Pumpkin-Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chunks

Evening everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend? I had a nice time in Bath - I will write about it tomorrow. I've felt so tired today that it's been all I could do to keep on top of the clothes washing/tidying/washing up/everything else that builds up when we go away for a couple of days!!

I have got a recipe to share with you though, as promised in my pumpkin post - I made these muffins based on a pumpkin muffin recipe in my favourite muffin book - Muffins Fast and Fantastic by Susan Reimer. I didn't have enough pumpkin to make up the full amount, so I used mashed banana too. And of course chocolate improves every recipe. You could use chocolate chips, by I chopped up a bar of chocolate instead which gave slightly bigger chocolatey bites, yum!

Pumpkin-Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chunks
(makes 12)

• 255g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• small pinch of salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional, I couldn't actually taste the spices very much)
• 1 tsp ground ginger (optional, as above. You could go the other way and increase the spices if you want the flavour in the muffin. They are delicious without though!)
• 130g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 135ml milk
• 30g agave nectar
• 140g tinned pumpkin
• 1 small banana, mashed (mine weighed 75g)
• 90ml oil
• 50g chocolate, chopped

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190-200C (170C Fan). Put 12 paper muffin cases into a muffin tin.
2. First sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb, salt, spices and sugar into a large bowl.
3. In a second bowl, whisk the egg with a fork. Add the milk, agave, pumpkin, mashed banana and oil and mix.
4. Pour the wet bowl into the dry bowl and stir to combine. Make sure you don't over stir the muffin mix, but no flour should be visible.
5. Add the chocolate and stir it through the mix.
6. Put the batter into the muffin cases and place in the oven. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes, until a skewer test comes out clean and the muffins are springy to touch. Mine took about 18 minutes in a fan oven.

These turned out really well, albeit not the most uniformly "pretty" muffins I've ever baked. It's the taste that counts! You can't really taste the pumpkin or spices - they taste like banana chocolate muffins - but the pumpkin gives the muffins a lovely moist texture, and a fun bright orange colour.

Toby and I shared two of these fresh from the oven, and then once they were cool I popped the rest in the freezer. I can't resist freshly baked muffins/cakes!

What are your favourite baking recipes that store well in the freezer? I enjoy baking, but when I have baked goods sitting around in the kitchen I eat them way too quickly. I like having baked treats in the freezer as then I can just grab an individual portion size when I fancy something sweet. :)