Recipe: Banana Bread Muffins (a.k.a Procrastimuffins)

I have to admit it, I loveeeee banana bread. I adore how moist and full of flavor it is, sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth but not ridiculously bad for me. Filling, but not stodgy, managing to get me some of the way to achieving my 5-a-day. These are the banana bread I love so much, but in muffin form! Perfect for an afternoon snack.

Or microwaved until gooey, served with a scoop of ice-cream. Thank me later…

I always end up with over-ripe spotty bananas, due to my hatred of actually eating a banana. Sure, I’ll mash one up in my porridge. Offer me a banana smoothie and I’ll take it. But will I eat a banana? Hell no! Using them like I do means they need to be super sweet and ripe, hence I always end up rushing to use the last few. A few weeks ago I was revising for an exam the next day, wandered into the kitchen and spied some completely brown bananas. And PROCRASTIMUFFINS were born. Only taking 30 minutes, including baking and washing up, they were the perfect way to take some time out, whilst creating a yummy post-exam snack for the next day.

The basic recipe produces moist, slightly cinnamon-y muffins, very banana-y with a slightly hint of peanut butter (because p-butter). I’ve taken it up a notch here and stirred through a small handful of roughly chopped dark chocolate, but in all honesty that’s not necessary. The muffin is the star of the show here, not any additions. That said, I’m imagining a batch made with pecan-nut butter (a new discovery), with extra nuts stirred through… They are moist, but not ‘gummy’ like some banana bread can be, they don’t fall apart, and they’re not too sticky. In essence, the perfect study snack.

Ingredients

• 100g butter
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 140g sugar – I used a mix of soft brown and granulated, but use what you have
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 190g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 120g yoghurt or soured cream (or a mix of the two)
• 2 bananas, mashed well
• 1 small handful ‘extras’ like chocolate chips

Melt the butter and peanut butter together in a large microwaveable boil, then stir in the sugar. Let cool a little, then add the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat until combined. Mix the flour together with the cinnamon and bicarb, then add to the butter mix and stir together. Then add the bananas and yoghurt/soured cream, stir until just combined. Fold through the extras, then pour into muffin cases – this recipe fills 12 cases almost to the top.

Bake at 170C for 20-25 minutes, watching to make sure the tops don’t brown too much. Let cool a little in the tins, then cool completely on a wire rack.

Eat whenever you need a pick-me-up, as a speedy breakfast, or heated and served with ice-cream as an indulgent desert (preferably with a spoon of nutella melted on top, because who doesn’t love banana and nutella?!).

What do you do to procrastinate? I reckon by the end of exam season I’ll have spent a fortune on baking ingredients and won’t fit into any clothes!