A little Nutella surprise is hidden in side these zucchini muffins. The perfect way to warm up on a snowy day.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cup Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1 stick softened Butter
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 2 tsp. Vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup grated  Zucchini
• 1/3-1/2 cup Nutella

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Prep 12 muffin cups by spraying with baking spray.
2. In a large bowl combine the Flour, Salt and Baking Powder.
3. In a smaller bowl cream the Butter and Sugar together.  Add the Eggs, Vanilla and Milk and mix until well blended.
4. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a spoon.
5. Fold in the Zucchini.

Add the Zucchini to the batter.

6. Split the batter between the two bowls. Divide half the batter evenly into the 12 muffin cups. (They will be about halfway filled.)
7. Using a small scoop or teaspoon put a dollop of Nutella onto the top / center of each half filled muffin.

To put a bit of Nutella in each muffin I used my small melon baller. (I could have used a teaspoon — probably would have licked the spoon then too! What was I thinking! OK — You should totally use a teaspoon!)

8. Divide the remaining batter to cover the rest of the muffins.

Action shot of me covering the muffins with the rest of the batter. I’m employing my larger melon baller here.

9. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on the tops. You can try the toothpick test but you’ll likely hit the center of Nutella. (Of course you could then lick off that Nutella before discarding the toothpick. So… maybe.)

These would be delightful as just zucchini muffins. The addition of Nutella puts them in a whole new category of wonderfulness. Why haven’t I made these before?

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/4 cup softened Butter

1/2 cup Stevia (Sugar substitute)

1 Eggs

1 tablespoon Orange Peel

1/4 cup Lemon Juice

8 oz crushed Pineapple (plus 2 slices of Pineapple divided into eighths — 16 pieces)

1 cup chopped Figs

Dice the figs with a small knife.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare 6 large muffin cups with cooking spray.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl.

3. In a medium bowl coming the butter, sugar, egg, orange peel, and lemon juice.

4. In the bowl of a blender put the Pineapple and blend until crushed. Add the other liquid ingredients and pulse.

5. Add the liquid to the dry and stir until well mixed.

6. Divide evenly into 6 super-sized muffin cups.

7. Top with the segmented Pineapple.

8. Bake for 30 minutes until muffin are golden brown and they pass the toothpick test.

9. Let the muffins cool 5 minutes before enjoying.

These are nice and fluffy and super tasty.

On yesterday’s blog I posted the about the exciting blueberry bake-off where I tried out two recipes and served them up after dinner. Pumpkin Blueberry edged out Citrus Blueberry in the competition, but the Citrus variety was also darn tasty.

Here’s the promised beauty shot of the Pumpkin Blueberry Muffin…

She’s a beaut, isn’t she? And as several people commented… you just can’t go wrong with pumpkin.

Poor Citrus paled slightly in comparison. Not only did I use the smaller of my new muffin cups to bake the C/B’s in but they just didn’t pack the emotional punch of wintery warmth the pumpkin muffins. The citrus says SUMMER, while the pumpkin says winter/fall. And as the temperature here is languishing around 9 degrees outside a cold weather muffin is going to win. Period.

The competitors side by side.

If I had baked the Citrus Blueberry on a warmer day I have no doubt they would have placed better. The zing of orange/lemon and the brightness of the blueberry really works in this muffin.

Citrus Blueberry Muffins

INGREDIENTS

1 1/3 cups White Whole Wheat Flour

3/4 cups uncooked Oat Meal

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

1/4 cup Agave Syrup

1 Egg

3/4 cup Skim Milk

1 1/2 teaspoon Orange Extract

1/3 cup melted Butter

1/2 cup fresh Blueberries

2 tablespoons dried ground Lemon Peel

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare 10 medium muffin cups with baking spray.

2. In a large bowl mix the Flour, Oat Meal, Baking Powder and Sea Salt.

3. In a smaller bowl stir together the Agave Syrup, Egg, Milk, Orange Extract and melted Butter.

4. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

5. Add the Blueberries.

6. Divide evenly into the 10 muffin cups. Top with the dried Lemon Peel.

7. Bake for 15 minutes and remove from oven when muffins pass the toothpick test.

8. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes and enjoy.

The baked Citrus Blueberry muffins

Frankly I thought of the two recipes the Pumpkin Blueberry muffins would have come out on the denser/doughier side — because I put considerably more batter into each muffin cup — but I was mistaken. These little citrus fellows come in on moister/doughier side of the muffin spectrum — something to consider if one is planning to send them to far away friends.  Other than that they were quite nice. I’ll revisit this recipe again in the Spring.