Apple Lentil Muffins (Really!)

A week ago Sunday, as I thought about the week upcoming, I realized it was going to be pretty hectic with a couple big writing projects, days full of meetings and nights full of workouts. I needed to figure out some easy breakfasts, as I would surely be dining a-go-go a few days.  Some cooked lentils staring back at me in the fridge that had thawed out a few days before, a lone sweet potato, and a very ripe banana provided interesting inspiration. So, I did what any slightly bizarro health nut would do: I combined them all into muffins.

The first go round, I tried to almost completely replace the flour with ground up oats. And, while I had the right intentions with that first attempt, the end result was a little dry. Tasty, but kinda dry. So, I knew the second time around the whole wheat flour would need to come back into the picture, but what else to make them less dry?

And then it hit me. Not bananas. Apples! Apples are moist. Apples are delicious. Apples are the answer.

A few days went by. I had time to eat up all of the first round of muffins before I tried again. Happily, take two was a success!

So today, I present you with a moist and delicious nutrient-packed muffin. A muffin in which you can hide lentils and sweet potatoes, and people will just think you served them an apple muffin. Really! Don’t just take my word for it, try baking with lentils. You will be surprised at the results!

Apple Lentil Muffins

Downloadable Word Document Recipe

Time Required:

• 10 minutes to prepare batter
• 45 minutes to cook (for jumbo muffins)

Skill Level (out of 5): 

2Chili’s Taster Rating (out of 5): N/A

2Chili didn’t get to try these. I squirreled them away all for myself.

The Cook’s Taster Rating (out of 5): 

Makes: 6 jumbo or 12 regular muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (you could also add some ground nutmeg and ginger here – perhaps 1/4 teaspoon of each)
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup cooked lentils
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 peeled chopped apple
• 1 pureed apple with peel intact
• 1 cup nonfat milk

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• Add dry ingredients to a large bowl and combine
• Wash and chop sweet potato (with skin intact) and microwave in a small bowl in about a cup of water for 3 minutes
• Wash and chop two apples, separately. Put one apple with peel on into a food processor bowl, and add the other, peeled chopped apple to the dry ingredients.
• Add lentils, cooked sweet potato, and milk to the food processor along with the apple, and blend until well combined
• Mix wet ingredients with dry, being careful not to over-mix
• Fill prepared muffin tins and bake for 40-45 minutes for jumbo muffins or 20-25 minutes for regular, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean

Nutrition:

For jumbo muffins. Click to enlarge.