Banana Breakfast Muffins

Last night was a strange one…  Awoken at about 2am, soaking from head to toe and covered in what looked like spangly spiders.  I also remember frantically searching for the light switch saying something (not sure what though) to scare the spiders away….ewwww…it makes me shiver thinking about it.

My head is possibly trying to adjust after all the assignment writing those past few months, or it could be the research methods philosophy I am trying make sense of.  However, I put it down to the head and foot massage I gave Andy last night to relieve him of the stress he was swimming in due to a presentation he has to do today.   Lucky Andy, he slept right though the night, which, for him, is strange.  His energy must have transferred over to me during the massage, but he doesn’t seem to think that’s true.    Anyway, to relieve myself of the light trauma from last nights spider hallucinations, I  decided the perfect solution was to bake cakes for breakfast, just something quick, so thanks to my trustworthy banana cake recipe it saved the day 😛 well, so far…

Hot from the oven…I forgot how good they tasted…would you like one? (by the way, I know what you’re thinking, “is that all she can cook?” … it’s not honest…it’s just that they’re sooo quick to make and absolutely satisfying).

No chocolate this time, and a little less sugar too…oh yeah, and I used half and half wholemeal and plain flour…the healthier option 😛

Manly Banana Cinnamon Cupcakes

Here you will find my yummy banana loaf recipe in the shape of little manly style cupcakes.  I was going make a traditional cup cake recipe with all the frills and a variety of flavours, but I didn’t!   Instead, I settled on, in my opinion, the perfect sponge.  They are like mini banana loaf buns, however, this time I topped them with a chocolate & cinnamon cream cheese frosting for added naughtiness.  They do look a little manlier than your usual cup cake, don’t they?  So that’s who I made them for, a newly turned 30-year-old man. Welcome to my world!

Happy Birthday Tom!!

Ingredients:

• 113g butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup sugar (granulated, caster, or mix in some demerara, whatever you have to hand)
• 1 cup self raising flour (I couldn’t find self raising here in Japan so used all purpose)
• [1.5 tsp baking powder & 1/2 tsp salt] – if you use all purpose
• 2 eggs
• 3 medium, very ripe bananas
• Handful crushed walnuts
• 1 tsp heaped cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp clove powder
• 1 tsp nutmeg powder
• 1 bar of chocolate (broken into small pieces)

1. Pre-heat oven to 130 degrees
2. Grease a muffin tray with butter or marg
3. Mash the bananas with a sturdy fork or blend in a blender
4. Cream the butter and sugar together and mix in the eggs
5. Mix together the mushy bananas.
6. Mix in the sieved flour and spices
7. Mix in the chocolate raisins and crushed walnuts.
8. divide evenly between muffin holes and bake for 40 minutes
9. check for they’re by piercing the center of a cup cake. If it comes out clean, cool at room temperature then decorate as desired.