Countdown to Cosy – Cooking in bulk

Double the recipe, half the time

Doubling up a recipe is pretty easy on the maths and if you work on an ‘eat one, freeze one’ principal you have saved yourself loads of time in the future.

Here are a couple of recipes that are brilliant for using up bananas and can be frozen too.

banana bread recipe

Sarah's 6 Banana Bread

Great for using up gluts of bananas without needing loads of eggs
Print Recipe
Servings 6

Equipment

  • A standard sized loaf tin lined or greased or both.

Ingredients
  

  • 100 d sultanas or dates
  • 75 ml liquid to soak the dried fruit in – orange or apple juice, rum or brandy (Soak the dried fruit in the liquid for half an hour before you start.)
  • 175 g plain flour with 1/2 tsp bicarb and 2 teaspoons baking powder or 175g self raising flour
  • 125 g butter or marj
  • 100 g sugar
  • 2 eggs leave them out if you don't eat eggs
  • 6 ripe bananas mashed up
  • Optional extras, walnuts, chocolate chips, grated orange or lemon zest

Instructions
 

  • Put the oven onto low – 160 degrees for a fan over, gas 3.
  • Melt the butter and mix in the sugar well. Add the eggs to the bananas then mix everything together. (If you add the eggs to the warm butter they will scramble).
  • Make sure it’s all really well mixed.
  • Bake for an hour then test with a knife to see if it comes out clean. If it starts to go too dark on top turn the oven down and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.
  • Cool in the tin but it is nicest when it is just warm with loads of butter!

 

Su's Vegan Banana Muffins Recipe

Easy, quick and tasty muffins that freeze well
Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 225 g self-raisingflour
  • 225 g vegetable marg
  • 100 g raw cane sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla essence
  • 2 medium-sized ripe bananas.

Instructions
 

  • My Mums Vegan Muffins
    Great for breakfast, for a rainy day, for a picnic on a sunny day, sod it, who needs an excuse!
    Here is the recipe-[don’t be afraid to add extras-I like them with chopped eating apple added,or dried apricots-]
    Heat oven to gas mark 4
  • Mix together the marg.,sugar and vanilla.-[I use the blender] then add the bananas,then flour.
  • Fill muffin cases well-[This makes about 8]and bake at gas mark 4 for 20-30 minutes until well risen and golden coloured
    Enjoy !

For more ideas about cooking in bulk please have a look at the Winning at Winter Workbook. It is split into daily themes and Waste Free Wednesday has recipes for comforting stews, foolproof biscuits and a load of ideas for tasty things to make from pumpkin.

You can find Winning at Winter on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback format or from less-stuff as a printable PDF.

Join in with the conversation in the less-stuff Facebook group to share your ideas. I’d love to hear how this works for you.

Countdown to Cosy is a collaboration with The Frugal Family – check out what they are up to on their website www.thefrugalfamily.co.uk