Banoffee muffins

Banana. Chocolate. Caramel. What a dang combo.

I've used Donna Hay's base muffin recipe for this and made it into a Banoffee pie inspired situation. They are fluffy but crunchy on top...a must have for any discerning muffin connoisseur. These are on the sweet side (when you add banana, chocolate and caramel to anything it's bound to be a bit sweet) so if you want to tone down the sweetness you could reduce the sugar in the recipe but you do risk not getting the same crunch and browning on top.

A hot tip for muffin making while we're at it...you DO NOT want to overmix. Overmixing makes your muffins dense with none of the fluff of a good muffin.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1 teas baking powder

1 cup caster sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teas vanilla extract

3/4 cup milk

2-3 overripe bananas, mashed

1 ripe banana

180g milk chocolate (either chips or a block cut into chunks)

1 jar dulce de leche

1 cup coconut flakes

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Place the flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl and mix to combine. Place the egg, oil, vanilla, milk and overripe bananas in a separate bowl and whisk until combined. Pour the egg mixture over the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into 12 muffin tins lined with paper cases. Put a teaspoonful of dulce de lech on top of each muffin then bake for 25-30 mins or until they bounce back when touched. After 20 mins, take the muffins out and sprinkle the coconut flakes on top of the muffins and return to the oven for the last 5-10 mins.

Once cooled, add another small dollop of dulce de leche to the top of each muffin and top with some sliced fresh banana.