Nutella Swirled Banana Muffins

I love a good piece of banana bread or a banana muffin as much as the next person. My boyfriend might even like them more than me. For this reason, I often find myself flagging recipes for banana bread, banana muffins and other banana treats. The problem is that I am not always patient enough to make them on a regular basis. For years I made banana bread and banana muffins that lacked any real flavor. I constantly ignored the recipes and used bananas that were bright yellow in color. The result? Dry and flavorless baked goods that were nothing like what I had hoped to make. The key is letting the bananas sit for days on the counter, long enough so that they are brown in color. If you are impatient like me, you can always put the bananas in a brown bag to speed up the process.

These muffins alone are worth the hassle of waiting for your bananas to turn brown. Trust me. And as if a banana muffin is not a good enough breakfast on its own, the nutella swirl really puts it over the top. Nutella and banana are such a great combination- I am already thinking about more recipes that could incorporate these two flavors together. 

Nutella Swirled Nutella Muffins

Recipe from the Novice Chef

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 very ripe bananas (brown in color), mashed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In another large bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas and sugars. Slowly beat in the egg and vegetable. Mix until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla extract. Gently fold the dry ingredients into bowl of wet ingredients and mix until there are no lumps in the batter.

Fill each muffin tin approximately 3/4 full. Top each muffin with about 1 tsp of Nutella. With a knife or toothpick, gently swirl the Nutella into the batter.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool completely on a wire rack.