muffins filled with rubies

I had two overripe bananas languishing in a bowl in my kitchen, and there are lovely jewel-bright raspberries in the shops right now. A moment’s googling later, and hey presto, I had found a suitable way to combine them. One of the best muffin recipes I have tried, these two flavours just work. The addition of raspberries, with their tart and tangy sweetness, elevates the plain old banana muffin to a higher echelon of scrumptiousness.

Raspberry and Banana Muffins, adapted from Janet is Hungry

2.25 cups plain flour
0.75 cup caster sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
0.75 cup milk (I used soya milk)
0.5 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1.5 cups fresh raspberries (you could use frozen instead)

Preheat oven to 190ºC and line a muffin tin with paper baking cases.

Mix together the flour, sugar and baking powder. In a separate bowl, mix the mashed bananas, milk, oil, egg and vanilla.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined – the batter should still be lumpy; don’t overmix or the gluten in the flour will overdevelop, causing the baked muffins to be tough and full of ‘tunnels’. Stir in the raspberries, trying not to crush them too much as you do so.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases, filling each one about two-thirds of the way to the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden.

Devour.

Makes 12.