A never-ending stream of overripe bananas that make their way to my freezer each week, from leftovers of the large claw of yellow green fruit I buy regularly that doesn’t make it to our lunch boxes.
I love bananas, and I always have some on my kitchen counter, but I always overbuy them, so I’m left with some dark specimens to bake with. Once in a while isn’t a problem, but when you end up with overripe fruit each week, your freezer soon looks like a banana graveyard, with the brown fruit stashed everywhere there is a wedge of free space.
Fresh out of the oven, these beg to be eaten warm with a good cup of coffee.
I love banana bread, and make it often. Though when I need something not only quick to make, but quick to bake, I turn to muffins. This recipe is very easy, and I adapted it to add some cocoa powder. I recently got a large container of it at Costco, not quite realizing how much I had actually purchased, and am now trying to find clever ways of using cocoa powder in my recipes on a regular basis.
The cocoa worked exceptionally well with the butterscotch chips.
You can use any kind of baking chips in this recipe – semisweet, white, even peanut butter ones! You can, of course, skip the cocoa powder, but it adds a nice chocolatey touch to the muffins, and complements the butterscotch chips rather nicely!
These are perfect for your next coffee break, or tea time.
The recipe comes via Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Express cookbook – a manual I turn to often on weeknights, when I want something tasty and I’m in a rush.
Adapted from Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express recipe for Banana Butterscotch muffins, I added cocoa powder to the recipe, and it turned out great. If you wish to omit the cocoa powder, increase the flour to 1 2/3 cups.
Feel free to use any kind of baking chip in this recipe. This was a winner with the whole family.
Ingredients
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup superfine sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup butterscotch morsels (or chocolate)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a 12-bun muffin tin with muffin papers.
- Mash the bananas and set aside for a moment.
- Pour the oil into a jug and beat in the eggs.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda and baking powder into a large bowl and mix in the beaten-egg-and-oil mixture, followed by the mashed bananas.
- Fold in the butterscotch morsels, then place equal quantities in the prepared muffin tin - I use an ice cream scoop and a spatula - and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Check them after 18 minutes if you have a hot oven.
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