Banana and vanilla chai muffins
I made this recipe up to join in with the Big Fair Bake, which is a baking competition to celebrate and promote Fair Trade. Products with the Fair Trade mark on them show that they give a better deal (socially, economically and environmentally) to the producers. It means they’ve been paid a fair price and that they have decent working conditions.
We are lucky enough to have a Co-op as our local shop and they are brilliant in terms of Fair Trade. All their own-brand coffee and chocolate is Fair Trade, as is most of their sugar, bananas and a fair amount of their wine. We always buy our coffee there and never buy coffee without the Fair Trade mark. The vast majority of our chocolate, sugar and bananas are also bought there and are Fair Trade. It’s not a hard thing to do, but I do think it’s an important thing to do, if you can.
When I saw this Big Fair Bake competition, I really wanted to have a go, both because I love baking and because I think Fair Trade is really important. I knew I’d probably include bananas, as they’re one of the foods I strongly associate with Fair Trade, but wanted to come up with something a bit different to my normal baking. So I ran my eye over the shelves in the kitchen, looking out for the Fair Trade mark and found it on a packet of Pukka Vanilla Chai which has some lovely flavours – vanilla, cinnamon and cardamom. And I thought I’d see if I could include that in the recipe, somehow. I’d also recently bought some coconut oil and had been meaning to try it out (it’s supposed to be really incredibly healthy and low GI and all sorts of funky stuff like that, though it’s also hideously expensive and I couldn’t see any indication that the jar I have is Fair Trade – ah well, perhaps you can get Fair Trade coconut oil somewhere!).
Banana and Vanilla Chai Muffins
Makes around 24 muffins.
These come out very fluffy and airy and really quite moist. Make sure you have people to share them with!
Ingredients
- 75g coconut oil
- 75g soft brown sugar
- 75g caster sugar
- 3 roasted bananas, peeled and mashed (roast them for about 10 minutes in their skins)
- 150ml vanilla chai
- 50g yoghurt
- 2 eggs
- 225g self-raising flour
- 1tsp baking powder
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1tsp salt
- 150g pineapple, crushed
- 100g carrot, peeled and grated
Method
- Cream the coconut oil and sugars together (warm up the coconut oil a bit first, so it combines easily).
- Add the bananas and blend.
- Add the chai and blend.
- Add the yoghurt and blend.
- Add the eggs and beat.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in.
- Mix gently until thoroughly combined.
- Add the pineapple and carrots and stir thoroughly.
- Place into muffin trays (greased, if necessary) and bake for about 20 minutes on 160°C.
- Remove from oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
- Remove from muffin trays, using a spatula.
- Leave to cool on a cooling rack.
Adaptations
These are lovely on the own, but you can also add a cream-cheese frosting and sprinkle with crushed walnuts or pecan pieces for a more decadent muffin.
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