Banana bread muffins : the easiest cake in the world

Times are weird and stressful. I’m currently working from home but at the same time I’m trying to keep myself sane and busy with baking, my personal form of therapy. We had a few overripe bananas on our kitchen counter, and since we didn’t want to waste any food, I decided to make banana bread muffins.

This is the sort of recipe that can really be whipped up in no time, requires very little ingredients and is pretty healthy! Whenever I’m tired of eating bananas but don’t want to waste them, I immediately turn them into a cake. They’re naturally sweet and are the perfect breakfast, snack or late night indulgence! No effort whatsoever was put into these muffins, everything was mixed into one bowl, no electric mixer was required, and in a matter of a few minutes, everything was in the over, baking. That, as well as how delicious the cakes are, is what I like about them. So here it is, the recipe for the easiest cake in the world!

Banana bread muffins

Makes 12 cakes

ingredients

• 3 ripe bananas

• 1 1/2 cup flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup sugar (optional)

• 1 egg

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

directions

1. Preheat oven at 350 and put cupcake liners in the muffin pan.

2. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until they reach the desired consistency (I like chunks).

3. Mix in the vegetable oil and vanilla.

4. Add the egg and whisk until well blended.

5. Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix well with a spatula.

6. Optional : the cake should be naturally sweet thank to the bananas, but if you have an especially sweet tooth, you could add 1/4 cup of sugar and mix well.

7. With an ice cream scoop, fill the liners equally.

8. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

9. Let the cakes rest in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

That’s it! In less than half an hour, I was already snacking on delicious, super moist banana muffins! This recipe is the most basic one, but of course, you could add anything to it that you like, such as chocolate chips, dried fruits or nuts! Do you like cinnamon? Add some! Love, love, love chocolate? Sure, replace 1/2 cup of flour with good cocoa powder! This is what’s so great about this recipe : you could let go and create or customize as you wish!

Look how yummy the cake looks!

So next time, don’t throw your bananas away; turn them into a super nutritious snack or breakfast or dessert!

Enjoy!

Lemons and Poppy Seeds

So I woke up this morning craving something sweet and lemony. Of course, the first thought that crossed my mind was poppy seeds. Why? Because lemons and poppy seeds, for some reason, make one hell of a team. I honestly cannot explain why I love this pairing so much. Is it the added texture that the poppy provides, or its subtle nutty flavor? I don’t know and I don’t plan on dwelling too much on the matter. Bottom line is, these two ingredients work together and help elevate each other.

Fortunately, I had everything I needed in my pantry so no need to change and go out. What is great here is that this recipe is really simple and doesn’t require too many ingredients (or too much effort for that matter!). I chose to make mini cakes because I love everything bite-size, and because baking time is reduced to only 15 minutes!

So is it a muffin or a cake that I’m making? Personally, I find that the only difference between cake and muffin is the presence of icing or frosting, or their lack thereof. If there’s icing or frosting, it’s a cupcake or a cake, depending on the size of your dessert. No icing or frosting means that it’s a muffin so you can eat it for breakfast without feeling judged. In this case, I used a thick lemony glaze. My point here is that you could use this recipe to make muffins or cakes, which is why I omitted mentioning either one of them in the title.

Lemon/ poppy seed cakes

Makes 24 mini cakes or 6 muffin size cakes

ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 2/3 cup sugar

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 1/3 cup whole milk

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 tbsp poppy seeds

• Lemon zest (2 lemons)

• 1/2 sour cream

glaze (optional)

• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

• 1 1/2 tbsp whole milk

• 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 tsp poppy seeds

directions

1. Preheat oven at 375 degrees.

2. Place liners in muffin tin.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix sugar, egg, milk, oil and vanilla until well combined, about 2 minutes.

4. Add poppy seeds and lemon zest. Continue mixing for a minute.

5. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

6. Incorporate flour mixture into wet ingredients and fold with a spatula until everything is well combined.

7. Add the sour cream and stir until incorporated.

8. Spoon the batter evenly in the muffin tin.

9. Bake for 15 minutes for mini cake, and 22 minutes for muffin size cakes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

10. Let the cakes rest in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

11. While the cakes cool, prepare the glaze (optional).

12. Mix all 4 ingredients (powdered sugar, poppy seeds, milk and lemon juice) in a bowl. Mix well until the mixture is no longer lumpy. Add more powdered sugar or liquid (lemon juice or milk) for the desired consistency.

13. Pour a dollop of lemon glaze on cooled cakes.

The cakes are super moist, with a crunchy top which is the best! The lemon zest came through and each bite is full of flavor, while the poppy provides some added crunch. And, because I made mini cakes, they are bite=size and can be eaten like pop corn!!!

Variations

Instead of the glaze, you could also insert some lemon custard into the cakes. I opted for a glaze because I was feeling lazy, but the custard is definitely my preferred option.

If you’re not a fan of poppy seeds, you could make the same recipe with ground almonds. I personally find that lemon cakes taste better when there’s a contrasting nutty flavor that’s added. So mix together 1 cup of flour with 5 tbsp of ground almonds, and add 1/4 almond extract in the wet ingredients.

Also, the cakes are also packed with flavor so technically, they don’t really need anything else to improve their taste. You could eat them as they are and be completely satisfied. The up-side here is that if you choose to exclude any form of icing, frosting or custard, you could eat the cakes straight out of the oven!

Enjoy!