There was a time in my life when the sight of bananas with black speckled skins would have meant they were headed straight for the bin. Not anymore! Now that I know that the ugly black spots are a sign of the natural sweetness of the banana, they are headed straight into banana bread or in this case, healthy banana and oat muffins. I’ve had this recipe in my folder for a really long time and decided that this was the time to try it out. It comes from Kate Harrison’s book, The Ultimate 5:2 Diet Recipe Book (that’s why all the calories are there).  I also recently went to a food styling workshop and so my pictures are a little bit different from my usual style. I wanted to try and capture the changing of the seasons, hence the conkers! (I won’t be eating the conkers but I might challenge C to a game!)

Ingredients

100g rolled oats, 355 cals

50g wholewheat flour, 155 cals

150g plain white flour, 503 cals

2 tsp baking powder, 10 cals

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 5 cals

¼ tsp salt

75g muscovado sugar, 300 cals

4 large, very ripe bananas, mashed 480 cals

1 large egg, beaten, 100 cals

4 tbsp light olive oil, 540 cals

2 tbsp pumpkin or sunflower seeds or a mix, 175–184 cals

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/Gas mark 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
2. Mix together the oats (keeping a tablespoon aside for the topping), flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar.
3. Mix together the mashed bananas, egg and oil and then pour into the dry oat and flour mix and fold together.
4. Spoon into the prepared muffin cases and scatter the top of each muffin with the reserved oats and the seeds. Bake for 20–25 minutes, until brown and slightly springy to touch.