If you’ve grown tired of banana bread, these versatile mini-bakes are another way to use up any overripe bananas you might have lying around. Dates and cherries are my go-to dried fruits here, but prunes and dried apricots would also work well; experiment with any fruits you prefer.
Prep 10 min
Cooking 12 min
Makes 12
2 very ripe medium bananas (about 200g)
200g light muscovado sugar
200g unsalted butter, softened
2 medium eggs
280g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
4 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
200g medjool dates, chopped into small pieces
50g dried cherries
Heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas 7. Line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper cases.
Mash the banana until smooth. Beat together the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs, mashed banana and all the dry ingredients except the dried fruit. Stir until well combined.
Stir in the dried fruit, then divide the mixture evenly between the 12 muffin cases.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, by which point the muffins should be well risen and a skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean.
• Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay
