Banana and Oatmeal Muffins

The banana battle continues on in our fruit bowl - forcing me to result to tried and true but long forgotten battle plans [read:recipes]. A rummage through the bookshelf got me reacquainted with "Muffins - Fast and Fantastic" by Susan Reimer, this book is responsible for developing my baking passion! When I first moved to Edinburgh I shared a flat in St Stephen's Place with a couple from New Zealand (whoever thought putting an Aussie and two Kiwi's in a flat together was a good idea?) and various other people ranging in nationality from South Africa to Scotland occupied the third bedroom, which was really just a box room and probably explained why there was always a very high turn over in occupancy for it.

Being the first time I had ever 'stood on my own two feet' my very first grown up decision was to make sure I ate healthy food which was to include my 5 a day. This was a very good plan, that seemed to last all the way from the front door of the flat to the supermarket at Cannonmill's and back again. Peppers and mushrooms always went in the pasta that was great for dinner and could be taken to work for lunch the next day, the broccoli and cherry tomatoes that went into the feta salad also made a great dinner (but not quite so nice the next day for lunch), apples for morning tea, I pretty much had this healthy eating thing under control! Except for the banana's. They seemed to multiply in the fruit bowl and this is when I went out and purchased afore mentioned Muffin Book. I made banana muffins every Sunday afternoon, tried all the variations I could lay my hands on, and had a banana muffin every morning for breakfast.

Now I think about it, this was obviously the beginning of the end for banana's and I, and we parted company quite amicably after about a year or so Breakfast Banana Muffins. But as I've mentioned previously Hubby loves 'em, which has ended our fruit bowl cease fire.

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

225g SR flour

1 tsp bicarb of soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 large well ripened bananas, peeled and mashed

110g caster sugar (vanilla!)

1 egg beaten (the cake stand at work had duck eggs on it this week so I used one of those)

90ml milk

90ml veg oil

60g rolled oats

85g walnuts

1 tsp vanilla extract

Prepare the muffin tins. Preheat oven to 190-200C.

In a large bowl, sift together; flour, bicarb and salt.

In another bowl, mash banana thoroughly (I pop them in a mini food blender and give them a good whiz - that'll teach 'em!) until pureed. Stir in sugar, egg, milk, oats, vanilla and oil.

Pour all of the wet ingredients into dry. Stir until batter is evenly mixed but still lumpy. No dry flour should be visible. Add walnuts during the final strokes.

Spoon into tins. Bake for 20-25 mins, until tops are lightly browned and spring back when pressed gently.

Makes 12 standard sized muffins

Adapted from 'Muffins - Fast and Fantastic'

Sometimes I sprinkle some more rolled oats and a bit of demerara sugar of the tops of the muffins before baking but today they have gone au natural.