Based on a single line from Shuna Fish Lydon: “ buckwheat-banana-walnut-coffee-candied ginger muffin”.

The recipe is adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe for blueberry muffins in ‘Healthy Appetite’.

This is a great breakfast muffin, because the bitter flavours of the coffee and walnuts balance the bananas and sugar to make sure it is not too sweet.

You can freeze bananas when they are ripe, even all brown, for baking with later. They will go very squashy, but that doesn’t matter if you’re going to mash them up anyway.

Flour develops gluten when it comes into contact with liquid – the protein that makes bread strong and elastic. If this develops in muffins, it makes them seem tough and chewy, so minimise the gluten by keeping the dry and wet ingredients separate until the last minute, and by then mixing gently together until they are just combined.

• 2 large ripe bananas

• 200g wholemeal self-raising flour and 100g rye flour

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• pinch of salt

• 100g light brown muscovado sugar

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• 2 tbsp of instant espresso powder dissolved in 3 tbsp of just-boiled water, or a double shot of espresso

• 180g yoghurt and 40ml semi-skimmed milk (or 220ml buttermilk)

• 1 egg

• 75ml vegetable oil

• 150g walnuts, toasted and chopped

• 50g candied stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped (about 3 balls), plus 1 tbsp of the syrup

• 2 tbsp demerara sugar –> to sprinkle on the top

• Preheat the oven to 180C.

• Mash the bananas.

• Put the flours, baking powder, bicarb, salt, sugar and ground ginger into a large bowl and combine with a whisk, to make sure the leavening is evening mixed through the flour.

• Add the yoghurt, milk, bananas, egg, coffee, ginger syrup and oil and stir gently until just combined, but still with a couple of floury streaks.

• Add the chopped nuts and ginger and fold in until fairly evenly distributed. Mix gently, and don’t overmix or the texture will become tough as the gluten in the flour develops.

• Divide the mixture between 12 muffin cases in a muffin tin. Sprinkle the top of each muffin generously with demerara sugar.

• Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are brown and crusted, and the top springs back. If you are unsure, test with a toothpick or skewer to check there is no liquid mixture in the centre.

• Cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then remove the cases to a cooling rack until completely cold. Eat immediately while warm, or freeze on the same day. You can take out a frozen muffin to take to work, and it should thaw during the day (or you can help it along with a quick burst in a microwave).