BOO!

Teddy the Friendly Ghost

Unfortunately, he looks a bit like Teddy the Unfriendly Klan Wizard. He must have known this. Here he seems to be thinking, "If I just keep my eyes closed this will all go away."

Shortly before "kitty torture" we made Halloween cupcakes. These are Nutella Swirl Cupcakes. This recipes got it's start in Donna Hay, using peanut butter. Then, blogger, Nicole Weston tweaked the recipe and substituted Nutella. The recipe quickly made the rounds, appearing on numerous blogs, forgetting poor Donna altogether. And even forgetting Nic, who now blogs at Baking Bites.


We tried the original recipe, easily identifiable because it calls for 10 tbsp. of butter, but thought it a bit dry. We also wanted a larger batch, so we tweaked the recipe and here it is:

Nutella Swirl Cupcakes, with a Halloween Twist

3 sticks of butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups AP flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 small jar of Nutella

Halloween Twist
1 ounce yellow food coloring
1 ounce red food coloring


Preheat the oven to 325F.

Line 24 standard muffin tins with cupcake papers

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, 2-3 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating fully

Add vanilla

HALLOWEEN TWIST: Add the food coloring until you have a lovely orange

Add the salt and baking powder to the flour and whisk together to incorporate, then add flour mixture to batter.

Using a small ice cream scoop, add a scoop of batter to each of the lined tins, filling about 3/4 of the way

Add a teaspoon of Nutella to the batter and swirl with a toothpick

Bake for 20 minutes

Cool on a wire rack

This is a thick batter to hold up to the addition of the Nutella(or peanut butter), so it will dry out rather fast. It will take 20 minutes to cook the cupcakes, but don"t be tempted to leave them in any longer than that. Swirling the thick batter and the Nutella with a toothpick is easier said than done, so don't be alarmed if it doesn't work like a charm on your first try.

Have a Spooktacular Halloween.