These muffins were supposed to post on Saturday, World Nutella Day, but I had a small issue. Alex left his camera in his backpack and brought it to work with him Saturday. He worked overnight, so I had no way to take the photos until yesterday Oh well, such is life. Just because Nutella Day came and went, however, there is no reason you can’t make these any day of the week!
I found these on Maria’s blog (one of my favs) and she never steers me wrong. They are moist, full of banana flavor and sweeeet! The Nutella swirl gives it some frosting-like action that really kicks it up a notch. Although she refers to them as cupcakes, I’m going with muffins since the Nutella is more like a spread on top and banana cupcakes just don’t seem like a true cupcake to me.
Valentines Day is just a week away! Since it’s on a Monday (boo), these would be a perfect way to start off your Valentines morning while you’re rushing out the door. I used both my mini muffin pan and a regular size pan for this recipe. If just using a mini pan, it should make around 22 muffins. For regular size muffins, it yields 12. Valentines Day is about all things cute, so I’d say go with the minis if at all possible.
Speaking of adorable things, it’s high time I posted a photo of the babe. Lizzie’s 7 1/2 months now! Alex and I had a little photo shoot for her last night. Here’s one of the winners.
Banana Nutella Mini Muffins, adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (3 to 4 ripe bananas)
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 1/2 cup Nutella
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix). Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups. With a toothpick, swirl in the Nutella, about a ½ teaspoon each. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove muffins from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.
*If you are using a regular-size muffin pan, make sure to increase the baking time to 17 to 20 minutes.