Brilliant Banana Brownies - A Little Cake Tester's Idea !

Me : "Would you like to go to the beach today ?"

Oliver : "No - I'm going with Emma next week Mummy. I want to ride my new gocart a long long way and then you can make me some brilliant banana brownies...... That is an alliteration I can eat you know !"

That did make me laugh as he'd obviously been thinking that one up. Oliver is due to start school in a few weeks and really is ready to go. He does love to make up alliterations with big bad burps probably being one of his all-time favourites.

Well - I haven't actually baked in ages and there were some very ripe spotty bananas in the kitchen. 

Can't remember last time we had cake in the house. Given Steve and Michael were off out today and given Oliver wanted to stay home - gocarting and brownies it was.

I've made the BBC Best Ever Brownies recipe a few times before, and very good it is too. I decided to use it as a starting point on this occasion and work around what I thought may work best and what we had in the cupboards.

185g salted butter
185g milk chocolate

3 large eggs

250g white sugar

85g plain flour

75g cocoa powder

130g mashed ripe bananas

65g milk chocolate (chopped)
65g white chocolate (chopped)

2tsp vanilla extract

Melt the salted butter and milk chocolate together in the microwave (takes approx 1min) and then set aside.

Beat the 3eggs and sugar plus vanilla together with an electric mixer for about 6 or 7 mins until really thick and fluffy.

Fold the melted butter / chocolate mix into the whipped eggs and sugar to combine..

Sieve in the plain flour and cocoa powder, then fold in until just combined. 

Now fold in the banana and chopped chocolate.

Put into an 8" square silicone baking pan. For brownies, I like to prep this with a big strip of baking parchment covering the base and up two sides - it just makes it really easy to lift out later.

Bake in a fan over at 160deg C for approx 30mins. The top will be set, but the brownie will still be a tiny bit wobbly in the middle. A tooth pick will come out sticky from the centre.

Allow to cool, then transfer to the fridge for an hour or so before cutting. It should be a bit squidgy in the middle.

Serve as it is with a cup of coffee or glass of milk - or warm and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Sarah-Jane Nash, August 2013 - www.siliconemoulds.com

Banana Bran Breakfast Muffins (RECIPE - Lower Sugar, Low Fat)

Honestly - these banana bran breakfast muffins are better than you could EVER imagine. I'll be honest - I think they're my favourite muffin / small cake of all time..... and what's more, they're good for you !

Read the ingredients and turn up your nose - doesn't sound like something many people would initially want to make. I promise though, one bite and these will have you converted for life. It's funny - if you ask someone "Would you like a bran muffin?" then I can almost guarantee you 8 out of 10 times they'll say no. Offer one of these on a plate without saying what they are, and they disappear at lightning speed and loads of people requesting the recipe.

This low sugar and banana version is a re-vamp of my plain version. With the decorated tops, these look more appealing but still taste every bit as good.

BE WARNED - Bran is an effective and natural laxative effect as does molasses / black treacle, so don't overdose on muffins !?! More than one certainly gets things moving !

RECIPE (makes 10) - EASY

75g wheat bran (normal bran - not breakfast cereal !)

225g plain flour

125ml of skimmed milk

125ml of low fat greek yogurt

1 banana, mashed

1/2 cup of raisins (optional)

1/2 cup of tea (optional)

3 tsp baking powder

60ml treacle

1/2tsp salt

1 egg

 50g sugar

100ml sunflower or vegetable oil

2tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

1tsp ground ginger (optional)

to decorate tops : 

1 tablespoon of porridge oats

small handful of banana chips

2 tablespoons of warmed honey or agave syrup to glaze

First, make a cup of black tea ! Soak 1/2 a cup of raisins or sultanas in 1/2 a cup of hot tea for about 20 mins to plump them up. (makes a total of 1 cup)

Heat the oven to 180deg C Fan and line a 12 hole silicone muffin mould or tin with paper cake cases.

You will need two bowls.

In the first bowl, put the bran, milk, yogurt, mashed banana, oil, egg, sugar and black treacle. Mix well to combine. Drain off about 1/2 the tea and add the raisins to this bowl. Set aside for at least 10 minutes. (note - if not using rasins and tea, add about 100ml extra milk.

In another bowl, mix the flour, spices, salt, baking powder together. Add the bowl of wet ingredients and stir to combine. Stop as soon as dry ingredients can no longer be seen.

Spoon into your prepared muffin mould or tin. This doesn't rise a lot, so the cases will appear rather full.

Place a few banana chips (I used 3 per muffin) on top and scatter on a few oats.

Bake for approx 20 minutes until a cocktail stick comes out clean (mine were done in bang on 20mins).

Remove from the oven and brush the tops with some warm honey or agave syrup to glaze.

Not been doing a huge amount of baking recently. Been on a diet and had a few other things going on ! This teddy is the last "proper" cake I made which was about 2 or 3 weeks ago now.

Kitchen for work has just arrived and sat waiting to go in. Electrician comes today, so finally everything should start getting a move on.