GF DF
We eat a LOT of bananas in our house. And so, when I see bags of nearly-past-their-best bananas on sale at the supermarket I tend to load up with them, knowing that one way or another they’ll be used. These muffins were born out of one such shopping trip, when I was wanting something a bit different for breakfast for a change. They are sweetened with bananas and blitzed dates and raisins (or sultanas) and so, in my mind, that counts as healthy enough for my kids for breakfast. The muffins themselves are very soft and moist and last well for at least a few days in an airtight container at room temperature.
This recipe makes 12 regular sized muffins. For bigger muffins, divide the mixture into fewer muffin/cupcake cases and adjust the cooking time. 1 cup in my recipe below is based on a 250 ml cup. I recommend using the spoon and level method of measuring ingredients (rather than scooping the ingredient straight into the cup). This method simply involves spooning the ingredient into the cup and then levelling it off with the back of a spoon or the flat side of a butter knife.
What you need:
1 cup of pitted dates
½ cup of raisins or sultanas
1 cup of boiling water
2 eggs
¼ cup of neutral oil, such as mild olive oil or sunflower oil
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
3 bananas
1 cup of brown rice flour
1 ½ cups of almond meal
2 teaspoons of baking powder (check gluten free if needed)
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
What to do:
1. Soak the dates and raisins (or sultanas) in the boiling water for at least a couple of hours or up to overnight.
2. Once the dates and raisins (or sultanas) have soaked, preheat the oven to 180°C while you make the muffin mixture.
3. Tip the soaked dates and raisins (or sultanas) into a jug blender along with the soaking water (which should have cooled fully by this time), the eggs, oil, vanila extract and bananas and blitz to create a smooth mixture.
4. Tip the mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the brown rice flour, almond meal, baking powder, ground cinnamon and salt to the bowl and fold everything together thoroughly.
5. Line a muffin tray with 12 regular cupcake cases and divide the mixture between the 12 cases.
6. Bake the muffins in the middle of the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until fully baked (at this point they will have risen slightly, look baked and feel soft but not liquidy underneath to the touch).
7. Remove the muffins from the oven and cool in the muffin tray for 5 minutes, before removing the muffins from the tray and leaving to cool fully on a cooling rack.
8. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days or freeze for later use.
9. Enjoy!
Some, Some and Some 