Sugarless Banana Muffins & Banana Blueberries Muffins

I wanted to bake something for BB on his 1st birthday party as I didn't want him to stare enviously at everyone eating the birthday cake & ironically none for him, the birthday boy. After some Googling, I set my mind on sugar-less banana muffins.

A couple of days before the BIG day, I did a trial run but wasn't too pleased with the appearance as well as the texture of the muffins. 

I did some research to improvise & taa-dah! Softer & more moist muffins v(~.^)v As it was the season for the lovely blueberries, I bought some & added them in too.

Ingredients (makes 12 big & 4 small muffins):

8 large ripe bananas

1 cup of organic blueberries

2 eggs

2/3 cup of organic virgin coconut oil (VCO)

2 tsps of pure vanilla extract

3 cups of organic wholemeal flour

2 tsps of cinnamon 

2 tsps of baking powder

2 tsps of baking soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 170°C.

2. Mash the bananas & mix with the other wet ingredients (excluding blueberries) till the mixture is mostly smooth & only slightly chunky.

3. In another bowl, sieve (I added this step to get a fluffier texture) & mix all the dry ingredients.

4. Gently mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients till you only see a bit of flour. Then, fold in the blueberries until no more flour can be seen (do not over mix as it would result in denser muffins).

5. Fill each muffin liner till almost full then bake for 20 minutes (about 10 minutes for the small ones). Cool completely before keeping in an airtight container.

The feedbacks from guests were very positive ones. But, more importantly, the birthday boy loves his mini ones & finished all 4 of them.

BB's 1st (& Daddy said LAST) Spiced Applesauce Smash Cake

We had a small celebration at home on BB's actual birthday last month. While waiting for my hubby to knock off early from work, I prepared the batter for the cake.

Ingredients:

2 cups of organic wholemeal flour

1 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of cinnamon 

1/2 tsp of nutmeg

1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup of VCO

1 cup of warm unsweetened applesauce (I steamed & blended 2 small organic apples using my Avent Combined Steamer & Blender)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C & generously grease an 8" round pan with VCO.

2. Sieve flour, baking soda, cinnamon & nutmeg into a medium bowl then whisk them together. Add vanilla extract into applesauce & mix well. Pour VCO into another larger bowl then add flour mixture & applesauce alternately, blending them in. Start & end with the flour mixture & mix until just incorporated.

3. Spread batter into the prepared round tin & bake for 20 - 25 minutes until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Use an overturned small bowl to cut out 2 small cake rounds.

The first activity was Pressies Attack! He had a great time tearing the wrappers apart & playing with some of his new toys. As Daddy-O helped him to set up one of his bigger toys, I proceeded to assemble the cake.

Ingredients:

1/4 block of Philadelphia cream cheese

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/8 cup (1 ounce) of unsweetened organic apple juice (the very first time I'm using a bottled juice, with much reluctance though, as there may be browning if I used fresh apple juice)

Directions:

1. Soften the cream cheese.

2. Whisk the cream cheese with the apple juice & vanilla extract until creamy.

3. Spread some evenly onto 1 of the cake rounds. Place the other cake round on top. Reserve a bit of the cream cheese & spread the remaining mixture on the top & sides of the cake. Put the reserved cream cheese in your piping bag fitted with a star tip (I'm using an icing syringe set from Daiso) & pipe rosettes on the outer edge of the top of the cake (optional). 

I also bought a block candle & cake banner set to decorate the cake. Tadah! BB's 1st smash cake is done ;)

BB was kinda lost at what to do with it initially & just played with the cream cheese. I fed him a small bite to show him that it's actually a food. However, it was much bigger than what he usually has for BLW. After some contemplation, he decided to dive head first into his treat. We were pleasantly surprised at his improvised choice of feeding method & had a really good laugh. The aftermath was not the least bit pleasant however. Eventhough we had already lined the floor, he had adorned himself with cream cheese & crumbs from his head to toes & his nostrils were of no exception. Too bad we had forgotten to take a photograph when he was done but you can imagine the sight! I seriously regretted not stripping him down to just his diaper. Straight to the showers he went. Despite the terrible mess we had to clear afterwards (mostly done by his Daddy-O actually), this would be an unforgettable memory for many years to come.