Baking with children: Banana & Chocolate Chip Muffins: Yummy!

Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins

I don't usually do cooking per se, but I will have a bash at baking every once in a while, and I thought I'd share this brilliantly quick and easy recipe.  The original recipe is courtesy of the lovely Nigella Lawson and can be found in her book "Nigella Express".

The reason I like it is threefold.  Firstly it uses up those overripe bananas that I forever find myself with at the end of the week.  Too ripe to be eaten as they are, but not so squidgy that I feel I can discard them.  Besides, I don't like waste.

Secondly, because it is a recipe that the girls can help with really easily.  There are plenty of safe jobs for them to do; mashing, stirring, measuring and of course, cleaning the spoon!

Finally, I am not a good cook.  But I can manage this!


Here we go:

You will need the following:

3 very ripe bananas
125 ml vegetable oil
2 eggs
250g plain flour
100g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
150-200g chocolate morsels (or butterscotch morsels if you prefer)

You need a minimum of three bowls (for bananas, wet and dry ingredients respectively.)  But I use 2 bowls and a measuring jug for ease.


Adults only
1.  Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius / gas mark 6 (or for fan oven's 190 degrees Celsius)

Then get them involved as much, or as little as you like.

Mashed bananas

2. Line a 12-bun muffin tin with muffin papers (an easy job for children)

3.  Mash your bananas in a bowl (your little helpers can do in their own bowl with a fork)

4.  Pour the oil into a measuring jug

5.  Beat in the eggs.  If I'm doing this myself I add them straight into the measuring jug with the oil.  But if the children are helping they get a bowl each, they crack an egg into their own bowl and whisk it for me, then pour their own beaten egg into the jug, and mix it in (taking turns).

Click here to find out how to check if your eggs are stale or not, before you crack them open.  And if you are still unsure, crack them into a separate bowl first to check them, before adding to the oil.

Chocolate ready to mix in

Now for the dry ingredients
6. Put the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder all together in a large bowl.  (I let the children measure out the bicarbonate of soda and the baking powder (appropriate size spoons each).

And time to mix it all together as follows:-

7.  Pour the oil/egg mixture into the bowl containing the dry ingredients and mix in.  It will be quite dry still - don't worry, it's supposed to be.

8.  Add the mashed banana to the mixture and mix well.  The bananas add the required moisture and create a lovely cake mixture texture.


9.  Mix in the chocolate morsels.  Because they come in 100g packets in our supermarket, we use two packets, after taking some out of one packet as 'chef's treats'!

10.  Divide the mixture equally between the muffin cases.  I use an ice cream scoop and a plastic spatula.  Each one takes roughly 2 scoops full.

Ready for the oven: 20 minutes

11.  Bake for 20 minutes.


Enjoy whilst still warm, for melted chocolate goodness.  Or, if saving until later, microwave for 15 seconds (850w) to recreate the melted goodness after they've cooled.

I hope you and your children enjoy these as much as I do.