Easy Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe

Now I don't claim to be the best in the kitchen - in fact I'm far from it! Today however I'll be posting about a super simple and fun recipe I came across for Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins. Me and my boyfriend Chris had a wonderful time making these this afternoon and they turned out brilliantly. We decided to follow Laura Vitale's recipe, so please be aware that I'm not claiming this as my own - I'm simply reposting and showing my results. I'll post a link to her website below if any of you are interested in seeing the original post.

 You will need:

- 12 Cupcake Cases
- 1/2 Cup of Vegetable Oil
- 2 Eggs
-1/2 Cup of Sugar
- 3 Ripe Bananas
- 1/4 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
- 2/3 Cup of Self Raising Flour
- 1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
- 1/4 Teaspoon of Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon of Cinnamon (optional)
- 1 Cup of Chocolate Chips 

1. Start by pre-heating your oven to 200 C and by laying your 12 muffin cases out on a tray, ready to be filled with the mixture later on.

2. Take a bowl and pour in 1 cup of chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons of self raising flour. Then mix together until all the chips are coated with flour - then set aside.

3. Take a large bowl and proceed to add in the 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 2 eggs and 1/2 a cup of sugar.

4. Take a separate bowl and place your 3 ripe bananas inside, then take a fork and begin mashing them up until you have a thick, lumpy looking paste. Remember to try and keep some banana lumps in tact as you want to be able to really taste the banana when you bite into your muffins. Once mashed add to the larger bowl containing the oil, eggs and sugar. 

5. Add 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract to your bowl and then begin mixing it all together.

5. After mixing then proceed to add 2/3 cup of self raising flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 a teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and then the optional step of 1/4 a teaspoon of cinnamon for extra flavour. Whisk until all ingredients are combined.

6. Take your bowl of flour and chocolate chips that you prepared earlier and begin to fold that in to your mixture. Whisk until everything is mixed together then simply divide the batter into your muffin cases and bake for 18 minutes. 

7. After baking for 18 minutes, take a tooth pick and dip it into one of your muffins. If it comes out clean your muffins are ready to be taken out. If there is any mixture on the tooth pick, leave the muffins to cook for longer.

8. Leave to cool and then simply enjoy! 

That's all for this post, thank you again to Laura Vitale for posting such a simple and easy recipe. These muffins turned out so well and received a pretty good reaction from everyone who tried one! I really enjoyed doing this kind of post so maybe there will be more cooking related content on my blog from time to time. 

Laura's Website

My Week in Photos #5

Finally - a week where I've had something to do almost every day but today. It's been nice having so much to do this week (although some of it was just visiting doctors and picking up medicine) and it's been extra nice to feel well enough to do it all! I've recently started a new course of medication and so far so good. Hopefully my recent bit of good luck continues! 

1. Lunchables and PewdiePie

2. Made BBQ Chicken Quesadillas for the first time

3. OOTD to go and visit some friends

4. Failed cake pop attempt

5. Trying out a new primer - review to come soon.

6. A well deserved ice cream after having 5 bottles of blood taken from me

7. Strawberries, Banana, Muesli and Low Fat SKYR Yoghurt for breakfast.

8. Visiting the Dovecote Buttery for lunch

9. Strawberry picking for the first time

10. Trying out Vita Coco 

11. Nandos in Nottingham

12. Trying on stuff in Topshop (and regretting not buying them)

The Dovecote Buttery - Lunch and Stawberry Picking

Today I took a trip to The Dovecote Buttery - a restaurant and shop based at Dovecote Farm near Kettering in the Northamptonshire area. I've driven by the place countless times and today was the day I finally got to go in and experience everything it had to offer. 

In 1985 Dovecote farm began a pick your own fruit service, which over the years has expanded and now includes some veg too. In 2004 they opened "The Buttery" tea room, which has since expanded into a bigger restaurant area. The interior of the place is absolutely beautiful. It's very light and airy and is decorated in a New England kind of style with lots of shabby chic trinkets scattered all over the place. All of which are available to purchase as the place also doubles as a unique gift shop, full of candles, ornaments and various other things.

Just as you step inside the Buttery room you're met with the sight of fresh local produce, various jars of preserves, pies, cheese, pork products etc all of which are available for visitors to purchase.

We arrived at about 1pm and were seated instantly, which was a pleasant surprise as I had heard that they're often really busy and therefore being seated can take a while, however we were incredibly fortunate! The staff were very friendly and were quick to take our drink orders and give us the menus. After perusing the menu for a while I decided to get one of their delicious sandwiches served on doorstop bread. I went with the Tuna Mayo sandwich on granary bread which came with a side of crisps, salad and a helping of coleslaw. I've only ever tried tuna once before and I wasn't sure how I felt about it, however this was delicious and I can now confidently say I'm a fan of tuna! The menu had a great selection of items to choose from, ranging from jacket potatoes, soups, sandwiches etc. All of which are moderately priced. As for the drinks selection, they had a good choice of fresh juices, fizzy drinks, teas, cocktails, champagne and of course pimms! 

As you can expect from a tea room they have a wonderful selection of fresh cakes and scones on offer. Judging by this photo, the Baileys Gateux seemed to go down well with most people! 

After lunch we went out and picked some strawberries on site. Dovecote farm have a variety of soft fruit available for visitors to pick and even have a calender on their website so you can see when's the best time to go down and pick your fruit or veg. You simply pick the size of the container you'd like to fill and a member of staff will inform you which rows to go to in order for you to pick your selected fruit. Your containers are then weighed and priced at the farm shop. I've never been strawberry picking before and it was such a fun and enjoyable activity to do - especially when you have lovely weather like we did today. I've now got my strawberries chilling in the fridge and plan on having them with some fresh whipped cream later on this evening. Yummy!

All in all if you're ever in the area I highly recommend you stop by and check it out. It's a great place for all the family to visit. There's lots to do and the food is brilliant! A fantastic hidden gem - I can't believe it's taken me so long to visit!