Skinny Quinoa Muffins 3 Ways Food

QUINOA MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• In a medium saucepan, bring quinoa and 1 cup water to a boil.
• Reduce to a simmer; cover, and cook until water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender, 11 to 13 minutes.
• Meanwhile, brush a standard 12-cup muffin pan with oil; dust with flour, tapping out excess.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, raisins, and 2 cups cooked quinoa; reserve any leftover quinoa for another use.
• In a small bowl, whisk together oil, milk, egg, and vanilla.
• Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and stir just until combined; divide batter among prepared muffin cups.
• Bake until toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Cool muffins in pan, 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container up to 5 days.

QUINOA BANANA MUFFINS

Steps:

• Rinse quinoa thoroughly under running water using a fine mesh strainer. Put the rinsed quinoa in a pot and add 2 cups water. Bring up to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for 15 minutes then remove lid and fluff with a fork. Set aside to cool off.
• Mix together the flours, maple sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Stir in 2 cups of the cooked quinoa (reserve the rest to eat another day) and set the bowl of dry ingredients aside. In another bowl, combine the ground flaxseed with the 3 remaining tablespoons of water. Whisk together and let it rest for 5 minutes. The flax and water mixture will become gooey. Add in the almond milk, vanilla, and coconut oil. You may need to warm the coconut oil to liquefy it before mixing it inches Whisk the wet ingredients together, then pour into the dry ingredients all at once. Mix until all the ingredients are just combined.
• Spoon out half of the batter into a muffin tin. Use muffin cups if you're pan is prone to sticking. Peel the bananas and cut into 1-inch pieces. Place one piece of banana in the center of each muffin then cover with the rest of the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top for extra flavor (optional).
• Tip 1: You can find granulated maple sugar at the health food store. If you can't find it, try another substitute such as coconut nectar or just regular brown sugar. Tip 2: If you're wondering about the ground flaxseed and water mixture, it's a vegan substitute for an egg. It works great to gel things together! You can also find ground flaxseed at your local health food store.

CHRISTMAS QUINOA MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Add cane sugar to chopped cranberries ( I find chopping frozen cranberries much easier).
• Mix first 6 dry ingredients together.
• In a separate bowl whisk remaining wet ingredients (yogurt, milk, egg, vanilla and oil) together.
• Fold wet ingredients into dry until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Fold in sugared cranberries and pumpkin seeds
• Line muffin tins with parchment cups or grease with oil of choice. I used parchment.
• Use regular size ice cream scoop to fill muffin cups.
• Bake for 30 -40 minutes until tops are brown and toothpick comes out clean. Toothpick will come out clean after 20 minutes but its worth waiting until muffins actually brown on top for better texture.
• Notes: Batter is fairly dense. Adjust with milk to your liking. Muffins are minimally sweet so adjust sugar as well. I love a just slightly sweet muffin and you can't beat fresh cranberries. Enjoy!
• As with all healthier muffins these stay/store best in freezer in a ziploc freezer bag once they've completely cooled. Perfect defrosted in microwave at power level 3 for 1 min (flipping it at 30 seconds).