So about a month or so ago, we discovered that H will eat anything if it’s in a mini muffin. My extremely fickle toddler is obsessed with minis (regular size just doesn’t quite cut it), and we’ve been using this discovery to get more fruits and veggies in her belly. Her feeding therapist fully supports these sneaky strategies, and so far it’s working.

This recipe, though? This was next-level amazing. She loves Nutella and basically considers it a food group. Combine that with oats (she’d never touch them otherwise) and bananas (she has a love/hate relationship with them), and these had her bouncing with excitement. While the first batch was baking she got a plate for herself and left it right next to the oven, so I wouldn’t forget to load it with minis.

This recipe, from Chef-in-training, makes 12 regular muffins, or in our case 48 minis. Also, the original recipe calls for oil instead of butter, and when it comes to baking I am firmly #teambutter. So I substituted an equal amount of melted butter, and they were grand. Swirling the Nutella into them was the most time consuming part, but so very worth it.

Nutella Banana Oat Muffins (adapted from this Chef-in-Training recipe)
Makes: 48 mini muffins

2 cups flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
¼ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
½ cup milk
¼ cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 bananas, mashed
Nutella

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine flour, oats, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Stir until ingredients are well combined, preferably using small hands as mixers.

In a large bowl, beat the egg. Add milk, butter, vanilla and mashed bananas and stir.

Add flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir until ingredients are just incorporated.

Spray one or two mini muffin pans (with 24 spaces) with nonstick spray. I only have one mini pan, so I baked off a batch, cleaned and repeated the process with the same pan.

Divide batter evenly to get 48 mini muffins.

Add 1/4 tsp of Nutella to the top of each muffin.

Gently cut Nutella into batter with a knife or toothpick to produce swirls.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (mine were perfect at 12 minutes). Let them cool for a couple of minutes and then gently pry them out and let them cool on a paper towel or rack.

ZOMG.