Z & J Kitchen Diaries' Simply Banana Muffins

Baking was never my forte. Although I did like eating sweets, I have never been a successful baker. My mother and my aunt both enjoy baking and are both good at it. Although my mother no longer bakes these days, I am glad that she used to bake for us because she inspired me to learn how to bake as well.

I am not a muffin fan. Honestly, I am more of a cupcake fan. Unfortunately, I have eaten enough cupcakes to make me feel intimidated to make my own. That's why I had to try making my own muffins. My journey to muffin making was not easy. I have failed so many times before. The greatest challenge was to get them to rise. Practice makes perfect. Although I tried so many special tricks to make them rise, none of them worked. I knew I had to just keep things simple, stick to the proper measurements, proper procedure as well as the right oven temperature and baking time. Perhaps I used to over mix my batter which resulted to tougher muffins but now, no more.

I liked bananas. I have always been fascinated how they can be used for baked goods and because I wanted to try making something baked out of them, I decided to try making my own banana muffins. It was then I realized how easy it was to make banana muffins and how healthy and yummy they end up. So, here's my tried and tested recipe of my Simply Banana Muffins which I hope you will also enjoy making and of course, eating or even sharing.

Love,
Zen

P.S. 

I may not be an actual baker but baking has become a hobby of mine so I try my best to create simply yummy baked goodies my way. 

RECIPE NAME: SIMPLY BANANA MUFFINS

YIELD: 12-14 medium sized muffins

PREP TIME: 10-15 mins

BAKING TIME: 20-25 mins

BAKING TEMPERATURE: 180-200 C

INGREDIENTS:

DRY INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp iodized salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

WET INGREDIENTS:

2 whole eggs

1 cup milk (evaporated or fresh)

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 tsp vanilla 

1 tsp banana essence

3-4 bananas (ripe or overly ripe are both fine)

PROCEDURE:
1. Preheat oven at 180-200 C for 10 minutes.

2. In a bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking powder and iodized salt. Add ground cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix until well incorporated.

3. In a different bowl, break eggs & whisk until the yolk is fully beaten with the white. Add milk, oil, vanilla and banana essence. Mash bananas before adding to the bowl. Mix until well incorporated.

4. Add dry mixture to wet ingredients. Mix until all the dry ingredients are well incorporated to the wet ingredients to form a wet batter. DO NOT OVERMIX as overmixing will make the muffins hard.

5. Prepare muffin tray. If using liner, no need to brush/spray with oil or butter. If not using liner, best to brush/spray with oil or butter to avoid sticking. Scoop batter evenly on each cavity. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes clean.

NOTE: I used the same recipe for my BANANA RAISIN MUFFINS. I just add 1/4-1/2 cup of raisins to the batter (depending on how raisin-y you want your muffins to be). Happy Baking!