banana and butterscotch muffins

How to make banana and butterscotch muffins recipe - Make double quantities of the butterscotch sauce as it stores well in the fridge. Gently reheat it to pour over ice cream.

MAKES 12

PREP TIME 30 mins, COOK TIME 20 mins

Ingredients:
1 3⁄4 cups self-rising flour
1⁄3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of fine salt
1⁄4 cup whole milk
1⁄4 cup peanut or sunflower oil
1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 bananas

For the butterscotch:
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2⁄3 cup dark brown sugar
2⁄3 cup heavy cream
1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

For the streusel topping:
1⁄4 cup light brown sugar
1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1⁄2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:
1 First, make the butterscotch. Melt the butter in a small, heavy-based saucepan, then mix in the sugar and cook over low heat until it is no longer granular. Add the cream, vanilla extract, and salt and whisk well to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce to a low simmer, and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes until thickened. Remove from the heat and pour into a large, shallow bowl to cool quicker.

2 Meanwhile, make the streusel topping. In a small bowl or the bowl of a food processor, rub together, or pulse, all the ingredients until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs.

3 Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Using a hand-held blender, process the milk, oil, vanilla extract, egg, 1 banana, and three-quarters (about 2⁄3 cup) of the cooled butterscotch until smooth. Cut the remaining banana into small cubes.

4 Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and mix in the liquid ingredients along with the chopped banana, being careful not to over-mix the batter.

5 Line a muffin pan with paper liners and fill each one two-thirds full with the muffin mixture. Heat the remaining butterscotch until it is runny and divide it over the surface of each muffin. You may need to do this in 2 batches.

6 Top each muffin with a heaped teaspoon of the streusel topping, making sure that the butterscotch is completely covered. Bake for 20 minutes until well risen, and when a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack.

COOK’S TIP
The butterscotch can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in the fridge until needed. Any leftover streusel topping can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer and used straight from the freezer for other recipes.