Eggless Strawberry Banana Muffins | How to Make Eggless Strawberry Banana Muffins From Scratch | Recipe

An easy recipe for eggless strawberry banana muffins. These muffins are full of flavours and are a great accompaniment to a cup of coffee. 

I am really excited to be able to participate in the August Sweet Punch. I hope it is going to be a regular affair on this blog from now on. This month Ria chose Strawberry Banana Muffins from the Joy Of Baking site. To tell you the truth, I was a bit apprehensive about the combination of Strawberry and Banana. I have used bananas in making chocolate cake. It has a mild banana flavour but I was not sure how I would like a prominent banana flavour muffin. So, I went for making a small batch and hence halved the quantities as given in the original recipe. Also, I had to make it eggless. The results were good and I really enjoyed the moist flavourful muffins.

Strawberry Banana Muffins Recipe: 

Yields 9 regular sized muffins
Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup yoghurt+1/4 cup water+1/4 tsp baking soda ( To replace 1 egg)
About 1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large ripe banana, mashed (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup fresh strawberries (cut into bite-sized pieces)
1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt




Process:

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Place the oven rack in the centre of the oven. Line the muffin pan with paper liners.

2.In a saucepan melt the butter and let it cool down to room temperature.

3. In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the yoghurt, water, baking soda, vanilla extract and mashed banana. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.

4. In another large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gently fold in the berries, making sure they are coated with flour. (This helps to prevent the berries from sinking during baking).

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

6. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups using an ice cream scoop. I got 9 with these measurements.

7. Place them in the preheated oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes. They are done when a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

8.Transfer to a rack and let it cool. Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee.

Interested in checking out something else as well, these recipes might interest you:

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
Eggless Double Chocolate Muffins

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

Saturday Snapshot

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. It’s easy to participate – just post a picture that was taken by you, a friend, or a family member and add your link on Alyce’s site.

Today, I am sharing some pictures of Bray to GreyStones Coastal Walk (Ireland). We took this walk last saturday and it was an amazing experience. Beautiful sea cliffs bythe Irish sea, fresh sea air, lovely weather ~ what else would make a perfect weekend. The coastal walk is 8km in length and it took us more than 2 hours and we went on slowly but steadily, soaking in the views and capturing some in our cameras. Check these pictures for a virtual tour!

Just the beginning!

 A train line through the mountains!

 A bird eye view of Grey Stones. Still way to go!

Done with the cliff walk, through the country fields to GreyStone!

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Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

When you pick Nicholas Sparks books you know what to expect of it ~ a poignant love story. That is what I was exactly looking for when I picked up the book. I wanted an easy read, which the author's book definately are- not in the wrong way of course. This is the fifth book I have read of the author this year and I am simply not tired of reading his books. Safe Haven is different from all the other books I have read of the author. Of course, there is romance but Sparks has added a new twist in this story. It can be rightly called a romance thriller. Full of twist and turns and a suspense factor, I really found it unputdownable.

I am quoting the blurb from the book for the synopsis.

"When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.

But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo’s empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven."

If you love Spark's book you cannot simply miss this one and if you do not like his writing, I think you should try this. This book kept me on tenterhooks as the story unravelled slowly and turned more dramatic than I thought it would be. I really enjoyed reading it.

Like many others of Sparks Novel, this is also going to be made into a movie and is going to be released in June 2012. I will be definately watching it. Vist http://www.nicholassparks.com/  to know more about the author and his works.

I am linking it to Nicholas Sparks reading Challenge hosted by The Book Vixen along with the other books Sparks book I have read so far namely The NoteBook, The Choice, The Last Song and Dear John.

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers

Blog Hop Wednesdays 1 ~ Cranberry Lemonade ~ From RedSpice!

Come Wednesday and here is my first entry to the brand new event, Blog Hop Wednesday started by Radhika. This week I am paired with Madhusmita of Redspice and I have tried this Cranberry Lemonade from her blog. I loved her space and really liked the way she gives the background information about all the dishes she posts.

As it is evident from this  my previous post, I love lemonade. Unlike, my blueberry lemonade this is much quicker as one doesnot have to prepare the syrup. Of course, if you wish you can using fresh cranberries. Infact, it is already in my to-make list when these berries are in season. Only thing I tweaked was I did not use frozen lemonade for making it. Instead I made the lemonade myself.

Here comes the recipe:

Ingredients:
250 ml cold water.
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice.
150 ml craberry juice.
A slice of lemon to decorate and ice cubes.

Process:

1. Stir in the sugar in the water and let it dissolve (I didn't go for heating it).

2. Add the lemon juice.

3. Before serving add the cranberry juice and stir well. Add the lemon slice and ice cubes.

4. Serve cold.

 Check out other Blog Hop Wednesday Bloggers and what they are up with for Blog Hop Wednesday

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon

The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon is a beautiful, heart rendering and compelling story of love, survival and the brutal face of humanity. Through 340 pages of the novel, the author takes you through an extraordinary story spanning over 43 years. It all started on a stormy night and changed the course of four lives forever.

Synopsis:

On a stormy night in small-town America, a couple, desperate and soaked to the skin, knock on a stranger's door. When Martha, a retired school teacher living a safe and conventional life, answers their knock, her world changes for ever.

For they are fugitives. Lynnie, a young woman with an intellectual disability, and Homan, a deaf man with only sign language to guide him, have escaped together from The School of the Incurable and Feebleminded, brutal institution where people with disability are left to languish, shuttered away from the world.

In a moment of despair, they reveal that Lynnie has a new born baby. But, moments later, the police bang on the door. Homan escapes into the darkness, Lynnie is captured. But, just before she is returned to the School, bound and tied, she utters two words to Martha: 'Hide her'. And so begins the unforgettable story of Lynnie, Homan, Martha, and baby Julia- lives divided by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love.

My take on it:

I was hooked to the book, right from the beginning. As I had never come across any such institutions or have known any such person, I shuddered at the thought how parents of such children could leave them and move on in life. Told in first person in alternating narrations, the book tells about the life of such abondened children in institutions. The writing style is clear and fluid. At times I found it diificult to grasp Homan's narration. Imagine giving words to a deaf person's feelings!

 There were expressions like, 'the woman -Polka dot', 'the man - Pudding cheek', 'Then Pudding stormed back and got going with the Yell face, and Dot started in on the baby Talk Face---...'

Kudos to the author for being able to narrate the story through two main characters who are actually intellectually disabled and are lacking in the basic commmunication skills. There is another character important to the story, Kate. She is a carer at The School and tries her best to make Lynnie's life less miserable and protects her, encourages her in all ways possible. There is so much more to the story, how Martha gets on with the baby, how Lynnie lives without the baby, how Homan finds his way in the world outside the institute and what future awaits them all. The novel is named such after Lynnie, Beautiful Girl is what Homan addresses her in his thoughts.

It is a soul stirring story, the kind that will stay in your thoughts long after you have read it. The author herself had a sibling with intellectual disability and in many ways it helped her knowing their life better. I would really look forward to read some more of Rachel Simon's work. To know more about the author and her work visit http://www.rachelsimon.com/