In case you haven’t noticed, I like a sweet breakfast (though so-called “frambled” eggs make an acceptable alternative from time to time). If I could, I’d eat dessert every morning.

Which is why I was very, very excited to see banana fritters-eque fried flapjack bites all over my TikTok and Instagram pages.

So, I thought I’d give the ridiculously easy recipe, dubbed “banana nuggets” by food creator Tom Fauconnet, a go.

The posts I saw described banana nuggets as a very simple, minimum-three-ingredient recipe: chop up a banana and add it to a pan with oats and some Golden Syrup, maple syrup or honey.

Some recipes call for butter, and others don’t. But come on: I’m not skipping my beloved Kerrygold here.

I ended up using the following amounts of each:

• 1 banana
• 25g oats
• 10g butter
• 1 tablespoon Golden Syrup

As the heat warms the butter and sugar into a caramel, the oats bind to the banana slices, a little like a flapjack (shaking the pan helps to coat the sections without breaking them apart). And the longer they’re left in the pan, the more crispy and golden that buttery outer layer gets.

Like porridge, the exact measurements aren’t strict. You can mostly eyeball it: add more golden syrup and butter if the oats aren’t sticking, and more oats if your banana is looking conspicuously bald.

I’ll be honest, I wish I’d put more butter in mine. But I was almost out, and the recipe is forgiving – the oats still clung.

Spices like cinnamon are great here, too: I just sprinkled some over the oats in the pan.

I was really impressed by how quickly the mixture came together. For the first minute, it feels like you’ve horribly mismeasured – after that, though, the mix clumps together beautifully. Predictably, given this is basically caramel with toasted oats (which you should use in porridge, too), the smell is divine.

But to get the beginnings of a tan on the outer layer of my bites, I had to leave them in the pan for about seven minutes all-in. (I probably should have been more patient: 10 minutes would have been golden perfection).

The fun really starts once your “banana nuggets” have finished cooking. Many place them on a bed of Greek yoghurt before adding fruit, chocolate chips, nuts and sweet sauces.

Sadly (can you tell I tried this recipe before The Big Shop?), I didn’t have many of those options to play with. Instead, I had to try it with a single square of M&S’ (very good) dark cooking chocolate, which I suppose had the unintended upside of giving me a less tainted banana nugget experience.

Even without the extra toppings, and despite the fact that I undercooked them, these banana nuggets were delicious.

Their crispy, buttery (ignore butter-free recipes!) outer layer was crispy and nutty, giving way to soft, sweet banana.

It’s not quite as intense a contrast as deep-fried banana fritters, but it’s got its own flapjack-like appeal.

I really wish I’d had tart fruits, like raspberries, to eat this with, and Greek yoghurt should be considered an almost mandatory part of this dish. It needs something soft, creamy, and slightly tangy.

But even with those caveats, “banana nuggets”, which take minutes, taste amazing, and make your whole kitchen smell divine, have already transformed my breakfasts.

Just make sure to be more patient with the cook time than I was – and don’t skimp on the toppings.

Russia has hit out at Andy Burnham over his decision to share long-range missile blueprints with Ukraine.

The UK prime minister travelled to Ukraine on Monday – his first international trip since getting the keys to No.10 – and is expected to hand Kyiv key information on how to build the advanced rockets.

While marking 35 years since Ukraine first secured independence from the former USSR, Burnham will confirm that a key defence firm can release classified information on British components for the long-range missile SCALP.

It comes after the Kremlin already warned Britain of the “consequences” after it was confirmed that British drones had been used as part of Ukrainian attacks hitting targets deep within Russia.

Burnham brushed off the warnings, insisting that Britain is not a “fair-weather friend” to Ukraine.

Today, he said: “The Ukrainian people should be in no doubt: the UK is behind you today and for as long as it takes.

“I am proud of the contribution our country has made to Ukraine, and I want the Ukrainian people to hear it directly from me that our support will not waver. After all, Ukraine’s security is our security.”

The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was furious over the developments, telling Sky News: “[We view them] extremely negative.

“Britain is participating in this war on the side of the Kyiv regime.

“Britain is methodically and consistently adding fuel to the fire and methodically and consistently plotting to prevent a peaceful settlement process.”

“Who started the fire? That’s the question, isn’t it,” Burnham later replied when speaking to reporters in Kyiv on Monday.

The Russian embassy in London also criticised reports from the weekend which pointed out that it had not yet appointed a Russian ambassador to the UK.

Andrei Kelin left the post abruptly on July 21 after seven years in the top diplomatic post.

Embassy staff told The Times that they were not sure when he would be replaced, and the Foreign Office is yet to receive a list of potential candidates for the top job.

But writing on Telegram on Monday, the embassy disputed the article.

It said: “The embassy considers it necessary to note that nothing in its comment provided to the newspaper implies that the Russian side intends to downgrade the level of diplomatic relations between our two countries.

