Nutella, who can resist?

If you like to cook as I do, you probably have a file with recipes you intend to make "one day."  I printed one a while ago called Self-Frosting Nutella Cupcakes which originated from a site called bakingbites.com.  It caught my eye for all three parts  - self-frosting, Nutella, and cupcakes.  How fun!

Today I pulled the recipe out and lightened it to better fit my healthy eating plan.  Ever the Weight Watcher, I continually look for ways to lower the calories.  In this recipe, I substituted Splenda for some of the sugar.  If you prefer not to, just use 3/4 cup sugar.

I call these "muffins" because of the denser texture than cupcakes usually have.  Who cares what they're called as long as they taste good.  Please give them a try.

 Nutella Muffins

1/3 cup nonfat milk
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup Splenda
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup fat free egg substitute
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Place paper cupcake liners in 12-cup cupcake pan.  Lightly coat papers with nonstick spray.  Set pan aside.

In a cup, combine milk with vinegar and let sit for a few minutes.  If you have buttermilk on hand, you can use 1/3 cup and skip this step.

In medium mixing bowl, beat butter with Splenda and sugar until well combined.  Beat in applesauce, milk/vinegar mixture, egg substitute, and vanilla.  Mixture will be lumpy.  Add flour, baking powder, and salt, and beat until just combined.

Fill prepared muffin cups evenly with batter, each about 3/4 full.  Measure Nutella into a glass cup and microwave at half power for 30 seconds or until softened.  Top each muffin with one teaspoon Nutella.  Use a sharp knife to swirl Nutella into batter, allowing some batter to cover the Nutella as shown here.

                                                                                     
Bake 18 minutes, until muffins spring back when lightly touched.  Remove muffins from pan to cool on wire rack.  Makes 12 muffins.