Nutty Apple Banana Muffins

I’ve been going through a muffin baking phase lately and so I’ve been trying out loads of different recipes. What I love about muffins is that they are incredibly easy to make and once you get the basics right, you can experiment with different ingredients. The other great thing about them is that you can bake a whole bunch of them in advance and freeze them- just pop them in the microwave to heat up and you have a great breakfast treat for the family.

This is a recipe for apple and banana muffins with nuts. It’s a great way to use up old, blackened bananas that no one wants to eat. The banana and apple also add moistness so there isn’t a whole lot of oil in this recipe. I added a chocolate glaze to the muffins just to ‘pretty’ them up a bit. I thought the banana and chocolate flavors combined really well.

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup plain flour (maida)

1/4 cup daliya (bulgar)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp sugar

1/3 cup soft butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1/3 cup yogurt

1 large apple, chopped finely

1 overripe banana

Chocolate Glaze (optional)

2 tbsp chopped cooking chocolate

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp icing sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius and line a cupcake tray with cupcake liners.

Roast daliya on a dry pan over medium heat till the daliya is fragrant. Remove from heat and cool. I know you are supposed to sift the flours but for muffins I don’t bother, so if you are like me, simply combine the flours in a bowl with the baking soda, baking powder, daliya, salt, cinnamon, and chopped nuts.

Mash the banana with a fork and set aside. In another bowl, whisk together butter and sugar till fluffy. Add the egg and whisk once again until very pale. Add the vanilla extract, yogurt, apples and banana and mix with wooden spoon or spatula till combined. Add the dry mixture to this wet mixture and mix gently till all ingredients have combined. Scoop out tablespoonfuls of the batter into your cupcake liners. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes. The tops should be golden brown. To test if they are done, insert a toothpick into the center of one muffin and if it comes out clean the muffins are ready.

Allow the  muffins to cool for about 15 minutes then remove from tray and cool on a wire rack until they have completely cooled.

For the glaze, place all the ingredients in a glass bowl over boiling water until chocolate melts. Stir the mixture till completely smooth. Drizzle over muffins and leave to set.Enjoy!