Banana and Berry Lemon Muffins

The sun is shining and the daffodils are blooming. Spring has definitely arrived. These muffins are perfect for spring as it's full of berries, banana and lemon. They are moist and fruity and you definitely get some of your five a day in this. I adapted a muffin recipe from BBC good Food and used up leftover fruit that I had. It was also a good chance to try out the lemon extract paste from Taylor & Colledge. They kindly sent me a range of their new flavour pastes to try. The range includes vanilla bean, lavender, lemon, coconut, almond and peppermint. They come in a handy tube and it's very easy to use with no mess. The lemon one smells really nice and lemony and the paste is a good consistency - not too thick and not too thin. These are a great way to add flavour to your bakes. 

I'm sending these muffins to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and myself on alternate months. The letter ths month is B for banana and blueberries.

Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Eplorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Hello Spring. 

Credit Crunch Munch guest hosted by Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. The challenge is run by Camilla from Fab Food 4 All and Helen from Fuss Free Flavours. This is quite a frugal recipe as it uses up store cupboard ingredients and leftover fruit. I didn't buy anything new for this recipe. If you don't have the lemon paste, a bit of fresh lemon juice and zest will suffice or you can omit it.

No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. I used up lots of leftover fruit and yellowing bananas for this recipe. 

  

 adding lemon paste 

 adding berries 

 sprinkle some chopped strawberries before baking

Makes 12 muffins

250g flour
115g brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 ripe bananas
125mls vegetable oil
60mls milk
60mls honey
2 eggs, lightly beaten
85g blueberries
220g strawberries - keep aside about 6 or 7 strawberries to put on top of the muffin before baking
1/2 teaspoon lemon paste

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and set aside.
• In a large bowl, roughly mash the bananas with a fork.
• Add the vegetable oil, milk, honey and eggs.
• Add in the flour mixture followed by the lemon paste.
• Stir gently until just combined - be careful not to overmix.
• Add in the strawberries and blueberries.
• Divide the mixture into 12 muffin cases
• Sprinkle the tops with the reserved, chopped strawberries and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Disclaimer: I was sent a range of flavour pastes from Taylor & Colledge for review purposes. A positive review was not required and all opinions expressed are my own. This is not a sponsored post.