Nutella Swirl Pumpkin Muffins Recipe

Halloween is only a week days away now, and with the countdown beginning I thought I had better post a few more pumpkin-based Halloween-themed recipes on this blog (this also happens to work as a great Thanksgiving recipe).

The first recipe is an adaptation of a classic banana muffin that substitutes cooked and mashed pumpkin for the banana (this is a substitution that really works — you could also substitute cooked and mashed orange sweet potato in this recipe). The addition of Nutella or other chocolate spread then makes it into something that the kids will really love.

These muffins are so good that once you prepare them, this is a recipe that you will be making all autumn long, and not just for Halloween. For the British readers, these also make a great treat for Bonfire Night.

I'm also providing a link to a French-inspired recipe for how you can prepare your own home-made nutella substitute.

Give these tasty muffins a try... you know you want to...

Nutella Swirl Pumpkin Muffins Recipe

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

250g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
150g golden caster sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
115g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
300g pumpkin flesh, steamed until tender and mashed until smooth
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp Nutella (or your own home-made chocolate and hazelnut spread), at room temperature (or use this )

Method:

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add the sugar and stir to combine. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, lightly beat together the eggs, butter and vanilla extract. Add the mashed pumpkin and stir well to combine.

Form a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the egg mixture, stirring thoroughly to combine with a fork, until the flour is moistened and the mixture looks like a lumpy paste (do not over-mix).

Line the wells of your muffin tin with paper cases (or liberally butter the moulds) then spoon in the butter, filling each one no more than half full. Lightly warm the nutella (or home-made chocolate spread) then for each muffin take a teaspoon and set in the centre of the muffin. Use a cocktail stirrer or a wooden skewer to swirl the nutella into the muffin batter (you want a swirl pattern, like making a marble cake) — take care not to turn the whole batter chocolatey.

Once all the muffins have been prepared, transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180ºC (350ºF) and bake for between 20 and 25 minutes, or until the muffins are cooked all the way through (a skewer inserted into the centre should emerge cleanly).

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes. Carefully turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes more. Serve warm, accompanied by tea or coffee.

As a thank-you for reading this Halloween-themed recipe (and hopefully preparing it!), I have teamed with the Celtnet Recipes website to give anyone who wants it a completely free eBook of Halloween recipes. Simply go to the download your free Halloween recipes eBook and grab your copy today, absolutely no strings attached.

UPDATE! My new recipes book eBook: Cupcakes, Muffins, Fairy Cakes and More — Baking Secrets has just been published in an edition for Amazon Kindle!

This recipe and over 360 other recipes for cupcakes, muffins and other small cakes can be found in this eBook.

The chapters in the book cover: Cupcakes (including: Vanilla and White Cupcakes; Chocolate and Dark Cupcakes); Microwave Cupcakes; Muffins (including: Refrigerator Muffins); Fairy Cakes and Butterfly Cakes; International Cupcakes; Cupcakes for Special Occasions; Icings and Frostings; Flour and Cake Mixes; Other Small Cakes; Historic Muffins and Cupcakes.

Not only do you get all the recipes, but there are over 50 illustrations throughout the book. You also get a history of cupcakes and muffins, showing how they evolved from British muffins and crumpets to become an American phenomenon.

Every classic and traditional cupcake and muffin style is dealt with in the book and you get over 60 recipes for different types of icings and frostings. The ebook is everything you need to successfully bake cupcakes and muffins. You also get a chapter covering different muffin and cupcake styles from across the globe. Get you copy today and help this blog and the Celtnet Recipes website keep going.