“Such conclusions belong solely to the author of the publication and are based on suggestions by his unnamed sources.”

The embassy notably added: “As for the state of Russia-UK relations across all areas, they have deteriorated to an unprecedentedly low level entirely on London’s initiative.”

The UK’s relationship with Russia cooled considerably after Vladimir Putin launched his illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But the Russian autocrat continues to wage war against his European neighbours in a brutal land grab.

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Dua Lipa is opening up about her wedding day.

Earlier in the summer, the Training Season singer married British actor Callum Turner at an intimate ceremony in London, before jetting off to Palermo for a more lavish celebration.

Speaking to Vogue Italia, Dua recalled that hers and Callum’s reception was “such a beautiful celebration”.

The Grammy winner also opened up about how friends of hers and Callum’s had given them “lots of advice” about how best to maximise, but there were “two suggestions that we really took on board”.

“One was to show up at our wedding like we were guests ourselves, which meant we had the best time and we weren’t stressed at all,” she said.

“The other was for Callum and me to keep checking in with each other so we didn’t lose each other in the crowd. As a result, we spent loads of time together and created so many amazing memories.”

Elsewhere in the interview, she spoke about how her attitude to romance has changed over the years – and how this has affected her songwriting.

“[Writing] about having a broken heart is very common,” she explained. “When I was younger, I found much more inspiration in the search for and the longing for [true love] because heartbreak is such a loud emotion.

“But now I want to discover what happens after you find love. I’m interested in the everyday complexities of a relationship, in its quieter moments, in the small things.”

Dua and Callum began dating in January 2024, making their red carpet debut as a couple at the following year’s Met Gala, around a month before confirming their engagement.

Shortly afterwards, she told British Vogue that the engagement was “very exciting”, revealing how Callum had designed her engagement ring for her, and that she was “obsessed” with it.

“It’s nice to know the person that you’re going to spend the rest of your life with knows you very well,” she enthused.

Read Dua Lipa’s latest interview in full in Vogue Italia.

What a year 2026 has been. We’ve had heatwave after blistering heatwave, leading to drought in parts of the UK – and resulting hosepipe bans are expected to last until the end of the year, according to a Thames Water boss.

That’s spelled chaos for gardeners.

The Royal Horticultural Society found that while some species, like wild carrots and lavender, thrived in the parched conditions, others like hydrangeas suffered enormously.

And a peek at Reddit’s r/GardeningUK proves that ordinary growers are starting to reconsider what they plant, too.

Writing to the group, site user u/oldschoolie asked their fellow green-fingered forum members: “What will you be giving up on because it died or needed too much coddling in the drought this year?”

Here are some of the most-upvoted responses:

Credit: u/Normal-Height-8577

BTW, the Royal Horticultural Society offers similar advice. Its principal horticultural advisor, Leigh Hunt, said: “As temperatures become more extreme don’t replace like for like – if a plant is struggling in your garden you can plant something better suited to the space.”

“I’ve been nursing a bunch of them for the last four years… and tried many spots, but every summer [they] become pretty sorry looking. [They] take too much effort to get back to [a good condition] before they get ‘summered’ again.”

Credit: u/Glittering-Mentat-4

Hydrangeas seem to be among the most susceptible plants in a heatwave.

“Urgh. Even with the drought, they still got slug-decimated, and have just sat there looking crap and scraggly since.”

Redditor u/A_Pure_Motive agreed, writing: “Same here, looked fabulous for about a month, if that, and have looked awful since the hot weather hit and also been subject to multiple aphid attacks. Saved all the seeds, hoping to plant more for next year, and now I’m thinking meh…”

“I want some grass, but the rest will be pollinator-friendly plants which don’t need much water.”

Wildflowers, clover, and thyme can “reduce or eliminate the need for watering and improve biodiversity,” explained the RHS. Gardens that follow a mixed grass and wildflower pattern are sometimes called tapestry lawns.

We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how important it is to place potted plants in dark, shady spots when it’s hot out. Their thinner soil dries out much faster than soil in the ground – this is especially true for dark plastic and unsealed terracotta pots.

In general, container plants suffer more in the heat.

“They always end up with powdery mildew and look awful. Output has been dwindling in recent years, especially bad this year.”

And u/destria seemed to have a similar experience, writing: “It’s been my worst year for courgettes too. Such a low yield. I’m usually drowning in them, but this year, even with five plants, we’ve only been getting maybe three to four decent courgettes each week. I don’t even like courgettes that much…”

“They’ve done very poor[ly] the last two years,” u/insrtitherenow, who‘s also given up on celery, said.

For their part, u/Panda1953 reckoned, “Neither sweet peas [nor] tomatoes have been a success this summer. Won’t bother next summer.”

If you’re looking to overhaul your back garden ahead of what seem to be very likely future heatwaves, we’ve written a handy guide on where to start.