Inspired by Nicky’s post on Delicious Days, and a jar of Nutella that the hubby brought home from Germany, I concocted this recipe using lessons I’ve learned from two sources: The Best Recipe and Laurel’s Kitchen:

The basic idea is to lower fat content by using half-butter-half-oil; wheat germ and wheat bran was added for more fiber; kefir, instead of yogurt was used, for the added health benefits (though yogurt is already quite the powerhouse in this respect). Here’s more information on kefir:

• From Kefir.net
• From Helios Nutrition
• From Lifeway, whose kefir I used in this recipe

My main challenge, again, was my dead oven; since I couldn’t use my regular muffin pans (they don’t fit in the toaster oven), I simply doubled the muffin liners, and fit them snugly in the toaster oven’s baking sheet — I came up with 12 muffins, albeit square-shaped. Of course, they’re not as pretty as I would have liked, but they’re pillowy soft and chocolatey sweet and just overall yummy.

Interestingly, my 6-yo who’s allergic to nuts didn’t like this at all when he saw it, which is just as well. He had cereal instead for breakfast. I’d feel sorry for him, except that he’s very happy I didn’t force him to eat these:D.

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 cup wheat bran
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
5 tablespoons safflower oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Nutella
2 large very ripe bananas, or 3 small, mashed
2 large eggs
1 cup kefir (I used strawberry-flavored)
More Nutella for topping if desired

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk together flour, wheat germ, wheat bran, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients, except kefir, until smooth. Stir in dry ingredients into liquid ingredients, alternating with kefir, in two batches. Divide batter evenly among 12 muffin tins (or in my case, muffin paper liners). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

PS Now I’m wishing I got those muffin papers at Reading Terminal Market — I’d been looking for them forever and when I found them I decided I could just go back there anytime I needed them. Now I do and they’re 2 hours away:(.

PPS I just spent the last 30 minutes Googling. They can be ordered from lacuisineus.com, $6 for 25; pricey, but perfect for holiday gift-giving, and making everyday breakfasts special. Other places carry them but they’re either commercial stores (you need to order in BULK) or they only offer the other sizes/shapes. It’s also very difficult to find them online as they’re called different names: baking papers, muffin papers, disposable paper molds, ovenable baking molds, panettone molds, italian baking papers, professional muffin cups, silicon/e baking cups, bakery papers, straight-walled baking cups, and all the other permutations you can possibly think of….ARGH. I also happened on some controversy regarding the use of silicon in baking papers — yes, there’s the silicone baking pans and all, and then there’s the SILICONE-TREATED baking papers — but I’m too tired to dig deeper. Perhaps another day.