegetable peeler to get rid of the rough outer layer. Cut beets into quarters, then place them in a microwave safe dish with half a cup of water and cover (preferably with another plate - NOT plastic wrap). Microwave on med-high for approximately 8-10 minutes, or until beets are soft. Alternatively, you can steam the beets but this method will take longer. Never boil the beets - boiling them will drain them of colour and leech them of their vitamins.

Puree beets using an electric blender, or, if that's not available, mash them as well as you can with a potato masher or grate them using a cheese grater. The latter processes will obviously mean that the beets won't be fully incorporated throughout the muffins, but little chunks of beets are still yummy!

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk oil, eggs, lemon juice, milk and yoghurt until airy.

Combine all ingredients, including beets, and stir until just incorporated. Divide amongst patty pans until each is filled to its rim and bake in a fan forced oven at 190ºC for 20 minutes or until muffins have a slight spring to the touch. I find that 20 minutes is the perfect amount of cooking time for these, but you may want to vary the time to suit your oven.

ICING:

Yes, I know, icing is not exactly health food. But this substitutes butter for a low fat cream cheese so it is definitely more virtuous. It's not a must, but the slight tang in the cream cheese is perfect with the rich cocoa flavour, and it just fancies them up to look much naughtier than they are!



Beat cream cheese, lemon juice and icing sugar together and allow to cool in the fridge for half an hour or so. Spread generously across the tops of each muffin and dust with a bit of extra cocoa for serving.

DELICIOUS!

Cinnamon Apple and Oatbran Crumble Muffins

Think of the yummiest apple crumble, then picture it as a muffin! Crunchy, golden crumble topping makes these healthy breakfast treats all the more delicious than they are already.

These are packed full of vitamins and fibre thanks not only to the wholemeal flour and apples, but to the oatbran - a totally underrated but brilliant source of all types of essential nutrients.

Oatbran, which is basically just crushed oats, is naturally super high in fibre. This means that it's really effective in maintaining digestive health and stopping cholesterol absorption. It's low GI - so releases energy slowly - and contains lots of thiamin, folic acid, and vitamin E. If that wasn't enough, phytoestrogen compounds, called lignans, in oats have been linked to decreased risk of hormone-related diseases such as breast cancer.


So let's get cooking!



INGREDIENTS:

Muffins:
1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
1 cup oatbran
1 tspn bicarbonate soda
1 1/2 tspn baking powder
2 tspns cinnamon
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 pinch salt
2 medium granny smith apples (peeled and finely sliced)
1/2 cup sultanas
2 eggs
1 cup vanilla yoghurt (or 1/2 milk, 1/2 yoghurt, depending on how thick the yoghurt is)
1/2 cup sunflower oil
1 tspn vanilla essence

Crumble Topping:
1/3 cup oats
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tbspns butter

For the muffins, mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk yoghurt, oil, vanilla and eggs.

Peel and slice apples finely (into segments about 2mm thick) then combine all ingredients until just incorporated. Divide into patty-pans until mixture reaches the rim of each.

For the crumble, combine oats, flour, sugar and butter in a bowl and jumble with your fingers until the mixture resembles chunky breadcrumbs. Sprinkle some crumble across the top of each muffin, then place in a fan forced oven at 190ºC for approximately 20 minutes, or until crumble topping is crisp and golden.

Enjoy my dears!

The Tangiest, Fluffiest Raspberry and Coconut Muffins

Raspberry and coconut is a superb combination. Not only do raspberries give the muffins a gorgeous pinky colour, but they provide the perfect sourness to combat the rich, nuttiness of coconut.

Without being as 'salt of the earth' as the carrot and bran recipe below, they're still incredibly healthy!

Raspberries are high in ellagic acid - a compound that has been shown to stop the growth of cancer cells - as well as strong cold and flu fighting antioxidants like vitamin C and quercertin . They're also beneficial for the waist-line, packed with a mineral called manganese which helps keeps your metabolic rate high and helps burn fat. I like to use frozen raspberries because they have been snapped fresh, but also because the juice that forms in the defrosting stage is fantastic for keeping the muffins moist.

Coconut is also a fantastic source of dozens of necessary nutrients. Not only is it rich in protein and potassium, but also in beneficial fatty acids (MCFA's) which have been shown to protect against heart disease and help sustain the growth of shiny hair, glowing skin and strong nails. The flesh of the coconut has unique immune boosting properties too, so eating these will help your body fight off all types of viruses and pathogens.

They're light, fluffy and oh so yummy!

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
1 tspn baking powder
1 tspn bicarbonate soda
2/3 cup white or brown sugar
1 pinch salt
1 cup dessicated coconut (and some extra for dusting)
1 egg
2/3 cup low fat vanilla yoghurt (choose a naturally made, tub-set yoghurt free from emulsifiers)
1/2 cup sunflower oil
1 cup raspberries (defrosted with juice)
1 tspn lemon juice


Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, sunflower oil, yoghurt, lemon juice. Pour mixture into the dry ingredients, then add raspberries.

Stir until just incorporated and divide mixture into patty pans until it nearly reaches the rim of each.

Bake in a fan forced oven at 190ºC for approximately 20 minutes, or until muffins have a very slight spring to the touch.

Remove and let them cool on a wire rack. Dust with desiccated coconut to serve. Totally yummy warm or cold!

Super Wholesome Carrot and Bran Muffins

These are really my favourites. You'd be forgiven for thinking it was a naughty carrot cake recipe but the muffins actually contain far more goodness than high fibre bread.

Scrap the toast with jam and try these fabulous babies for brekkie!


INGREDIENTS:
1 cup oat bran
1 cup wholemeal flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 pinch salt
1 tspn bicarbonate of soda
1 tspn baking powder
1 tspn cinnamon
1/2 tspn nutmeg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sultanas
1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts
1 large carrot (grated)
1 Granny Smith apple (grated)
1/2 cup sunflower oil
2 tbspns treacle or molasses
2 eggs
3/4 cup low fat milk

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl (including walnuts and sultanas) and set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk milk, sunflower oil, eggs and treacle. Add the whisked ingredients to the dry ones, then add the grated carrot and apple.

Stir until just incorporated, being careful not to over-mix. Over-mixing will make the muffins rubbery and dense. Not good!

Pour mixture into decent sized patty pans until it reaches the rim of each. Drizzle some extra treacle over the tops of the muffins and place them in a fan forced oven at 190ºC for approximately 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

Yummy!