Gateway Muffins - Super easy mix banana muffins

 

You will not believe how easy these muffins are. No special equipment or fancy ingredients for the basic mixture and you can pop in any type of add in you like. I first published them on the blog here back in 2014 as raspberry and there is no way to keep track of how often I've made them. The recipe is still almost too good to believe.

If your household is anything like mine, the kids will be eating bananas by the truckload and then all of a sudden stop. It used to drive me crazy but now I don't mind at all, I just make muffins. Also no big deal if you don't have time to cook right now, just peel the banana, wrap them in cling film and pop them into the freezer. When you're ready to cook pull them out defrost and use them, the mushier the better in this case.

Plus they are a gateway muffin to healthy eating and home cooking. They are not actually a health food, but if you have someone who eats too much processed packet foods, chances are you can win them over with these muffins and actually get a bit of hidden fruit into their diet. I sometimes made them with wholemeal (wholewheat) flour and they still taste great.

I made a YouTube video here which is only just over 4 minutes long from start to finish which shows just how fast and easily you can whip up a batch of home made deliciousness.

This is consistently one of the go to recipes I have used over the years. You can have them plain banana or add in chocolate, blueberries, raspberries, pretty much anything at all.

If there is one recipe on the blog I recommend everyone have up their sleeve, it's this one, trust me you won't regret it.

Happy Baking

Linda 

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Super Easy Mix Banana Muffins

makes 9 muffins. I often make a mix of different muffins by mixing all the ingredients up to the add in stage, scooping the batter into the muffin tins and then adding different add ins so I end up with a mixed variety of muffins. ie 3 blueberry, 3 chocolate and 3 white chocolate and raspberry.

3 very ripe bananas
1 egg
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup oil (I used olive oil)

Optional add ins: 

3/4 cup raspberry (fresh or frozen) and 1/4 cup white chocolate;

 or 1/2 cup chocolate chips; 

or 3/4 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 160C (325F) and line a regular muffin tin with baking papers (you will only need to line 9 of the 12 holes)

In a large bowl using a fork, mash the bananas well. 

Add the wet ingredients and mix well.

Add all remaining ingredients except the optional add in's and mix until just combined.

Divide mixture evenly between the 9 paper cases filling up to the top of each cupcake paper. 

**Add in extra 'add-ins' at this stage. You can make all one flavour or make a mixture. Some ideas are chocolate chip; raspberry/white choc chip; blueberry. Just push the ingredients into the mixture.

Bake until the top is golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean (around 30 minutes).

Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog ©Linda McCubbin 2025. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes. Affiliated links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own.

Break the internet New Year Cupcakes with edible gold leaf

Ok these cupcakes are not really going to break the internet, I know it.

It's a delicious cupcake recipe, to be truthful it's actually kinda perfect all by itself. But sometimes I like a little bit of sparkle, some redirection to make everyone take notice and look.

So I took my cupcake and baked it in a shiny, shiny case. These ones are from Robert Gordon Australia and come in gold and silver, I bought them at Baking Pleasures and you bake the cupcake directly in them on a baking tray.

They are pretty awesome, you know, only the best for my cupcake.

Then I added some white chocolate shards with edible gold/ silver leaf, white sprinkles, soft sugar pearls# (soft sugar pearls in gold and silver from Queen Australia) and a few white pearl sixlets# (candy coated chocolate).

Oh and of course I did a little posing and photo shopping ;)

They turned out pretty sweet huh! They would be perfect for New Year celebration or anywhere you would like to add a bit of eye candy with not too much effort.

#soft sugar pearls and sixlets are edible and most importantly are not hard they are as the title suggests soft so you will not break your teeth biting into this cupcake.

Instructions

Cupcakes (recipe below)
Frosting (recipe below)
white sprinkles
white chocolate shards (instructions below)
white, gold and/or silver soft sugar pearls
white sixlets

Using a knife or offset spatula top cupcakes with frosting, place white sprinkles in a dish and dip top of each cupcake into the white sprinkles.

Gently push 2 white chocolate shards into the cupcakes and make sure they stand up.

Add gold and white soft sugar pearls randomly on top of cupcakes and then add a few white pearl sixlets.

White chocolate shards with gold (or silver leaf)

Melt around 200g white chocolate and spread on baking paper around 2mm (1/8") thick allow to cool and then slice into randomly shaped triangles.

It was quite hot here so I popped mine in the fridge for a tad too long which resulted in the shards breaking a little when I cut them. If that starts happening just leave them out at room temperature a little bit and it will soften a little and not be so brittle.

Turn the triangles over so you are working on the flat edge (the side that set on the paper will be flat).

Using a clean brush dab a teeny amount of water on the chocolate triangle, you just want it to be slightly damp so wipe the brush on a paper towel to make sure it is barely wet.

Press the silver leaf transfer with the silver leaf facing down towards the chocolate triangle and rub your finger (or a cake tool) randomly on bits of the triangle. Pull the transfer off and allow the gold leaf to dry/set.

Chocolate cupcake recipe makes 18

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp bicarb soda  (baking soda)
1/4 baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup cool water
115 g unsalted butter (4 oz butter) room temperature cut into small squares
1 1/4 cup caster sugar (superfine) use regular white sugar if caster sugar not available
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 160 C fan forced (325 F) and place 18 cupcake cases onto a baking tray.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Mix the hot water and cocoa to make a paste then add the cool water mix until well combined, set aside.

In a large bowl of a stand mixer mix together butter and sugar at high speed until well creamed (about 2-3 mins).

Reduce speed to low and mix in eggs then vanilla mixing until well combined.

Add 1/3 of the flour, mix until just combined then add 1/2 the cocoa mixture, mix again until combined and scrape down sides. Add another 1/3rd of the flour, mix, add the remainder of the cocoa mix and scrape down sides then add the final flour and mix until completely combined.

Scoop mixture into cupcake cases until 2/3 full and bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the cupcake comes out clean.

Simple Vanilla Frosting

115g (4 oz) unsalted butter at room temperature
3 cups icing sugar mixtur (confectioners sugar) sifted
2 Tbsp milk (US 2 Tbsp plus 2 tsp)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Add all ingredients to the bowl of a large stand mixer and mix at high speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

Shopping Notes

Robert Gordon cupcake cases - Baking Pleasures CLICK HERE
Gold and silver edible leaf - Baking Pleasures CLICK HERE
Queen sugar pearls (available IGA or Woolworths Australia) CLICK HERE

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! . Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores. 

This post is not sponsored by any of the companies mentioned and I purchased all the products myself however I am related to the owner of Simply Sweet Home

Amazon affiliate links may earn me money and contribute to supporting this blog.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission.