RECIPE: Nutella hazelnut praline muffins

hazelnut praline muffins

If someone was to turn a Ferrero Rocher into a muffin, I think this would be it. My siblings and I were brought up on Nutella for breakfast. On bread, I mean. Chocolate spread was considered far too unhealthy, but Nutella on the other hand, full of hazelnuts, milk and cocoa, was totally acceptable. Good one, mum.

So I had one of these babies for my breakfast straight after I'd baked them. Oh all right, it was my second breakfast of the day, but who's judging? With their cheeky praline centre, these babies are especially yummy warm. I've adapted the recipe from one by The Hummingbird Bakery, whose cakey concoctions I adore.

The recipe make 12-14 muffins, and don't forget to take out your eggs in advance.

This is a muffin into which I put the Nutella too soon, so it sunk. Still delish though.

Ingredients

300g plain flour

145g caster sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

250ml milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 large eggs

85g unsalted butter, melted

150g Nutella

60g chopped hazelnuts

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170C and line the tin with muffin cases.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, 115g of the caster sugar, the baking powder, the bicarbonate of soda and salt. Pour the milk and vanilla essence into a jug, break in the eggs and whisk together by hand.

3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and gradually pour in the wet mixture while mixing on a low speed with an electric whisk. Turn the speed up high and mix until the batter is smooth. Add the melted butter and whisk a bit more. The batter may seem very runny but it should thicken up a bit.

4. Add 80g of the Nutella to the muffin batter and mix in with the handheld whisk. Then add 50g of the hazelnuts and mix in by hand with a spoon.

5. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cases, filling each one about half full. Drop about 1 teaspoon of the remaining Nutella into the middle of each muffin, then add the remaining muffin batter so that each case is no more than two-thirds full.

If you go a bit sugar crazy (like I did), don't worry, excess can be blown off post-baking.

6. Sprinkle over the remaining chopped hazelnuts and the remaining caster sugar - this may seem like a generous amount but it creates a delicious crust on the muffins. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the muffins are well-risen and springy to the touch. Allow to cool slightly in the tin. Transfer to a wire rack to cool just a little bit more before devouring.