So (as any parent already a few weeks into the hols knows all too well) school's out for the summer! Nine weeks of fun and looking for things to keep the boys amused lie ahead. I baked these on the last day of school when entertaining my boys and decided to whip up a batch of these Banana & Coconut Muffins that I found on Pinterest a while ago. I had some bananas to use up and hungry tummies to fill and these were really yummy, particularly warm from the oven.
They're easy to make and it would be great to involve the children in a little holiday cooking. I was momentarily distracted by the boys and accidentally put 4 bananas in the batter rather than 3 bananas in the batter and 1 sliced on top, but they still worked out perfectly and had an extra health twist of banana! You have to love coconut as there's a strong taste and an extra sprinkling of coconut on the top adds a crunch to them. They keep well for a few days but they taste the best warm from the oven :)
Banana & Coconut Muffins Makes 12 (recipe from Sainsburys Magazine)
Ingredients
- 250G PLAIN FLOUR
- 1 TBSP BAKING POWDER
- ½ TSP GROUND CINNAMON
- PINCH OF SALT
- 100G CASTER SUGAR
- 75G DESSICATED COCONUT
- 4 SMALL, VERY RIPE BANANAS
- 175ML MILK
- 1 MEDIUM EGG, BEATEN
- 100G BUTTER, MELTED
- 1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan)
- Line a muffin tray with 12 paper muffin cases
- Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl
- Stir in the sugar and 50g of the coconut and make a well in the middle
- Peel 3 of the bananas, slice into a small bowl and mash to a paste with a fork
- Peel and thickly slice the other banana on the diagonal
- Lightly whisk together the milk, egg, melted butter and vanilla extract
- Pour into the middle of the dry ingredients, add the mashed bananas and stir together until just mixed
- Divide the mixture among the paper cases and put a piece of the sliced banana on top of each
- Sprinkle with the remaining coconut
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until well-risen and golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean
- Leave to cool for 5 minutes and serve warm.