Carob Hazelnut Muffins

I used enjoy stuff like Nutella and chocolate spreads, but when following a sugar & dairy free diet - such spreads are out of bounds. So I was extremely happy when I discovered the Biona carob hazelnut spread, which is a great sugar and dairy free alternative to Nutella. Its great on toast, but I often just eat it straight from the jar.

So when I saw Jo Wheatley's Nutella muffin recipe, it sounded great and I knew I would be able to adapt it to be Gluten, Dairy & Refined Sugar free. They are at the best almost straight out of the oven, just cooled enough to enjoy. The original recipe can be found on Jo's Blue Aga Blog.

Muffins
300g self raising gluten free flour
100g Xylitol
1 tsp gluten free baking powder
2 eggs
250ml unsweetened soya milk
85g soya spread
200g Biona carob hazelnut spread (I got mine from Wholefood Market)
60g chopped hazelnuts (you can buy them pre-chopped from Tesco's)
12 squares xylitol dark chocolate

Toppings
45g xylitol
30g chopped hazelnuts

Method
Heat oven to 170c, put the muffin cases in the muffin tray

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together.

Put all the wet ingredients into a blender / mixer and blitz for 30 seconds.

Then add the dry ingredients to the blender/mixer and mix until everything is evenly incorporated.

Pour evenly between the 12 muffin cases (I use a ice cream scoop to help divide the mixture evenly). Put a square of chocolate into each one.

Mix the topping together and sprinkle over the top of each muffin.

Bake for 25 minutes.