Nutella Banana Swirl Muffins

It’s been a while since I’ve consistently lost weight. I’ve been hovering around the 70 lbs. lost mark for about 3 months now, and while it’s great to know that I can maintain the loss, I really miss that loose clothes feeling. 🙂 I started a new weight training program last week, and it made me forget just how amazing weights can be. Currently, I’m working out 4 days a week straight, with 3 rest days, which is how the program is outlined. For those four days, my weight dropped a little, but once those rest days hit, the scale had a huge drop.

Five pounds lost!

I was completely shocked to see a number like that, and it’s super motivating to get back on track. My original goal was to hit Onederland (199 lbs.) by Halloween, but I’m not sure at this point if that’s possible. We shall see, though. Last Halloween, I hit 50 lbs. lost. How perfect would 100 lbs. lost be? (even though I’d probably gain 2 back testing out candy for Trick or Treaters).

Since I was getting back on track, I wanted to bake up something that would be a quick, easy snack to share with coworkers. These muffins were perfect. I subbed applesauce for oil (1:1), which substitutes perfectly in quick breads and muffins (you won’t miss it!), and omitted the pecans, since I’m probably the only southern gal who thinks pecans are gross. (Back story: I ate one too many rotten ones off my Memaw’s tree as a kid and now I can’t stand them!) These muffins were fluffy, flavorful and my coworkers didn’t even realize there was applesauce in them! 🙂 You don’t even need to fork out the mixer for this one….two bowls and a spoon will work just fine. I love recipes like that. 🙂

Nutella Banana Swirl Muffins
Source: mildly adapted from The Novice Chef

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 medium over-ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup unsweetened (no sugar added) applesauce
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• nutella

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until everything is well-mixed. Set this aside for later use.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the bananas, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Mix in the egg, applesauce and vanilla extract, and beat everything for about 2 minutes. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture, and slowly mix everything together until just mixed (don’t over-mix).
4. Scoop the muffin batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each liner 3/4 of the way full. Add 1 tsp. of nutella to the top of each muffin, and use a toothpick to swirl the nutella into the muffin batter.
5. Bake the muffins for 15-17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.