From eatlove.com.au, a great basic muffin recipe from Anneka Manning's Mastering the Art of Baking. Enjoy!

This is a good, reliable recipe from which to build your muffin repertoire. Once you've mastered this recipe, try out variations and let them inspire you to create other flavour combinations.

Ingredients (makes 12)
300 g (10½ oz/2 cups) self-raising flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon or nutmeg
110 g (3¾ oz/½ cup, firmly packed) light brown sugar
125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
300 g (10½ oz/1¼ cups) mashed very ripe banana
125 g (4½ oz) butter
60 g (2¼ oz/½ cup) pecan or walnut halves

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4). Lightly brush twelve 80 ml (2½ fl oz/⅓ cup) muffin holes with melted butter to grease.

Sift the flour and cinnamon or nutmeg together into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar, then make a well in the centre.

Whisk the milk, egg and vanilla together in a jug, then pour into the well. Add the mashed banana and melted butter. Use a large metal spoon to fold together until just combined but not smooth. (Do not overmix or the muffins will be tough — the batter should still be a little lumpy.)

Divide the mixture evenly among the muffin holes and sprinkle with the nuts. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until the muffins are golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave in the tin for 3 minutes, then use a palette knife to release each muffin from the tin and lift out. Cool on a wire rack and serve at room temperature.