Banana Nutella Pumpkin Bread

We’ve spiced up our traditional banana bread recipe with the addition of pumpkin and Nutella. Making it perfect for the fall. Whether you enjoy it for breakfast or dessert {it would be fantastic with a Nutella glaze on top for a extra shot of Nutella goodness} it’s going to disappear quickly. It’s moist and full of flavor. You can find the recipe after the jump! I like to bake mine in mini silicone bundt pans but it’s perfect in mini loaf pans as well. If you don’t have either, no worries, you can use a traditional muffin pan and make muffins out of them!

Banana Nutella Pumpkin Bread
What you’ll need:
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter – softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 over ripe bananas – mashed
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons Nutella – divided
What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add sugar and butter to your mixing bowl. Mix together until light and creamy. Add: eggs, vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. Add mashed bananas and pumpkin puree. Mix until well combined.
2. Add flour, salt and baking soda to a bowl. Whisk together to combine. GRADUALLY add flour mixture to wet ingredients. Mix until well combined. Batter will be thick.
3. Spray your muffin pans {or loaf pans} with cooking spray.  Fill each 3/4 way full. Add 1/2 teaspoon Nutella to each. Using a toothpick, swirl Nutella through batter. Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes until bread passes the toothpick test.  http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/10/03/banana-nutella-pumpkin-bread/

Nutella-Zucchini Swirl Bread

I am never one to miss a great food holiday! This time it is National Zucchini Bread Day. I have always loved zucchini bread. It is the comfort food of my childhood and something I now make for my daughter. This time when we made it in honor of National Zucchini Bread Da,y I decided to add a delicious swirl of nutella. I mean, zucchini and chocolate are generally delicious together so why not take it straight over the top with nutella! To give it a try I whipped up my standard zucchini bread recipe and dolloped some nutella on top and swirled it into the batter with a knife. the result was a luscious bread with a chocolate hazelnut marble that was out of this world.
Nutella-Zucchini Swirl Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cup granuated sugar
2 cups freshly grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extra
1/3 cup Nutella
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease one 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl stir together eggs, oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla. Make sure it is fully combined.
4. Carefully pour flour mixture into egg mixture, stirring until completely combined.
5. Pour entire mixture into loaf pan. Dollop the Nutella on top and swirl it into the batter with a dull knife.
6. Bake the bread for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean and the top is set.
7. You will know when the bread or muffins are down when the centers are set and spring back when they are lightly touched.  http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/04/25/nutella-swirl-zucchini-bread-for-national-zucchini-bread-day/

Nutella Swirl Banana Bread

The very best kinds of friends are those who show up on your doorstep with loaves of banana bread swirled with Nutella, still warm from the oven. The one Charlie made for us was just like any walnut-studded banana bread, only he stopped halfway through pouring the batter and slapped on a layer of Nutella, then topped it with the rest of the batter and baked it. I love this kind of experimentation. Especially when it works. And particularly when I get to be on the receiving end.

Chocolate and banana are a classic pairing, so you can imagine how well chocolate and hazelnuts goes with banana bread.
You could really use any basic banana loaf recipe to make this – simply layer it with a thick swath of Nutella in the middle before you bake it, and expect it to take a few extra minutes in the oven. To make muffins, which is coming up immediately on my to-make list, divide the batter among 12 muffin tins that have been sprayed with non-stick spray or lined with paper liners, filling them about a third full. Top with a spoonful of Nutella, and cover with more batter. Bake at 400°F for 20-25 minutes, until golden and springy to the touch.

Nutella Swirl Banana Bread
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup plain low fat yogurt, low fat sour cream or buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour, or half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1/2 cup Nutella (or to taste)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8″x4″ or 9″x5″ loaf pan with non-stick spray.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until well combined – the mixture will have the consistency of wet sand. Add the banana, eggs, yogurt and vanilla and beat until well blended. Don’t worry about getting all the lumps of banana out.
Add the flour, baking soda and salt and gently stir with a spatula just until combined. If you are adding nuts or other optional ingredients, throw them in before the batter is completely blended.

Pour about half the batter into your prepared pan, top with spoonfuls of Nutella, spreading it gently over the batter (don’t worry about getting it even), and top with the remaining batter. Bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes, until the top is cracked and springy to the touch. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Makes 1 loaf.  http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2010/10/27/nutella-swirl-banana-bread/

Homemade Nutella

I love nutella straight from the jar and never think twice about buying it. But last winter the LA Times printed a recipe for homemade nutella and I was intrigued. Could something homemade mimic the real thing? The ingredients list is short and the instructions fairly simple so I decided to give it a try. The spread was somewhat more textured then the smooth cream of the store-bought version, but the taste was right on. Making it at home might not replace the ubiquitous grocery store spread but it’s an excellent alternative.

Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (Homemade Nutella)
adapted from the LA Times
2 cups raw hazelnuts
1/2 cup unsweetened good quality cocoa powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons hazelnut oil, more as needed
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the hazelnuts evenly over a cookie sheet and roast until they darken and become aromatic, about 10 minutes. Transfer the hazelnuts to a damp towel and rub to remove the skins.
2. In a food processor fitted with a blade, grind the hazelnuts to a smooth butter, scraping the sides as needed. About fine minutes.
3. Add the cocoa, sugar, vanilla, salt and oil to the food processor and continue to process until well blended, about 1 minute. The finished spread should have the consistency of creamy peanut butter; if it is too dry, process in a little extra hazelnut oil until the desired consistency is achieved. Remove to a container, cover and refrigerate until needed. Allow the spread to come to room temperature before using, as it thickens considerably when refrigerated. It will keep for at least a week.  http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2010/11/01/real-food-fast-homemade-nutella/#

Daring Doughnuts.

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

You might as well just declare October 2010 the month of doughnuts. Between my birthday, Lara Ferroni and The Daring Bakers, it’s doughnut central here.
Not that I’m complaining, mind you.
I’m especially not complaining about the amazing challenge that Lori put before us. Between birthday celebrations and family stuff, I only got to try one recipe but it was the one that I most wanted to try: Bomboloni.
Bomboloni are basically the Italian version of doughnut holes. They’re rolled in sugar and often filled with a pastry cream, or other delicious filling like jam or chocolate.

Almost as soon as the bomboloni were fried I was pumping them full of Nutella like you wouldn’t believe.
Not only were these doughnuts plump, soft and tasty, they were filled with Nutella.
What more do you want?! 

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

You might as well just declare October 2010 the month of doughnuts. Between my birthday, Lara Ferroni and The Daring Bakers, it’s doughnut central here.
Not that I’m complaining, mind you.
I’m especially not complaining about the amazing challenge that Lori put before us. Between birthday celebrations and family stuff, I only got to try one recipe but it was the one that I most wanted to try: Bomboloni.
Bomboloni are basically the Italian version of doughnut holes. They’re rolled in sugar and often filled with a pastry cream, or other delicious filling like jam or chocolate.

Almost as soon as the bomboloni were fried I was pumping them full of Nutella like you wouldn’t believe.
Not only were these doughnuts plump, soft and tasty, they were filled with Nutella.
What more do you want?!