Friday 18 May 2012

My Nutella frosted Banana Choc-Chip Muffins with Almonds

Okay, so these are old photos, but after watching a fortnight's worth of Masterchef Australia and working a five hour shift in a gourmet grocery store full of delicious goodies, I'm in a baked goods kind of mood. And I may or may not have just polished off a caramel macaroon all to myself. Mmm, so good...

WARNING: If you're in the mood for dessert and have a bit of a sweet tooth (I know I do), these muffins I made may make you salivate all over your computer keyboard. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I hereby present the muffins with longest name ever...

Nutella frosted Banana Choc-Chip Muffins with Almonds.

Please refrain from licking your computer screen.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I will mention that I cheated a bit in making these. Cheated in the sense that I made them from a box. Like, boxed muffin mix.

OKAY, I KNOW I'M A FRAUD!

But really, we all know that some of the best things in life have just been copied and pasted with a handful of alterations. So I thank you, Betty Crocker, for providing a great muffin base that I changed around to make what I think might be even nicer than the original plain 'ol choc-chip muffins (though I admit, choc-chip is pretty hard to beat).

The muffin mix I used was Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Muffins - 97% fat free in this case, but it won't make a difference because the Nutella will make up for it! I prepared the mix as per the instructions (I guess you'll need to buy the mix yourself to understand what I'm on about!) then added two or three super-ripe mashed up bananas. 

It's so much more fun to experiment when you're cooking, because if you make a mess/burn it/undercook it/whip cream so much it accidentally turns to butter (all of which I am guilty of at some point or another), you can just start again! 

And I always seem to be mishmashing recipes around and making stuff up; I'm the sort of person who likes to meticuloisly plan things, but go figure because I'm much more spontaneous in the kitchen (okay, okay, enough with the 1950s housewife jokes please). Sometimes messing around with something good just makes it even better.

Once I decided to add pink food dye and pretty much an entire packet of rainbow sprinkles into a batch of cupcake batter, and the results were so colourful it looked like a fairy had exploded in it. In a good - and dangerously delicious - way.

Anyway, once the muffins were ready, all it took to make them look super yummy were some generous lashings of Nutella (and I mean generous), and garnish them with chopped almonds. 

Here are some I prepared earlier - I've always wanted to say that.
Next time I think I'll toast the almonds, just to make them crunchy but they were still nice; my mum (below) obviously thought so! 

#loveyoumum
What recipes have you experimented with that ended up making the dish even better?
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14 comments

  1. looks delicious !! not good when ur on a diet !! keep blogging :) xx

    http://betty-freestylescraps.blogspot.co.uk/

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    Replies
    1. Thanks honey! Yes, they're definitely a bit of a treat! :)
      xx

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  2. I always bake from the box. and call it my own. nothing wrong with that. heh.

    -kim
    found the route

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    Replies
    1. Good on you! What they don't know won't hurt them after all... ;)
      xx

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  3. I used to always bake from the boxes until I met my boyfriend. Every time I say I'm going to bake something, he brings over his pans and all sorts of ingredients to bake the cake because his family has baked their own cakes for generations so he doesn't like baking from boxes.
    It's always fun baking with another person!

    ps - nutella as icing?! genius!

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    Replies
    1. It's so easy to bake from the box though! Wow, you're so lucky that's he's so talented in the kitchen :)

      xx

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  4. Hi love, thanks for visiting my blog. I followed you back by the way :D

    http://dear-diary.dawnelia.com/

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  5. Your blog is so lovely!! Thanks so much for stopping by mine, i am off the raid the kitchen cupboards…your nutella cupcakes have made me far too hungry!!!!!\


    Have a lovely weekend xxxx

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    1. Aww thank you sweetie! I know the feeling - it's nearly four o'clock in the afternoon where I live and that means it's afternoon tea time! :) xx

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  6. love the presentation of the cupcakes!! lol i'm too lazy to make cupcakes so i usually just go out to a cafe and buy them but i'm sure the hardwork pays off looking at all those cute little cupcakes :P

    -Joyce
    carouselstreet.com

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    Replies
    1. Aww thank you :) I agree, cafe cakes always look so yummy. If you live near a The Cupcake Bakery store, do try their red velvet - amazing!! xx

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  7. omgosh those look so yummy! ah you're not a fraud...cause that'd mean i am one too HAHAHA ;P they look good and i'm sure they tasted good -- and that's all that counts for now! hhohoho! the banana on top looks good too!

    this sounds awful, but i haven't really experimented or cooked anything. haha :x

    alex @ carouselstreet.com

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your sweet comment Alex! Haha we're the same then! It's just so easy to hide the cupcake mix packaging before anyone sees! ;) cheeky haha xx

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  8. Yummy, those look absolutely delicious and make me want them so badly, too bad I am on diet right now. I really like your writing style Jess and your blog is lovely, glad you stopped by :-). Iam looking for more yummy recipes :-)
    Thank you for your lovely comment :-)

    Greetings from Germany
    Ani

    www.fleurani.blogspot.de

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Thank you for all of your lovely comments, I love reading them <3 Make sure to leave a link to your blog so I can come say hi! Otherwise look out for a reply on the post :) Love xx

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