Peanut Butter Nutella Swirl Banana Muffins

Do not despair, these muffins are another way to use up bananas that have gone to the dark side. Besides making these muffins soft and squishy, bananas bump up the nutritional factor of Peanut Butter Nutella Swirl Banana Muffins. Peanut butter makes them more protein-dense, and Nutella adds that one-of-a-kind flavor. These beauties exit the oven perfectly domed, swirled, and once topped with Nutella drizzle, the muffins will disappear in minutes.


Peanut Butter Nutella Swirl Banana Muffins (makes 12)

4 overripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup Nutella

*Optional: 1/4 cup Nutella to drizzle on top

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray muffin pan with non-stick baking spray.
2. With an electric mixer, beat together the bananas and peanut butter.
3. Mix in sugar, egg, and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
5. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until a batter forms.
6. Scoop out 1 cup of the batter and set aside.
7. To the big bowl of batter, mix in the Nutella until the batter is uniformly brown (be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to incorporate all ingredients thoroughly).
8. Distribute brown batter into muffin cups evenly.
9. Add a dollop of the light brown batter set aside to each muffin cup, and swirl with a toothpick.
10. Bake for 20 minutes.
11. *Microwave Nutella for about 15 seconds and drizzle over muffins.

 

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Quick to throw together and bake, these Banana Blueberry Muffins are light, moist and ready to bring sunshine to any kind of quarantined-day-of-the-week. Their golden-brown tops crisp beautifully and are sure to wow your house guests/Zoom-onlookers.

Like most banana bread recipes, the use of overripe bananas is key. To that end, I usually buy too many bananas and let a few sit on the counter for a week or so. As bananas ripen, they become easier to mash and their sweetness intensifies. If you don’t have a week to spare, roasting them in the oven will create the same “overripe” results.

These muffins can be made in a pinch using just two mixing bowls, which is perfect for last-minute-baking when you don’t feel like hauling out the mixer.

Banana Blueberry Muffins (makes 12)

3 large ripe bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup blueberries
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and spray muffin tin with non-stick baking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas.
3. Add sugar and egg.
4. Add butter and blueberries.
5. In a separate mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt).
6. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
7. Use an ice cream scoop to distribute batter evenly into muffin cups.
8. Bake for 12 minutes or until muffin tops turn golden-brown and a knife inserted comes out clean.