Nutella Crunch Muffins

After my olympic muffin “dupe” went viral, many of you begged for more muffin recipes! Sooo I present to you the Nutella crunch muffin! Pick up your jaw off the floor! You heard me correctly! When you bite into these soft, buttery muffins you will find treasure. Beautiful blobs of chocolate hazelnut spread, and the topping has the most pleasant crunch from hazelnuts, sugar, cocoa and mini chocolate chips. When I bit into the muffin all I could say is it tasted like Italy…like if you went to Firenze and licked the city this is what it would taste like. I can’t explain it, just try them and let me know if you agree. 

Ingredients-

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

1 +1/3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

3 large eggs

2 1/4 cups cake flour (NOT self-rising)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon fine table salt

3/4 cup sour cream

1/3 cup buttermilk

Nutella Spread (about 1 +1/4 cups)

Hazelnut Crunch Topping -

3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts (skinless)

3/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar

2 Tablespoons Dark Cocoa Powder

1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Dash of salt

3 Tablespoons of butter, melted

Garnish- Powdered sugar

Makes about 9 Jumbo muffins

Steps-

Preheat your oven to 400F.

1. Line Jumbo, 6 oz muffin cups with paper muffin liners. (Should make about 9 muffins)

2. Prepare the Hazelnut Crunch Topping by combining all of the ingredients in a bowl with a fork, tossing it all with the butter to coat. Set aside.

3. In the large bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and oil until light and creamy and the sugar begins to break down, about 3 minutes.  Add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat until combined.

4. Add the eggs one at a time and beat just until combined.

5. In a separate bowl whisk together the Cake flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder and Salt to ensure there are no lumps. 

6. On low speed, add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture in two installments, alternating with the sour cream. Beat just until combined and no flour streaks are visible. Next, beat in the buttermilk just until combined. Cover the batter and let it chill for at least 90 minutes or even overnight. The chilling/resting process helps the muffins rise better and the flavor to develop further.

7. Scoop the batter into the lined muffin cups 1/2 way up. Use a small cookie scoop or spoon to dollop 2 teaspoons of nutella on top of the batter in the center. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of batter over the nutella and then add another 2-3 teaspoons of nutella on top of that batter. Lastly, top the muffin off with a little more batter covering the nutella. You want the muffin liners to be fairly full. Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of the Hazelnut Crunch Topping on each muffin, starting around the perimeter first and then moving into the center. This helps with weight distribution and will help them rise better.

8. Place the muffins in the oven on the center rack on 400F for 5 minutes, then leave the muffins in the oven (dont open it) and lower the temperature to 325F for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. 

9. Dust the tops with powdered sugar and enjoy warm or room temperature! Store in a sealed container or wrapped in parchment and then aluminum foil for about 4 days.