Banana Muffins

When I told people I made banana muffins this weekend, their first response was “how much did the bananas cost you??!”  Since the floods in Queensland, I haven’t bought a banana.  No, the bananas I used in this recipe were from my freezer.  Is it ok to use frozen bananas that have been tucked away for over 6 months?  I hope so. 

As I write up this post I’m munching away on one, and old bananas or not, they are pretty darn tasty.  I always freeze bananas because I never get around to eating the whole bunch when I buy them.  Baking with frozen bananas is so ideal that it’s a blessing in disguise.  I’ve written bananas too many times.

I was watching TV not long ago when Donna Hay make these really quick blueberry muffins on her new series, Fast, Fresh, Simple.  I clearly remember her saying that the base recipe of the muffins could be adapted to any other flavour.  So I jumped on the internet, found her recipe (you can find the book here), and yep, it really is a great base recipe.

I didn’t change anything besides omitting the blueberries and adding banana.  Oh, and I adding some crushed up white chocolate bits on top because I had some left over from my last lot of muffins.  You could also add crushed up nuts, like almonds or walnuts, on top of the muffins. 

BANANA MUFFINS
Adapted from Donna Hay

2½ cups self-raising flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup caster sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

1 egg

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 over ripe bananas, mashed

Granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, sugar, oil, egg, milk and vanilla.  Mix well with a spoon.  Add the banana and continue to mix.

Fill the paper cases with the mixture, and sprinkle a little of the granulated sugar on top.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when tested.  Cool on a wire rack.