Hi there, I’m Renee Blackwell and I grew up with a full time working Mom and Dad, as both were elementary school teachers. The whole family would leave the house in the morning and arrive home in the late afternoon tired and ready for dinner. But because my Mom had been working all day and my Dad was not the “man in the kitchen” kind of guy, food was never a priority in our home rather a means to an end. It took me years to understand the reason we didn’t have “gourmet dinners” or some of the special foods that other Moms made.
I never came home to homemade cookies, pies or cakes. (Let me interject here, my remarkable working Mom gave me so much more in the big picture than food, so I’m not complaining that’s for sure!) This lack of interest in food and all things culinary has stayed with me my entire life. I like a nice meal don’t get me wrong, but I don’t cook or bake much, well not at all really! Thank goodness my husband is handy in the kitchen, and because we don’t have children the need for regular “sit down at a certain time” was less of a priority. I do not own a single cook book, not one!
In my late 20’s something simple yet significant happened. I was visiting my parent’s home and my Mom shared a new book she had just purchase called: “100 Muffins”. In this small yet important book were recipes for 100 muffins and my Mom declared: “I am going to start at the front of the book and make each recipe until I’ve reached the last page.” And so she did. At this point she had finally retired from teaching and had a bit more time on her hands. Regularly she would call us over for a cuppa’ and muffin of the day. Some were good, some were bad and a few of those muffins were remarkable!
Of course, time spent with my Mom, sipping a cup of tea and chatting made it all the better. One such delight was the banana muffins recipe, which I submitted to Recipes That Make You Go Mmm… : “Best Banana Spice Muffins on the Planet.” In the years since first sampling this delightful muffin, I have probably baked it hundreds of times. Because everyone loves these muffins and because I literally never bake anything else, they have become my signature treats. I no longer need to check with Mom about the ingredients and have long since trashed the scrap of paper it was originally written on (from the muffin book.)
I have changed, added to and removed ingredients and experimented with what I include, in each batch. Yet the basic recipe remains the same yummy, fairly healthy, tasty muffins.
I now live far away, in another country from my elderly parents, yet one thing I can count on when visiting them is a nice warm, freshly baked banana spice muffin. Made with love, served with a bit of butter and a hot cup of tea along with the best gift ever, my Mom and Dad.
Now let me share my recipe with you all…
Quantity: Ingredients:
2 Cups Almond Meal
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Nutmeg
1 Cup Pitted & Chopped Dates
3 Eggs
2-3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
2-3 Ripe Bananas
¼ Cup Melted Coconut Oil
¾ Cup Chopped Walnuts
¼ Teaspoon Salt
Method
- Preheat oven 180 C OR 355 F.
- In a large bowl, combine almond meal, baking soda, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg.
- In a food processor combine dates, bananas, maple syrup, eggs & oil.
- Combine mix from the food processor to the dry mixture in a large bowl.
- Fold in the nuts.
- Spoon muffin mixture into paper lined muffin tins.
- Bake for about 25 minutes.
Enjoy…
If you’d like to pick up your copy of Recipes that Make You Go Mmm… Please Click Here
The front cover of Recipes That Make You Go Mmm… has been designed by Marnie Higgs – “The Female Cornucopia” (www.marniehiggs.com)