Banana Chocolate Muffins

With some very ripe bananas in the fruit bowl, it was about time to bake again...This time a recipe from Nigella Lawson's Kitchen that fellow food blogger from Avonturen in de keuken (Adventures in the kitchen) tested out before me and inspired me to bake...a recipe for Banana Chocolate Muffins! They are really easy to make, and taste really great!

Banana Chocolate Muffins
(makes 12)

Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas
1,25 dl vegetable oil
2 eggs
100 gr sugar
225 gr all-purpose flour
3 tbsp dark cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda

Preparation:
1.) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line a muffin tin with paper cups.
2.) Peel the bananas, and mash them in a medium sized bowl.
3.) Add vegetable oil and the eggs, and mix well.
4.) Add sugar and stir.
5.) Mix the flour, cocoa powder and soda in a separate bowl, and sift it into the banana mixture. Stir well.
6.) Fill the cups twothirds up, and bake for 20 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.
7.) Let the muffins cool down for 5 minutes in the muffin tin, before transferring them onto a rack to cool down more.

Hubby rating: 4 (out of 6; would have been 5, with chocolate chips added to the dough)

Enjoy!

Banana Walnut Cake

With a couple of brown bananas in our fruit bowl, it was about time to make some cake!

Banana Walnut Cake
(Ø 20cm)

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1,75 dl olive oil
3 tbsp milk
300 gr sugar
150 gr all-purpose flour
10 gr baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
0,5 tsp ground ginger
100 gr walnuts, coarsely chopped

Preparation:
1.) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2.) Mash the bananas in a medium sized bowl.
3.) Add the eggs, oil and milk and stir.
4.) Add the sugar and stir.
5.) Add the flour and spices and stir.
6.) Add the walnuts and stir.
7.) Transfer the dough into a springform lined with baking parchment.
8.) Bake the cake on the lower rack of the oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake needle comes out clean.
9.) Set aside on a rack to cool down.

Enjoy!

Banana Blueberry Yoghurt Popsicles

With the temperature rising above 25 degrees today, as it has done every day this last week, I started to rummage in the kitchen cupboard the other day...trying to find those old fashioned popsicle molds I got from my mom some years ago.

When I was little my mom used to make yoghurt popiscles for me and my sisters....I guess these memories from back in the days are so strong, that I do not consider it to be summer until I have eaten a homemade popsicle in the sun...

The whole rummaging for popsicle molds came about after I found this recipe by Martha Stewart. These popsicles are delicious!!!

Banana Blueberry Yoghurt Popsicles
(makes about 8)

Ingredients:
450 gr ripe bananas
0,4 dl yoghurt (plain or vanilla)
3 tbs of sugar
juice of half a lemon
0,3 dl of fresh blueberries

1.) Peel the bananas and put them into a blender. Puree the bananas until smooth.
2.) Add sugar, yoghurt and lemon juice, and blend.
3.) Pour half of the mixture into the popsicle molds.
4.) Add blueberries to the remaining half of the mixture and puree a bit more. You'll want to leave some blueberry chunks into the mixture, so that it's not completely smooth.
5.) Pour the rest of the mixture into the popsicle molds.
6.) Transfer to the freezer and leave until frozen (this takes about 8 hours).
7.) When you want to serve a popsicle, dip the molds quickly in hot water (or hold under a running tap) to unmold.

Enjoy!

Banana Bread

Yesterday afternoon I made Banana Bread, to have a snack to bring with me to work today...and because I had four very ripe bananas lying on the countertop. It was either to use them in a Banana Bread or to throw them away... Well, Banana Bread it was...!

Banana Bread
(makes 1 loaf)

Ingredients:

170 gr all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
115 gr butter, melted
100 gr sugar
2 eggs
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
75 gr raisins
50 gr hazelnuts or walnuts
1 tsp vanilla essence

1.) Preheat the oven to 165 degrees Celsius.
2.) Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium-sized bowl and mix well.
3.) In another bowl mix the melted butter and the sugar until blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
4.) Mash the bananas and add to the butter/sugar mixture.
5.) Stir in the raisins, nuts and the vanilla essence.
6.) Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir well.
7.) Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and scrape the dough into the loaf pan.
8.) Bake in the middle of the oven for approximately 1 hour (check with a toothpick or skewer whether the loaf is ready; the skewer should come out clean).
9.) Leave the loaf in the pan and put on a rack to cool.

Enjoy!