Banana Nutella Muffins

4.70 from 10 votes

Get ready for a taste bud party! These Banana Nutella Muffins bring together ripe bananas and gooey Nutella, creating a combo that's like a cozy hug for your palate. With their moist, bakery-style goodness, these muffins are basically a sweet little escape in every bite.

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Total Time40

Method: Baking

Course: Muffins

Servings: 12 Regular Size Muffins

Ingredients

Part 1:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Part 2:

1 and ¼ cup banana (about 3 medium size)
1 cup brown sugar
⅓ cup buttermilk
⅓ cup oil (any neutral flavor)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Part 3:

¾ cup chopped pecans (optional)
½ cup Nutella (or as needed)

Instructions

Preheat oven at 400F/200C for 15 minutes. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease it lightly with non-stick cooking spray.
In a medium bowl mix together the dry ingredients (listed in Part 1) and set aside.
In a large bowl stir together the rest of the ingredients listed under Part 2. Fold in the nuts too, if using.
Fill the prepared muffin cups with ⅓rd of a cup of batter for each muffin. Top each muffin with about ½ tablespoon of Nutella and swirl it with a toothpick.
Bake for 5 minutes and reduce the temperature to 375F/190C and bake for another 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove the pan and leave it on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes. Then remove the muffins from the pan and let it cool completely on the rack before storing it.

Notes

For the flour, you can either use 2 cups of all-purpose flour or both all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour equally. I have tried all the combinations and it's good either way. This batch with the entirety of whole wheat pastry flour had a nutty flavor. Yet to try this recipe with gluten-free baking mix. I'm assuming it should work. Will try that too in the future and update it here.
If you want to try my original version of this recipe you can use 1 cup of banana and ¼ cup of any nut/seed butter instead of the 1 and ¼ cups of mashed banana of this version.
I have tried this banana nutella muffins recipe both with buttermilk as an egg substitute as well as a combination of almond milk and apple cider vinegar (⅓rd cup of almond milk with 1 teaspoon of vinegar) which is the non-dairy substitute for buttermilk. The muffins have the same texture in both these variations. So feel free to use either depending on your preference and availability of ingredients.
My preferred choice of oil for baking is avocado oil. I buy it when it's on sale because it's quite expensive. When I'm out of avocado oil, I normally use sunflower oil. Any other oil that you usually use for baking should is fine.
I have baked these muffins with and without nuts and my personal favorite is with nuts. We love the crunch it gives to the muffins. So it's your choice. The nutritional information provided is for the version of muffins with the nuts. The caloric value and fat content will reduce if you omit the nuts. Also note that the nutritional information is just an approximation and will vary according to the ingredients you use.
Baking the muffins at two temperatures is the key to get that bakery-style dome. So do try it for unbelievable results.
If you bake this recipe into mini muffins you will get close to 32 mini muffins. The bake time will be just 10-12 minutes depending upon your oven. You can also bake it as a cake in a 13x9 inch pan for which the baking time will be around 30-35 minutes. I have not baked it as a cake yet. So it's just a guesstimate.

Nutrition