Chocolate Banana Streusel Muffins

I always seem to have some overripe bananas hanging around as I'm not a fan of them when they start to go brown on the outside. This means I'm always on the lookout for recipes that will use them up. I spotted this recipe on Pinterest a couple of months ago and decided to give it a go as I had all the ingredients already. Chocolate and banana is a combination that can't go wrong and if you add an oaty topping you can almost believe they're good for you! I think these would be great for brunch but they will work just as well at any other time of the day with a cup of tea or coffee.

This recipe will make 8 muffins. As it is an American recipe the measurements are in cups. With hindsight after tasting these today I think you could probably up the amount of banana as when I tried one the banana isn't that strong so if you like a stronger banana flavour maybe try adding two bananas.

Ingredients:

Streusel topping:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons plain flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (approx. 30g - cold)
2 tablespoons oats

Muffins:
3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons mashed banana (approx. 1-1 1/2 bananas)
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup chocolate spread (I used Nutella)

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a muffin pan with 8 paper cases.
2) In a small bowl combine the streusel topping ingredients until it makes small lumps. Set aside.

3) In a large bowl combine the dry muffin ingredients (flour, sugar, salt and baking powder). Then add the mashed banana, milk, chocolate spread, vanilla extract and egg yolk. Stir well with a wire whisk until the ingredients are combined. Finally stir in the chocolate chips.

 4) Fill each paper case approximately 3/4 full with the muffin mixture. Then sprinkle the streusel topping over.

5) Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the muffins have risen and a springy to touch. Allow them to cook for 5 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

6) Enjoy! 

Blueberry Muffin Loaf

Today was the baptism of the son of one of my best friends - the extremely cute Ellis. Knowing my love of baking my friend Rachael asked if I would make a cake for after the service. It was the perfect opportunity to try something new. I had some blueberries that needed using up so I decided to try out this recipe for Jo Wheatley's blueberry muffin loaf. This is a lovely, moist, fruity cake with the added bonus of a crumble topping. Jo recommends serving it warm for brunch but I think it would go down well at any time of day. The recipe comes from 'A Passion for Baking' but you can find it online here.

You will need a greased 2lb loaf tin, with the base and ends lined with a strip of buttered baking parchment.

Ingredients:

Topping
25g plain flour
20g unsalted butter (cubed)
20g caster sugar

Muffin
200g self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
75g soft brown sugar
50g caster sugar
70g unsalted butter (melted)
160ml full-fat milk (I used 1% fat and it didn't seem to make any difference)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
130g blueberries

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2) Begin by making the crumble topping. Tip the flour, butter and sugar into a bowl and using your fingertips rub the butter into the flour until it looks like a crumble mixture.

3) Then move onto the loaf. Sieve the flour and bicarbonate soda into a bowl, add both the sugars and mix well.

4) Melt the butter, leave to cool slightly and then mix with the egg, milk and vanilla extract. Whisk the mixture until smooth.

5) Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk and egg mixture. Using a large metal spoon, fold the two mixtures together until only just combined.

6) Fold the blueberries into the mixture (make sure you don't overwork the mixture as otherwise you will get a heavy sponge).

7) Carefully spoon the mixture into your prepared loaf tin and scatter over the crumble topping. Bake on the middle shelf of your oven for about 1 hour or until golden, well risen and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean (mine took 50 minutes).

8) Enjoy warm or at room temperature.