Banana muffins inspired by emmerys

Well, there was a down moment last week when I was unpacking the kitchen and I came across a box that had obviously been dropped during the move. Though marked 'fragile' and with the contents wrapped in paper, a couple of my favourite kitchen items are damaged beyond repair. This is what's left of the glass cookie jar...

And I was particularly sad when I unwrapped a beautiful coffee pot that my mother gave me

For a couple of days I was a bit reluctant to continue with the unpacking and everything remained in boxes. Then I decided to reclaim the territory with some positive and creative energy and I set out to christen the kitchen and do some baking. What to bake?

On my wanderings around the neighbourhood, I couldn't help but notice the striking absence of the usual 'coffee' shops. There's no Starbucks, Pret, Costa, Coffee Republic, EAT, AMT etc. I was therefore wondering what I would do for my daily shot (given that my Nespresso machine needs a plug adaptor and that just detracts from the whole convenience of the experience!!).

Then I stumbled upon emmerys. I'm no coffee aficionado but I know a good cup of coffee when I taste one and the cups I have enjoyed at emmerys have been the best ever. I'm beginning to believe what I have been told about Copenhagen being a coffee paradise And now I make a daily pilgrimage (across the street) to get my single shot sublime cappuccino. As an aside, this jaunt costs the staggering sum of 35 DKK (£3.50+) - ouch!!

What has this got to do with banana muffins? Well, whilst I sip my coffee the little ones share a banana muffin. The joy of these muffins is that they have chocolate drops at the bottom and so we set about to recreate them at home.

I used a basic banana and raisin muffin recipe, which calls for mashing together ripe bananas using an electric mixer. My 3 year old sous chef had other ideas and he was only too happy to get his hands dirty and so we 'squished' the bananas (no plug adaptor required either!!).

We substituted chocolate chips for the raisins and placed a few at the bottom of each muffin case.

And when they were in the oven and the kitchen filled with the warm and homely smells that only an afternoon of baking can produce, all was well again. The muffins tasted delicious and have served well as snacks on the go. I have found the courage to do the rest of the unpacking (in the kitchen, at least) and am pleased to report that there are no more breakages!