The past few days, I became deeply involved and started having an affair with buttermilk. No, it is not a term of endearment for a person but rather the real buttermilk itself. I have used it in cooking and baking before but for some reason, the past week was a buttermilk feast in my kitchen! I made some pancakes with buttermilk a couple of times and hear this, banana and walnut bread three times in a week! I just love the wonders buttermilk makes when used in cooking, especially baking. When added to self-raising flour or baking soda, it creates aeration resulting to very tasty, light and fluffy cakes and breads ( and pancakes and biscuits). As I have the banana and walnut bread too many times I think in a week that my son and husband have maybe banana-bread-overdose by now, I decided to make something else out of the bananas and buttermilk – muffins! Same basic ingredients as the banana bread but with the addition of cinnamon and honey, these muffins are not your average ones. Seriously! They are very tasty and light that you will eat the whole muffin and not just the top. I promise you!

 

 

Ingredients

(Makes 12 muffins)

• 2 cups self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 60 g unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 125 ml buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups mashed bananas ( about 3 medium ripe bananas)
• 1/2 cup walnut, chopped into small pieces

1. Preheat oven to a hot 210C degrees. Brush a 12-hole (1/2 cup capacity) muffin tin with melted butter or oil. Alternatively, line each hole with paper muffin case.
2. Sift the flour, ginger and cinnamon together into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar and walnut pieces. Make a well in the centre of the mixture.
3. Place the butter and honey in a small pan and stir over low heat until melted. Remove from the heat.
4. Whisk together the milk and eggs in a jug.
5. Add the butter mixture, egg mixture and mashed bananas to the well in the dry ingredients. Stir with a metal spoon until just combined. Do not over mix – mixture should be lumpy.
6. Spoon mixture into the muffin tin, filling each case about three quarters full.
7. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until skewer inserted into the centre of muffin comes out clean.
8. Leave muffins in tin for 5 minutes then lift out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

These muffins are truly delicious! Eat them as they are or for a little indulgence ( like I did with a couple of them), add a little whipped cream on top then sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon. Enjoy!