Banana Yoghurt Muffin

Whenever I bake, I like to try and make the recipe as healthy as possible without compromising too much on taste, and this muffin recipe is no exception. I used less sugar, less butter and wholemeal flour, and the ladies at the young mothers' Lifegroup I attend every week gave this muffin their thumbs up on taste and they said they were happy it was healthy enough to give their toddlers to eat. Using wholemeal flour makes the muffins denser than normal muffins, which I don't think is a bad thing. In fact, I actually prefer the texture and taste of wholemeal baked products to the usual white stuff. I've also tried this recipe with 1 cup dessicated coconut which gave the muffins an added dimension of flavour, and the Lifegroup girls liked it too! I really hope they weren't just being polite, but maybe you can try this easy recipe and judge for yourself. I'll probably try making a chocolate version next time I'm left with too many ripe bananas.

Banana Yoghurt Muffin

(pictured are the muffins with the dessicated coconut)


Ingredients

2 cups (250g) flour (I used 50-50 wholemeal and plain)
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup (50g) caster sugar
1 cup bananas (about 2 large or 3 medium sized bananas), mashed
1/2 cup (120g) yoghurt
2 eggs
50g butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180degC.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg into a mixing bowl.
3. Add the sugar to the flour mix, and stir to combine.
4. Mix the wet ingredients (mashed bananas, yoghurt, eggs, butter and vanilla extract) together.
5. Combine wet and dry mixtures until just blended (avoid over-mixing otherwise you'll have tough-textured muffins).
6. Pour the mixture into a 12-muffin tray, filling each muffin cup only 2/3 full.
7. Place the muffin tray in preheated oven, and bake for 15-20mins or until a skewer comes out clean when poked into a muffin.

Best enjoyed fresh out of the oven, tastes fine the next day, and is okay for freezing too.