Sweet cinnamon muffins filled with rich sugar free chocolate hazelnut spread. A truly indulgent low carb breakfast.
“Nutella-stuffed”. Don’t the words just send a shiver of delight up your spine? Or maybe they don’t. Maybe they make you back away in horror, thinking of all the carbs and how it’s going to throw your diet and send your blood glucose into the stratosphere. Maybe you cover your ears and close your eyes and sing La-La-La-La, hoping to drown out the sirens’ song of sweet indulgence. You just keep hoping that whoever is pushing this sugar-laden treat in your direction will simply go away.
Well I won’t. I won’t go away. You’re stuck with me. Thankfully, my version of nutella-stuffed anything is neither going to blow your diet nor send you into a diabetic coma. I wouldn’t do such a thing; how could you possibly think it of me? I will, however, use my nutella-stuffed goodness to lure you out of your corner and into the kitchen. Because these are worth getting off your duff, getting out your food processor or magic bullet, and making yourself some low carb chocolate hazelnut spread. And then getting out your muffin pan to stuff some muffins with your homemade healthy nutella.
The inspiration for these came from my Facebook followers. I’d made a large batch of nutella for a homemade nut-butter tutorial on The Kitchenthusiast (KitchenAid’s blog) and I was casting around for ways to use it up. A Facebook fan said I should make nutella stuffed muffins and I instantly knew I had to create such a thing. A little additional research led me to these beauties from CenterCutCook, which I used as my model. Obviously I had to ditch the wheat and the sugar and make them over completely, but the idea is similar.
You may notice that my nutella is very dark in colour this time, and it’s because I used Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder. I am not sure if this was a fail or a victory. A little of both, I think. I decided it was too dark in colour to showcase on the KitchenAid blog, but it lead me to change up the recipe a bit in a way that I think enhanced it. The dark cocoa powder thickened the chocolate hazelnut spread a lot more than regular cocoa powder and so I needed to thin it out a bit. Instead of adding additional hazelnut oil, I added in some heavy cream. I found that the cream made it slightly lighter in flavour and more like real nutella (which contains milk). I think I will put cream in my hazelnut spread from now on, no matter what kind of cocoa powder I use.
- 1 cup hazelnuts toasted and husked
- 3 tbsp hazelnut oil (can use other vegetable or nut oils)
- 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream (or more for a thinner consistency)
- 1/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups almond flour
- 1/3 cup vanilla whey protein powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup Kelapo coconut oil (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 3 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp liquid stevia extract
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- Approx 12 tbsp homemade sugar-free Nutella (you will have leftover Nutella)
- 1 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp butter melted
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Grind hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground and beginning to clump together. Add oil and continue to process until well combined, scraping down sides of processor with a rubber spatula as needed.
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Add cocoa powder, whipping cream, sweetener and vanilla and process until smooth and creamy. If it is too thick, add additional oil or cream until desired consistency is achieved.
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Preheat oven to 325F and line a standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners (I recommend parchment liners).
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In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, and salt.
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In a large bowl, beat coconut oil or butter with sweetener until smooth.
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Beat in eggs, vanilla and stevia, then in almond flour mixture in two additions, alternating with almond milk.
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Divide about half the batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. With the back of a spoon, make a well in the center of each.
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Spoon about 1 tbsp of sugar-free nutella into each well. Top with remaining muffin batter.
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Bake 20 to 22 minutes, or until set and lightly browned on top.
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In a small bowl, whisk together sweetener and cinnamon. Brush the tops of hot muffins with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon "sugar".
Serves 12. Each serving has 8 g of carbs and 4 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 4 g.
310 Calories; 29g Fat (77.5% calories from fat); 10g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 63mg Cholesterol; 165mg Sodium.
Becca from It's Yummi! says
I’d succumbed to the fact that Nutella is evil, and look what you did! You’re my low-carb culinary genius, Carolyn!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Becca!
mekaylah says
Have you tried Penzey’s full fat or dutched cocoa? (Not to mention any of their extracts or cinnamons, but i digress) I feel as if I can not use anything else that requires baking cocoa. I find that it is almost like hot sauce for me now. I find a way to put it on everything! This looks awesome and I definitely need these in my life soon!
Carolyn says
I haven’t tried Penzey’s but I got a gift cert from Christmas so now I am going to! Thanks for the tip…
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
This may be the best muffin I have ever seen. Pinning!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Jocelyn!
carol says
I must agree that Penzey’s cocoa is hands down, the best anywhere (as is their cinnamon)
Carolyn says
Thanks! I love penzey’s. Garam masala is on my list too…and their Hot Curry Powder is da bomb.
Angela from Ontario says
Got any tips on husking hazelnuts???? I only have the ones with the husk.
Carolyn says
Yes! Toast them for about 8 to 10 minutes at 350F and then when they come out of the oven, let them cool for 5 to 10. All you need to do after that is roll them between your fingers and most of the husks fall off easily. Some are stubborn but don’t worry if you have a few unhusked nuts, it all grinds up just fine.
Rebecca says
I stuffed these with your biscoff Cookies dough instead of the nutella and they were very good
Jos says
What’s your Blendtec capacity? I have 9 cup Cuisinart food processor, would it be way too big to make this recipe?
Carolyn says
Yes it would be. You want the little blender jar that comes with a Blendtec…can’t remember exactly what it’s called but it doesn’t hold more than a few cups. Twister jar, I think it’s called?
Shannan says
No fail every time. I want readers to know that Carolyn’s recipes are no-fail. I use them when I’m serving a crowd, needing a recipe for product reviewing and testing of kitchen ware (because I need a fail- proof recipe to show adequate use), and for treating my family to a tasty treat. These muffins are one of my favorites. I may have already posted my comment on these, but dang…so good again. They are easier than you think and totally quick- if you make Nutella the day ahead. I used my Vitamix to make the hazelnut spread. I do exactly as the recipe says. No exchanges, replacements, or adaptations in regard to ingredients. If you value consistency (or happen to be type A), a medium cookie scoop of muffin batter, a small cookie scoop of hazelnut spread, topped with a medium cookie scoop of muffin batter, will make them perfect. My “scoops” are years old Pampered Chef scoops (so you understand my “scoop”-talk), but there are many brands that offer the same thing. I’m in no way affiliated with any company I’ve mentioned, it’s just what I have on hand, and I wanted to be clear about what I am communicating. So, get to it! These muffins will NOT let you down!