Very Easy Banana Muffins

A useful recipe to help with my mission to cut down on food wastage by using up those past-their-best bananas sitting in the fruit bowl that clearly no one is going to eat. In fact ripe bananas have a sweeter stronger flavour so are perfect for baking. Obviously this is not a recipe for hubby-who-hates bananas but the rest of us enjoyed them, especially warm from the oven when the tops of the muffins have a lovely crunch to them. Unlike other muffins, which are best eaten on the same day, the banana in this mixture helps to keep them moist for a good couple of days. For the lightest muffins don't over mix them, add the wet ingredients to the dry and just lightly mix together, it will still look a bit lumpy but that's fine. Then get them in to the muffin cases and into the oven asap. Very straightforward, very easy and very delicious.

Makes 11
Takes about 40 mins
75g butter
250g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
1/2tsp ground cinnamon
A good grating of nutmeg
115g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
125ml milk
1tsp vanilla extract
2 large bananas

1 Preheat the oven to 190C, Fan 170C, gas 5. Line 11 holes of a muffin tin with paper muffin cases. Melt the butter in a small pan or in the microwave then set aside to cool slightly.
2 Sift the flour into a bowl with the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon. Add the nutmeg and stir in the sugar.
3 In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, vanilla and melted butter. Mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher. Add to the flour and spices and pour in the egg mixture. Stir lightly until just mixed but still lumpy. Spoon into the muffin cases, filling them about two-thirds full, and bake for 20-25 mins until well risen and springy to the touch. They'll keep for 2 days or can be frozen.
For an easy banoffee pudding, peel off the paper cases and serve the muffins with warmed toffee sauce sauce (dulche de leche) and cream.