Everything is improved by Nutella.
Banana bread is no exception to this rule. Though I adore banana bread in all its shapes and forms and flavours, it is always made better with a little dollop of everyone’s favourite chocolate hazelnut spread.
This recipe was a little early morning experiment when I felt that breakfast hadn’t been quite fulfilling enough. It came on the back of a disappointing previous attempt at filled muffins. The last time I tried to bake banana muffins with a soft centre, I used peanut butter. All I managed to achieve were pretty-looking muffins with a stodgy peanut butter filling…and a gaping hole above it due to the steam release that I had not accounted for. Thankfully, these Nutella Filled Banana Muffins were more successful. I haven’t been able to stop eating them since.
It isn’t tricky or fiddly to fill them either. You won’t need any kind of fancy piping equipment or special kitchen gadgets. As long as you have a teaspoon and you can resist using the Nutella without eating it all first, you can make these Nutella Filled Banana Muffins!
Soft, moist banana muffins. A rich, gooey pocket of Nutella that you can taste in every bite. Swirls of Nutella, sea salt, and toasted hazelnuts on top. You’ll get fluff, goo, and crunch in every mouthful and honestly it’s nothing short of delightful.
These Nutella Filled Banana Muffins are surprisingly quick and easy to throw together too. Despite them following a recipe for a full banana bread, these muffins take half the time to bake. You’ll only need one bowl, and you get an excuse to buy a whole big jar of Nutella (not that you need an excuse!). Ultimately, in less than an hour you will have a batch of 12 warm Nutella Filled Banana Muffins that you may have to fight everyone in a 3-mile radius to eat first.
The muffins keep well in an airtight container for up to 4 days, and much like banana bread I feel they are at their absolute best the day after they are baked. For some reason banana breads, cakes and muffins always seem to be that extra level of banana-y on day 2!
If you want to make these Nutella Filled Banana Muffins, simply follow the recipe below!
Nutella Filled Banana Muffins
Notes
BE A MAVERICK: why not add some fresh raspberries or cherries to the mixture for some extra fruity flavour?
MAKE IT GLUTEN FREE: swap out the plain flour for a gluten free blend and add an extra 50ml of milk
Ingredients
- 80ml (⅓ cup) olive oil or melted butter
- 100ml (⅓ cup) runny honey, golden syrup or maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 50ml (¼ cup) any kind of milk
- 3 (1 cup) medium mashed ripe bananas
- 250g (2 cups) plain flour (gluten free blends work well too!)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Pinch of salt
- 400g jar of Nutella (you won’t need it all!)
- Handful of chopped hazelnuts (optional, for decoration)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven – 180°C / 160°C fan / 350°F / gas mark 4.
- Grease a 12-hole muffin tin. You don’t want to use cases for these muffins as the moisture can cause them to stick. Instead you’ll bake them straight in the tin!
- In a large bowl, whisk together your oil and honey until combined.
- Add in the eggs, whisking again until smooth.
- Add the mashed banana, the vanilla and the milk and whisk it up again.
- Add your flour, raising agents and salt. Mixing again until completely combined. Careful not to over-mix though, as this can result in stodgy muffins!
- Spoon the mixture into the holes of the tin until it fills them halfway up.
- Blob a rounded teaspoon of Nutella in the centre of each cup of muffin mixture.
- Spoon the remaining muffin mixture into the tin, making sure the blobs of Nutella are covered. Each hole of the tin should be around three-quarters full when all the mixture is spooned in.
- Dollop a smaller amount of Nutella on top of each raw muffin and use the tip of a knife to marble and swirl it around. At this stage you can sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts, if using.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until risen and springy to the touch.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for about 15 minutes before removing and cooling completely on a wire rack.
- Enjoy!
