Vanilla Muffins with Dark Chocolate and Hazelnuts
These simple, yet delicious vanilla muffins are topped with brown sugar, nuggets of dark chocolate and chopped hazelnuts. The recipe can be adapted for gluten free, all-purpose (plain) or spelt flour. The topping can also be switched up to use any kind of chocolate or nuts.
You know what? I love muffins. Actually, didn’t I start my last blog post saying I love meringue? Maybe. You know what though? I love lots of things. Mostly chocolate, sugar, butter, cheese, and well, yes, you get the picture.
In all honesty, there’s not a lot not to love about these muffins. They are quick and easy to make and the dark chocolate and hazelnut topping elevates them to the something special category.
Use gluten free, all-purpose or spelt flour
These vanilla muffins first appeared on my old blog, The Culinary Jumble. They were originally made with gluten free flour, but the recipe has now been adapted to include spelt and all-purpose flour.
The original recipe was gluten free because the store bought blend I use is brilliant (if you’re in Scandinavia, I can’t recommend Sempre’s Finmix highly enough). I throw it in any cake and it performs as regular flour would. Gone are the days when gluten free cake was low grade quality and in some cases, downright disgusting.
However, although I do still sometimes make my bakes gluten free, spelt flour is the new king in town. If you don’t have access to gluten free or spelt flour, then good old all-purpose (or plain flour as we call it in the UK) can easily be used in their place.
Dark chocolate and hazelnut topping
These little beauties have a delicious sprinkling of dark chocolate and chopped hazelnuts. The topping is not quite streusel (as there is no flour), but it’s not far off. The nibs of dark chocolate and the crunchy nuts complement the soft vanilla cakes so well.
You could top these muffins with any kind of chocolate or nuts. Although I love the brown sugar that melts when baked, you could use white sugar if you preferred.
Other simple muffin recipes:
There’s nothing better than a delicious muffin to accompany your coffee, so check out my other super easy muffin recipes, which are a mix of healthy and decadent. Just how life should be:
- Triple chocolate spelt kladdkaka muffins
- Brown sugar blueberry muffins
- Whole orange and raisin spelt muffins
- Spelt doughnut muffins with raspberry jam
- Chocolate spelt muffins with white chocolate chunks
- Cinnamon spelt muffins
Or you might like to watch how I make my healthier wholemeal spelt strawberry muffins:
Vanilla Muffins with a Dark Chocolate and Hazelnut Topping
Ingredients
Topping:
- 1 tsp butter (melted)
- 20g (¾ oz) dark chocolate (chopped into small bits)
- 20g (2 tbs) hazelnuts (chopped into small bits)
- 1 tbs brown sugar
Muffins:
- 60g (¼ cup) butter (melted)
- 100g (½ cup) brown sugar
- 1 egg (large)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 150ml (⅔ cup) milk
- 150g (1¼ cups) flour (see note 1)
- 1¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
Instructions
Topping:
- Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC (400ºF) and prepare a muffin tin.
- Melt the butter for the topping and set to one side for a while.
- Chop the chocolate and hazelnuts into small pieces. Alternatively, if you would like a finer topping, give them a whizz with a food processor.
- Add the chocolate and hazelnut mixture to the melted butter along with the sugar. Stir to combine. Set to one side.
Muffins:
- Melt the butter and allow to cool for a short while.
- In a bowl or stand mixer, add the butter along with the sugar, and work for a minute or two.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract, and continue to work for a further minute.
- Add the milk and give it a quick mix, just to ensure everything is evenly combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and on the lowest speed, work until everything is mixed together.
- Pour into ten cupcake or muffin holes almost to the very top.
- Sprinkle over the topping and bake for around 15-17 minutes (depending on how large your muffin cases are).
- Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a while, then enjoy while still warm!
Notes
- The muffins were originally made with a a gluten free blend. However, you could easily use all-purpose or spelt flour instead. Just use the same amount as stated.