Banana and Sultana Muffins with a Chocolate Centre *Drools*

So I found some lovely brown squishy bananas in my kitchen the other day, and hating waste, I sat and had a good think about what I could do with these manky looking things.

My conclusion - banana muffins! I jazzed it up a bit by putting some sultanas in and adding a piece of dark chocolate to the centre to make a melty middle bit. They're soooo yummy and good for you too (..well it does have bananas and sultanas in them...)

This recipe makes 12 muffins.

What you'll need to gather:

85g (3oz) butter or margarine (I used olive spread)
85g (3oz) light brown caster sugar (however normal caster sugar is grand!)
170g (6oz) self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg, beaten
2-3 VERY ripe bananas, mashed into a puree (yuck!)
about 115g sultanas or any other type of dried fruit
small bar of dark chocolate broken into pieces
muffin tray
muffin cases
mixing bowl

Okay, so first of all heat your oven to about 180oC/Gas Mark4.

Cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy looking. In another bowl mix together the flour and baking powder.

To the butter and sugar, add the egg and a spoonful of the flour. Mix until well combined. Add in the bananas and the sultanas. Then add the rest of the flour mixture until it's all mixed up well.

Divide evenly among the 12 cases then take a piece of chocolate and press it down into the batter so it's sitting in the middle. Do this for all the cakes.

Sprinkle a little bit of sugar over the top and bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

If you have some left (which won't happen) you can always freeze them and defrost for a few hours as and when needed.

Just try not to eat them all!!

I'm Late! I'm Late! I'm Really Really Late!

Oh good God! I just realised I haven't posted on this is AGES! Apologies my dears!

I realise I haven't posted in near enough a year which is MENTAL! I've been super busy moving 140 miles from my hometown to the lovely city of Inverness. It's cold but its awesome!

While i've been unpacking and making the house all nice and homely and cosy, I've been cooking and baking up a storm!

The first lovely recipe I have for you is YORKIES! Or Yorkshire puddings....not the chocolate bar! I always loved having these for Sunday dinner and it was always Aunt Bessie's as my Mum was the cook. However seeing as I have upped my culinary skills I decided to take on the dreaded task of making them myself one Sunday while making dinner.

And the result? OH MY LAWDDDDD AMAZING! I couldn't believe how good they were compared to the frozen ones I had been living with for 26 years! They're actually not difficult to make either, providing you have the time (you need to let the batter sit for half an hour) it's a straight forward operation.

So let's do this shall we??

Nom, right??

Ok so the stuff you'll need (note: these will all probably be in your cupboards! See- they cost nothing to make!)

to make around 12:

3 eggs115 g plain flour1 pinch sea salt285 ml milk12 tablespoons vegetable oil

muffin tray
whisk/fork
measuring jug
mixing bowl

I don't actually use measurements (sometimes I'll use less eggs to make less batter) so what I do is crack the eggs into a measuring jug and take a note of where the eggs measure to (the wee markings on the jug), empty the eggs into a bowl. Pour the flour into the same measuring jug to the SAME level as the eggs came to. Again, empty this into the same bowl with the eggs. Then, add the milk, again to the same level (nothing more or less) and add to the rest of the stuff in the bowl. 

Give it a good whisk and season to taste (nb: it WILL need seasoned) then pour all the batter back into the jug so it's easier to pour into the muffin holes. Set aside for about half an hour.

Heat your oven to the highest setting and pour the oil into the muffin holes and place in oven until oven has heated up or for about 5/10 mins. By this point the oil should be ROASTING, so pour the batter into the muffin holes and place back in the oven for 15 minutes.

DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN IN THIS TIME. REPEAT. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN IN THIS TIME.

Otherwise the puds will sink and it'll all be a travesty! It's rather fun sitting and watching through the oven door at them rising. I cannot even explain how happy I was when I first made these and seen them rising, there may have been a squeal involved!

They'll look all lumpy and weird at first!

Serve straight away or you can always eat one while serving them. Noone will know ;)