Thursday, February 07, 2013

Nutella Muffins Re-done

This is a little edit on the self-frosted Nutella swirl muffins from yesterday. They are good,  but best warm from the oven. The muffin is a bit plain and a tad dry. This makes them ideal for a not-too-sweet Nutella breakfast on World Nutella Day, but Nutella lovers don't exactly mind a lot on Nutella now, do they? These just need a little extra something something. They have sugar, salt, vanilla, butter, and eggs, so what is missing? Here are several options to vamp them up a little:

1) Add chocolate chips to the batter.
2) Replace some of the flour in the batter with cocoa powder for an extra chocolate hit.
3) Place half of the batter in the cups, add a spoonful of Nutella for a Nutella-filled center, and add remaining batter.
4) Add a buttercream icing (preferably Nutella buttercream).
5) Serve them drizzled with a chocolate sauce (aka more melted Nutella).
6) Combine two of the above ideas.
7) Combine three of the above ideas.
8) Combine four of the above ideas.
9) Combine the first five ideas.
10) Just grab the jar of Nutella and dunk the muffin in it.
I tried a variation on these muffins myself. The irony of it is, I made a version without Nutella. Yeah, that's right, for World Nutella Day I made a few Nutella Swirl Muffins without the Nutella. Why? Because my mother has a slight allergy to hazelnuts, and didn't want to overdose on Nutella, considering I made several other Nutella treats. So I made two muffins especially for her. Instead of swirling Nutella into the top of the muffins, I sprinkled a spoonful on miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips on top. This is a bit like variation number one, but the chocolate chips were only on top and not studded throughout the batter. My mother agreed with the rest of us in that the muffin is a bit plain, and could use a little something more (more chocolate perhaps?) I always try to cater to all my dedicated tasters, as I hate to make treats that not everyone can enjoy, and usually there is a simple solution to ingredient avoidances. 

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