Banana, Honey & Oat Muffins...

I think this was defintiely one of those 'inspired' cooking moments. We had the obligatory blackening bananas hanging around waiting to be 'caked', but I didn't fancy the usual go-to banana cake this time. So, I thought muffins would be a good idea. Somehow I came up with oats and honey; the result was a moist, yet light, incredibly tasty muffin with a hint of coarse oaty texture. Perfect any time of day.

Ingredients:
5oz Butter
4oz Sugar
2 Eggs
2 Bananas
2 tsp Honey
7oz Flour
Handful of Oats

• Cream butter and sugar in a food processor.
• Mash the banana, honey and eggs together in a bowl to make your wet mixture.
• Add to the food processor.
• Quickly combine the oats and flour to the mixture.
• Place into muffin cases, sprinkle a few extra oats on top and bake for 20-25 mins until golden brown and spongy to touch.
• Turn out onto a cooling rack and whilst cooling drizzle a little warmed honey (10 seconds in microwave) on top of each muffin.

(Makes 12)

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Date & Walnut Slices...

Date slice or date crumble has long been a family favourite with my Mum making an excellent example. I felt like giving it a go and thought a slight twist on the classic recipe would be fun so added walnuts and honey.

Dates (300g, stoned & chopped)
Plain Flour (250g)
Butter (250g)
Brown Sugar (50g)
Walnuts (100g)
Oats (50g)
Honey (2 tbsp)

• Place dates & honey in a saucepan over medium heat with a splash of water.
• Stir until the dates have become a thick, paste-like consistency.
• Crush half the walnuts and stir in. Set aside to cool.
• Meanwhile, combine flour and butter to make the crumble mixture (easiest in a food processor). It needs to resemble crumbs, don’t over-do it or it will become a ball of pastry.
• Blitz the other half of the walnuts into the crumble mixture, then stir in the oats and sugar.
• Place half the crumble into a greased 20x20cm square tin to form a base and press down.
• Spread the date mixture over the base and top with the remaining crumble, pushing down lightly.
• Bake for 25-30mins in a preheated oven at 170°C.

Notes:
I used half’n’half wholemeal flour, but it’s not essential.

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Fruit, Nut & Seed Flapjacks...

From River Cottage ‘Everyday’ book in the breakfast section. It’s very easy and very customisable to your own tastes.


• In a large saucepan melt the butter, sugar, PB and honey on a low heat
• Add the zests and the fruit for a bit as it is finishing melting
• Stir in the oats and most of the seeds
• Press into a tin (20cm x 20cm is good), drizzle a little more honey and sprinkle the last of the seeds on top
• Bake at around 150-160°C for about 30 minutes (golden brown at the edges)
• Cool in tin, turn out and cut into slices

Tastes even better the next day if you can wait
(makes about 12-15)

Notes:
• For the fruit and nuts use whatever suits your taste. I used figs, dates and raisins and a bag of sunflower, pumpkin and pine nut seeds from the supermarket. The original recipe suggests apricots, linseeds, poppy seeds.
• The orange zest in this recipe really breaks through the sweetness of the honey and the salty peanuts so unless you can’t stand orange I wouldn’t leave it out. That said I’m sure they’d be tasty either way.

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