Banana Nutella Peanut Butter Bombs

2020 UPDATE: This post has not been public for a very long time because Erica used to have a cupcake business but since she is no longer selling cupcakes and we are all baking loads more at home, I’ve decided to make it public again.

Life after the world cup is SLOWLY beginning to normalize. I am still scouring the net for photos and videos – I’ve to admit this high is slow to wane down! And I still get goosebumps when see all the happiness / joy of the Spanish and the La Roja fans.  But I no longer sleep at 5 am and today I got back to baking. This is my VERY FIRST attempt at baking cupcakes and boy was I glad I used Erica Paredes’ Recipe which I got from her Tumbler blog (sorry no longer exists)! It was seriously mind-blowing.

Adapted from Erica Paredes

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 large overripe bananas
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup salted butter (not melted)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• a dash or two of cinnamon
• 6 tsp Nutella or semi-sweet chocolate or dark chocolate compound
• Optional: 6 tsp creamy peanut butter

the better the quality of the chocolate = better taste

1. Preheat oven to 210 degrees Celsius (Erica’s recipe calls for 350 F but my oven doesn’t go that high)
2. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Mash bananas.
4. Combine the rest of the ingredients in another mixing bowl and mix on low speed.
5. Mix in the dry ingredients with the wet ones and mix for around 20 seconds on low speed.
6. Line muffin pans with cupcake liners and put a tbsp of batter in each cup.
7. Add half a tsp of Nutella/chocolate in the center.
8. Optional: Add half a tsp of peanut butter
9. Top off with 1 tbsp or so of bater until the liner is filled 3/4 of the way.
10. Pop in the oven for 15 minutes.
11. Toothpick comes out with some moist bits and that’s perfect for a super moist cupcake.

Dry ingredients

Left over batter – YUM!

Finally got to use my new silicone cupcake molds! Aren’t they so cute? The best thing about them is that they are reusable and better for the environment. It’s easy to clean: Just soak in soapy water for a few hours before washing them.

Topping with chocolate & peanut butter

Covered with more batter

After 15mins I was ecstatic to find them like this! Cupcake attempt #1 is a SUCCESS! WOOHOO!

Up close!

The choco-peanut butter center! This is going to be a regular recipe in this household. My hubby’s favorite dessert is simply banana bread, and this is like banana bread on steroids! The best compliment was when my hubby said: “This is like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup-cake!” That’s my favorite chocolate in the whole world! Thanks again Erica for sharing this wonderful recipe!

The thing with baking a dozen cupcakes is that there are only 2 of us at home and one can get fat fast with such yummy treats. So most of the time I end up giving them away to friends or my husband colleagues. (Happy to share the calories!) But I got 2 good tips for storing them.

TIPS FOR STORING

1. If you’re eating them within the next 2 or 3 days, just keep them in an airtight container at room temperature.
2. if you’re keeping them for longer, check out this tip on keeping cupcakes fresh from allthingscupcake.com.

More on my super cute silicone cupcake molds here.