Banana, pistachio and raisin muffins

First things first: I'M OFF TO NEW YORK TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I usually hate an exclamation mark explosion but NEW!!! YORK!!! GUYS!!!! It's been a dream of mine since I was a kid to go to the big U-S-of-A and I'm finally going. My parents never did the big, flashy holidays when I was young and I appreciate that now because I get to choose where I want to go and, most of all, remember everything! I also get to share these big holidays with Jason; we had the time of our lives in Spain last year and I'm expecting NY to be faaaaabulous. Times Square, The Empire State and Broadway awaits us (and for any of you who have stalked me further than just this blog may know I am a disgustingly obsessed Gleek and the fact I'm going to see Hedwig & The Angry Inch with Darren Criss in it is making me freak out to no end)!

Before I head off, I wanted to write up a little post about some muffins I made the other day. I've been a bit muffin mad recently having grabbed myself a muffin tray for a bargain price in Tesco, so I've been using it to its full advantage. I've made four different flavours in the past two weeks: chocolate chip, rhubarb and cinnamon, lemon poppyseed and the subject of todays post, banana, pistachio and raisin.

These came about as an adaptation of my banana bread. With a few ripe bananas left in the kitchen, and all other ingredients needed already in the cupboards, I was craving banana bread but wanted to try something a little different with the recipe. So why not muffins as I was already on a roll with them!?

Simple to mix up in around ten minutes, these muffins taste wonderfully banana-ry (that's a word now, k?) and moist, while the pistachios give it a crunch and the raisins add another level of softness. I love a good flavour combination and you can never go wrong with banana, nut and raisin so I just had to do it. As well as their taste, these muffins are also healthy. You could scoff one down as a midday snack or as a yummy breakfast treat. With such versatility, how could you not get baking ASAP!?

If you are that way inclined, the basic recipe for banana muffins can be found on any good recipe site. I usually use a BBC Food one if I need a quick reminder as they're always really simple over there and don't give vague timings! Just add your nuts and raisins as you're mixing the wet and dry together, being careful not to over mix.

Now, like all recipes I put on here, whether they're my own or ones I've tried from other places, there's always some changes you can make for your own preferences. For example, I like the nuts to be pistachios, but you could use any nuts you fancy, and in any size you want. I like mine to be quite small and run through the whole mixture smoothly, but you might like big chunks that you can really feel the crunch on. As I always say: GO WILD!

And most of all, ENJOY!