These started off as a little breakfast snack to use up some bananas that had got a bit over-ripe.
But then Pork Belly said ‘Hey, why not make them a little more exciting?’ and rum made its way into the mix.
Whilst there are over 1,000 different types of banana in the world, most of them aren’t very tasty so almost all the ones we eat are clones of the popular Cavendish variety. This means our whole banana-eating habit (and over 100 billion are consumed worldwide every year) could come to a rapid end if something happened to the species.
On a brighter note bananas can help boost your mental well-being; they are the only fruit to contain tryptophan plus Vitamin B6 which together help the body produce serotonin, the natural chemical which combats depression.
So these muffins could well lift your mood!


Banana, rum and raisin muffins
Ingredients
- 190 grams plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 85 grams butter or margarine, melted
- 135 grams brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 100 grams raisins
- 2 tbsp dark rum
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Soak the raisins in the rum and vanilla
- Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl
- Add the melted butter, egg and mashed bananas and mix thoroughly
- Stir in the soaked raisins
- Spoon the batter into large muffin cases, filling almost to the top
- Bake at 218 deg centigrade/425 def F/gas mark 7 for 5 mins
- Turn oven down to 177 deg centigrade/350 deg F/gas mark 4 and bake for a further 15 minutes until a skewer comes out clean
Other recipes you may like:
• Irish whiskey coffee cake
• Carrot and ginger cake
• Banana and coffee cake