Fruity Banana & Pineapple Muffins by The Pink Whisk

It's been an embarrassingly long time since I've last posted, and I really hope it doesn't happen again, but life since Jayden arrived has been rather hectic, and I've been trying to catch up on my deeply missed sleep in any spare time I've had.  I am rather proud to say that I managed to make a lone batch of brownies in one of the few spare moments I've had since Jayden's been born.  Sadly I must admit that they came from a box, but their gooey and chocolatey goodness helped get me through some sleepless nights!

I've had the guest post below nearly ready to go for some time now, but just haven't been able to finalise it and add in the pictures went along with it.  This guest post comes from the amazing Ruth Clemens, who many of you will know was the runner up on the first season of the hit UK TV series "The Great British Bake Off" which I throughly enjoyed watching (season 2 is airing now by the way).  I'd been following Ruth's blog "The Pink Whisk" even before I knew she was going to be on The Great British Bake Off, and have enjoyed drooling over her amazing creations.  Ruth has been kind enough to put together a guest post for you all, while I try and get back into a routine and finish some of my own posts.  

Ruth has made some delicious fruity muffins with a tropical twist - perfect to go with the fabulous 27ºC weather we've been having in London over the past week!  So, if you're in the mood for muffins, please do give Ruth's recipe below a try!

Fruity Banana & Pineapple Muffin by The Pink Whisk

Summer holidays are over, the children (and grown ups) are back to the old routine.  My thoughts turn to livening up the kids packed lunches without overloading them with sugary bits and pieces. This is a really simple muffin recipe packed full of fruity goodness guaranteed to put a smile on their face at lunchtime!

Makes 12.

Ingredients:

225g (1 3/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp) Wholemeal self-raising flour

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda (baking soda)

180g (3/4 Cup + 3 Tbsp) Soft Light Brown Sugar

2 Ripe Medium Bananas, mashed

1 Tin (425g or 15oz) Pineapple Chunks, drained

90ml (6 Tbsp) Sunflower Oil

2 Large Eggs

Optional: 1 tsp Icing Sugar for sifting.

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 160c (fan)/180c/Gas Mark 4 (350ºF). Line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper liners.

2.  In a large bowl mix together the wholemeal flour, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and light brown sugar.

3.  Mash the bananas and drain the pineapple. Make a well in the centre of  dry mixture and add the fruits, sunflower oil and eggs. Mix well until thoroughly combined.

4.  Divide the mixture between the paper liners and bake in the oven for 30 – 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. 

5.  Optional - Dust with a little icing sugar and serve.

Bananas Make The Bestest Bread!

This banana bread is probably one of my favorite things that my mom made for us while growing up.  She'd always bake two loaves - one with nuts (bleh!) for her and my dad, and one with chocolate chips (yay!) for me and my brother.  I've mentioned before, that I have a horrible habit of buying fruit and not finishing it in time before it goes bad.  This especially goes for bananas.  I like my bananas pretty ripe - with no green what so ever, and preferably all yellow with a tiny hint of brown.  The problem is, is that if I buy 3-4 bananas and wait until they get to the right colour for me to eat, then inevitably there's going to be at least one of two that will get too brown by the time I get around to eating them.  Again, my solution is to freeze them.  Just peel the bananas and throw them in a ziplock bag and then into the freezer.  

I don't really mind having a freezer full of frozen bananas because it means that I can thaw them out to make a loaf or two of this fabulous banana bread.  It really is the best banana bread I've ever had, and I've tried a lot over the years.  Aside from cupcakes, it's probably the thing that disappears the fastest when I bring it into the office.  It's super moist, and loved by numerous people I know that actually hate bananas - including my husband.

One thing to note is that this recipe fills a standard North American loaf pan perfectly, but UK loaf pans are slightly smaller, so there's just a tad too much batter.  If you're using a standard UK pan, then you may need to have a small ramekin on hand to pour the extra batter in, so you'll end up with an extra mini loaf / muffin. And even though it's called banana bread, it's more of a load cake, and not bready at all.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

2 Cups (250g) Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 Cup (115g) Butter

1 Cup (225g) Sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

1 Cup (250ml) Banana, mashed - about 3 frozen or very ripe bananas

1/3 Cup (80ml) Milk

1 tsp Lemon Juice or White Vinegar

1 Cup Chocolate Chips (or Nuts)

Instructions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350ºF (175ºC).  Grease a loaf pan with non stick cooking spray, or butter and line with parchment.  Sift flour, baking soda and salt together and set aside.

2.  In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.  

3.  Measure your milk in a measuring cup and add the lemon juice or vinegar to it.  Stir, and set aside for 5 minutes until it's curdled. 

4.  Alternating between the flour mixture and milk, combine each with the butter, egg and sugar mixture, making sure stir until just combined before adding in the next bit.  I usually dive each ingredient into thirds when alternating and mixing together.

5.  Once everything has been combined, stir in the bananas and chocolate chips (or nuts).  Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan, and bake for 45 - 60 minutes, or until a toothpick that's been inserted into the center of the load comes out clean.  Let the loaf cool completely in the pan before removing to cut.

* I've mentioned before that my oven is basically crap, and because it only has a top heating element, loaves like this take longer to cook and they also brown faster on top.  At around the 40 min mark, I usually cover the top of my pan with foil to prevent further browning, and leave it to bake for another 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes clean.

I'm not sure why, but my family has always eaten this banana bread with butter.  It's totally unnecessary, but it's really good.  This banana bread freezes very well, so it's a nice thing to bake and throw into the freezer so it's ready to bring out an hour or so before company drops by.  Cutting the banana bread while still slightly frozen makes it a bit easier to slice.  I took these pictures while the banana bread was still slightly frozen, so it appears a bit dry in the pictures, but it's NOT!  I promise!  Enjoy!

And now to announce the giveaway winner of the beautiful apron from Cooking Gorgeous!  A big congratulations goes to Nickie who won with her bonus entry for tweeting about the giveaway!  Nickie, I'll be in touch shortly with more details on how to claim your prize!