You’ve only really moved into a new place once you’ve baked muffins… anyone agree? 😀 It’s been over a month since I’ve moved flats and while I’ve done a lot of cooking, made a memorable lasagna and baked scones, there’s nothing quite like the smell of muffins baking that evokes an uncomparably cozy feeling of utter homeliness.

The inspiration – and by that I mean the urgent trigger – for these muffins were the overripe bananas that I’d subliminally assumed my boyfriend would eat and could suddenly ignore no longer. I had to act.

The result: these incredibly easy, nourishing and versatile muffins that kept me going in the afternoons and provided an easy breakfast option – plain or sometimes with a dollop of peanut butter.

Banana nut muffins

Makes: 6-8 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 ripe medium bananas, mashed
• 2 tbsp peanut butter*
• 2 tbsp chia seeds**
• 2 tbsp coconut blossom nectar / date syrup / maple syrup
• 150g flour (I used wholemeal spelt)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp ground vanilla bean (optional)
• ca. 180-200 ml mylk (I used oat mylk)

*I use unsalted peanut butter, 100% nuts. If using salted, feel free to skip the extra salt. ** Ground flaxseeds would also work.

Extras:

• Handful of dried cranberries / raisins
• Chopped peanuts

Variation ideas:

• different nut butters (e.g. almond or cashew)
• adding chocolate chunks
• adding jam in the center
• mixing in chopped apricots, dates, walnuts, etc.
• adding spices (cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, etc.) and/or orange zest

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Mix the mashed banana with the chia seeds, peanut butter and coconut blossom nectar in a small bowl.
3. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla (you can, of course, combine all the dry ingredients first in a separate bowl, but the one-bowl-approach is perfectly fine too) and mylk, stirring only to combine. The mixture should be lumpy and not too runny. Incorporate any extras.
4. Line a muffin pan with muffin cases and divide the batter evenly.
5. Bake for ca. 16-20 minutes, they should be nice and springy. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes.

Enjoy!

Feel free to tag @blueberrysmiles22 if you share your creations on Instagram, so I can share in the joy 🙂