Banana, Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Chip Muffins

I’ve done these muffins many times before and they are my quick and easy never-fail recipe when I need to use up ripe bananas. This weekend has been a wet one but I’ve enjoyed a spot of baking and I couldn’t pass up the chance to use my gorgeous new pastel silicone star and heart cases which I purchased last month at John Lewis. I’d read great reviews on silicone cases and they really lived up to their reputation, the only down side being I now want to buy more!The cases really helped the muffins retain the heart & star shapes and I love how cute they turned out. For those of you who have yet to try silicone cases, I say go out and buy them, you won’t be disappointed.

Banana, Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients
3 very ripe bananas
125ml vegetable oil
2 eggs
250g plain flour
100g caster sugar
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
100g peanut butter chips
100g milk chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan oven/gas mark 6 and line a 12-bun muffin tin with muffin papers.

Mash the bananas and set aside for a moment. Pour the oil into a jug and beat in the eggs. Put the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a large bowl and mix in the beaten-egg-and-oil mixture, followed by the mashed bananas. Fold in the peanut butter and milk choc chips and then place equal quantities in the prepared muffin tin and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack

Pear and Ginger Muffins

Hi all, how have you all been? I've been absent from my blog for too long but life as it sometimes does took over. I can't beleive how long it's been since I last blogged, although I have been baking along the way. If I'm honest I lost my blogging mojo when sadly my kitten Ollie passed away last August but I'm ready and raring to get back to my poor neglected blog and bake lots of yummy goodies. I baked these Pear and Ginger muffins a while back and they were a recipe I couldn't wait to try. I've baked many variety of muffins but never a recipe with pear. The pear and ginger combo sounded too good to pass up and they couldn't have been more of a hit with my boys and I. The pear keeps the muffin moist and the ginger permeates everything. These are perfect for breakfast or snacking during the day.

Pear and Ginger Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
150g caster sugar
75g light brown sugar, plus ½ tsp per muffin for sprinkling
1 tsp ground ginger
1 x 142ml pot sour cream
125ml vegetable oil
1 x 15ml tbsp honey
2 eggs (large)
1 large pear such as a Comice (or other fruit to give you about 300g in weight), peeled, cored and cut into 5mm dice

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6 and line a 12-bun muffin tin with muffin papers.

Measure into a bowl the flour, baking powder, caster sugar, 75g of brown sugar and the ground ginger.

In a large measuring jug, whisk together the sour cream, oil, honey and eggs and then fold into the dry ingredients.

Lastly, mix in the diced pear, and divide the batter evenly between the muffin cases.

Sprinkle each one with ½ tsp of brown sugar and bake for 20 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack. Best eaten while still a little warm.

Glittery Marshmallow Cripsy Squares

Last year I was really excited when Nigella Express hit the stores but upon receiving my copy I was so disappointed, it wasn’t the Nigella I was accustomed with. I haven’t cooked or baked much from the book, a first for me cos I have enjoyed and love all her other books, including the new Nigella Christmas! But I was determined to get my head around this new style of writing and recipes and took the book down from the shelf last week and I am happy to report that it’s growing on me. Earlier in the week I made the Rocky Road Crunch Bars which were a huge hit and were gone in less than 24hrs, so we are getting off to a good start. One of the recipes which really caught my eye was these Marshmallow Crispy Squares, must be the glitter cos I LOVE glitter and sparkle, oh yes and pink! I’m a true girly girl and these squares are just too cute, they would be a huge hit with girls of all ages. My boys will enjoy these too; anything that tastes sweet, buttery and crispy will get their vote (even if they don’t look too macho with glitter all over their mouths...hahaha, gosh I need a laugh today and I am looking forward to this later on).

Marshmallow Crispy Squares

45g butter
300g mini marshmallows
180g Rice Krispies
Edible glitter or sprinkles (optional)

Melt the butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a low heat.

Add the marshmallows and cook gently until they are completely melted and blended, stirring constantly.

Take the pan off the heat and immediately add the cereal, mixing lightly until well coated.

Press the mixture into a greased 32cm x 23cm tin; you may have to put on vinyl CSI gloves and press it down into the corners, as it will be very sticky. Flatten the top and then scatter over the edible glitter or sprinkles, if so inclined.

Let the marshmallow crispy squares cool completely in the tin and then cut them into 24 squares.

Breakfast Bars

I bought Nigella Express last year and this was one of many recipes that I had book marked to make but I had completely forgotten about (that's what happens when you have so many cookbooks), that is until I was browsing the wonderful world of food blogs and came across this recipe on various blogs. So I decided that it was high time I also tried them after hearing great reviews. Well all I can say is I have been missing out big time; these are so good and yep addictive. They were so easy to make too, even if they do take an hour to bake but let me tell you they are worth that long baking time! I have a feeling that these babies won't be around to see the end of the weekend, especially considering my son has his friend staying over today!