Mouth-watering banana chocolate chip muffins

Mouth-watering banana chocolate chip muffins
Sweet Treats

These humble muffins pack a big punch of flavour. The cinnamon and nutmeg make them warming, while the chocolate makes then comforting and slightly nostalgic. I find that I often have high ambitions of eating healthy when I buy bananas, and then promptly forget about them. While not exactly ‘healthy’, these muffins are a ‘healthy-er’ alternative to a mid-afternoon biscuit or chocolate bar. They also make excellent portable snacks.

Ingredients
  • 9oz/250g plain flour
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 1tsp bread soda
  • ¼tsp salt
  • 1tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼tsp ground nutmeg
  • 3 ripe bananas
  • 1 egg
  • 50g chocolate chips
  • 40 walnuts, optional
  • 2oz/55g dark brown sugar
  • 2oz/50ml vegetable oil

 

Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas 5. Line a muffin tin with pastry cases.
  2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, bread soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
  3. Using an electric mixer, beat the peeled bananas at a medium speed until they are mashed.
  4. Beat in the egg, sugar and oil until everything is just mixed.
  5. Slowly add the flour mixture, beating on a low speed. Once all the flour is mixed in, add in the chocolate chips and, optionally, the walnuts. Use a wooden spoon to fold everything together and evenly distribute the chocolate chips through the batter.
  6. Using a spoon or an ice cream scoop, spoon the batter into the pastry cases. They should not be filled all the way to the top, but leave a bit of room for them to expand when baked.
  7. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick or knife comes out mostly clean. Let them cool in the tin for a couple of minutes before turning them out onto a wire cooling rack.