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.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=99
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!)
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