People went NUTS over these. I made some mistakes along the way and had to improvise, and wasn’t even sure they were going to turn out okay. But not only did they turn out fine, they turned out delicious, and I have never had raves like this before. I think the word (and the substance) Nutella casts a magical spell.
It was a great way to bounce back from Hurricane Sandy, which knocked our power out for ten long cold days. I warmed up with some Banana Yogurt Muffins and some Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins, but then I was ready to try something new again, and there I was, once again getting out bowls and flour and measuring cups, just like old times.
I wanted to use whole wheat pastry flour, but we were completely out, and our across-the-street grocery store had 900 kinds of flour, but not that one. So I used whole wheat white. To that I added baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon (heaping teaspoons instead of leveled), and 1/3 cup of natural cane sugar.
And then, with the joy of familiar actions long missed, I whisked.
I set that aside, then got out another bowl and started by lightly beating two eggs. Then I added a quarter cup of honey.
I added canola oil (only 3 tablespoons), vanilla, and 4 mashed-up bananas. Nathaniel peeled them for me, but I didn’t take pictures because he was in his post-shower underwear. Only.
I stirred everything together.
Then I poured that into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
Once that was properly incorporated (but not overmixed), I was ready to move it into the muffin pan. The directions said to put about a quarter of a cup of batter into each cup to start, so I decided to be practical and use a measuring cup.
And so I got to here:
And then it said to put a tablespoon of Nutella on each one. That turned out to be something of a challenge, as I only had a small jar of Nutella, AND it wasn’t all that soft, so it didn’t exactly cooperate with my measuring and “dropping”. I decided to just use less of it, and do the best I could.
I put more batter on top of those, and after filling each cup, I still had enough left to throw in some mini chocolate chips and make a mini loaf.
I used the last of the Nutella to top as many of the muffins as I could, before I ran out.
Did you ever watch M*A*S*H? Did you ever see that episode when Hawkeye and Trapper are trying to diffuse a bomb, and Henry Blake is reading the instructions to them, talking them through it? It goes something like this:
Henry: (reading instructions) ..And carefully cut the wires leading to the clockwork fuse at the head.
(Trapper cuts the wires)
Henry: But first, remove the fuse.
Well that’s what I felt like, when I tried swirling the muffins with a knife, kept getting stuck, and THEN read,
If the Nutella is giving you trouble, you can put some in a bowl and microwave it for a few seconds until it’s a little melted.
I suppose it’s my own fault for not reading the whole thing through sooner. D’oh.
So the swirling didn’t go well, and I ended up giving up on it because it was just shifting the muffin cups inside the tins and making a mess, so I sort of stabbed each muffin for a while and then I just gave up and put it the tray and the mini loaf into the oven.
I warned Dave that I might be making substandard muffins.
I set the timer for 18 minutes, but it was probably almost 25 before they were done. And shockingly, they looked pretty good.
So did the mini loaf.
I let them cool in the pan for a bit, then took them out so they could cool completely on a rack.
I tasted one.
Wow.
Swirl? Who cares about a swirl? Getting a GLOB of Nutella in the middle of a delicious banana muffin is a wonderful sensation. I loved it. Dave took one. Dave took another, for the win. Delicious!
I took them to work the next day and people went a little crazy. Emails came in, people raved, and my favorite review came from Antonia, who said, “Not so sound porny or anything, but this is the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.”
Best. Review. Ever.
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