Banana Muffins

I was chatting with Nandita a few days ago about how I'd never tasted banana breads, cakes or muffins. She really couldn't bring herself to believe me. I can understand how she felt as the banana bread was the first cake she baked. I'd been eyeing Anita's banana muffins for a while too. In the last 4-5 months, I think we've brought home bananas half a dozen times just for this. And just when they were really overripe, I got extremely busy and so in they went along with some milk to become our smoothies for breakfast.

On Sunday, I went to a bookstore to use up a voucher I got from my workplace for my birthday. I'd decided which book I wanted to buy. But there was a 10-90% discount sale on. I bought The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge at an 80% discount. I also bought 2 other books, one about cookies, one about decorating cakes and I got a third book free. I picked one on making cakes. That's a lot for someone who doesn't bake much these days. But I fully intend to start real soon. To add to my thrill, a copy of Nigella Lawson's "How to be a Domestic Goddess" is also on its way. I've lent a few cookbooks to my friends over the years only to find my collection rapidly depleting. I have had to buy second copies of books I've had for years because the person who borrowed them has simply forgotten about them. My new year resolution is that nobody is going to be allowed to carry any of my books outside my home. Should they want to read or try something out, I can hand them a pen and paper and they can make all the notes they want.

The Cookie Book carries this recipe for Banana Muffins and I tried them last morning. The reactions have been mixed. I quite liked them. My colleagues fought over the last muffin in the box ( I think that says a lot!). But S said it wasn't the best he'd eaten of my cakes and muffins.

I adapted this recipe from this book.

3 large overripe Bananas

2 cups Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

1 Egg

1/3 cup Raisins

1/4 cup Oil

Sift the dry ingredients together.

Mash the bananas using hand mixer. Add the egg, oil, and brown sugar and mix until well blended. Pour in the dry ingredients little by little, mixing well after each addition. Add the raisins and stir well with a spoon.

Pour into 12 lined muffin cups. Bake at 350 F (180 C) for 20 minutes.

I used an egg replacer instead of the egg. I wanted to try it out for a long time and yesterday, I actually ran out of eggs!!

Off this goes to Sunita for this month's Think Spice... Think Cinnamon event and also goes to the Yum Blog for this month's A Fruit A Month event.