When life gives you bananas you make muffins

A GAG gift to ridicule a high-profile Brisbane pollie and his transport plan “a-peeled” to his sense of humour. He made a “split decision” to creatively return the favour.

When life gives you bananas, you make ... muffins!

WHAT do you do when the opposition hands you a bunch of bananas to make fun of your major infrastructure plan?

Mash them up and turn them into mini muffins.

That’s what Brisbane City Council Deputy Mayor and Public and Active Transport Committee chairman Adrian Schrinner did this week.

The mischievous councillor arrived at City Hall clutching a black and white cookie tin.

Hours later, as the meeting neared its close, he stood to reveal its contents to the chamber.

“Last week we heard Labor saying the banana word on and on and on and on ... they were kind enough to gift me a bunch of bananas,” he said.

The jeers and the gift of potassium rich fruit were a jab at the council’s proposed inner-city public transport plan, Brisbane Metro, which the opposition said was not rail as expected but a plan for big “banana buses”.

“When life gives you bananas you give banana muffins back,” Cr Schrinner said.

Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner.

He said a “talented member of our team who shall remain nameless” had whipped up the treats.

He reminded his fellow councillors they could not eat in the chamber but assured them the muffins were “quite tasty”.

Shadow Spokeswoman for City Planning and Infrastructure Shayne Sutton later stood to accept the muffins and blew the mystery of who made them wide open.

“I understand we have Cr (Kim) Marx to thank for these,” she said.

She requested any future gifts of bananas be turned into banoffee pie.

“We will continue to talk about the banana bus extension project, it is not the Paris-style metro that was proposed,” she said.

This reporter did try a muffin and can confirm they were tasty, even though the cream cheese filling was not applied.

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BANANA MUFFIN RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

■ 3 cups self-raising flour

■ 1¼ cups milk

■ 1 egg, lightly beaten

■ 90g butter, melted

■ 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

■ 2 small bananas, peeled, mashed

■ Cream cheese and honey, to serve

METHOD:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease muffin pan

Step 2: Sift flour into a large bowl. Add brown sugar and cinnamon and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre. Combine milk, egg and butter in a jug. Add mashed banana with the milk mixture. Pour milk mixture into the well. Using a large metal spoon, stir until just combined (don’t over-mix).

Step 3: Spoon mixture into muffin pan until three-quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for one minute. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Step 4: Cut muffins in half, fill with cream cheese and honey. Sandwich with muffin tops. Serve.