Tuesday Flashback: Cranberry Quinoa Muffins
Friends, I have failed you this week. I wanted to have a new recipe for you today. I have been working on one, but, it is not quite ready for prime time. It’s very close though, so hopefully next week.
In an attempt to bring you some slightly new content, I thought I’d share a flashback to days gone by that I doubt you’ve seen. A recipe from four (four!) years ago has been very popular lately because it was featured on Greatest (number 6 in the list).
Since most of you weren’t with me in the beginning of this blog, I figured the odds that you’ve seen this cranberry quinoa muffin are probably slim. This is a hearty muffin, and, is a great way to try quinoa if you never have!
This has been really popular on Pinterest. I love seeing what people pin from the site, as well as what they say below the pins. One Pinterest pinner suggested that these would be better with a little bit of orange zest, and I have to agree – I think they would. Add in a little if you are feeling adventurous!
Cranberry Quinoa Muffins
Time Required:
- 20 minutes to cook quinoa
- 10 minutes to mix batter
- 30-45 minutes to bake muffins, depending on size
Makes: 6 jumbo muffins or 12 regular muffins
Ingredients:
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 3 tablespoons light olive oil or other cooking oil
- 2 cups whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/3 cup honey (this is a reduced amount from the 3/4 cup brown sugar that is called for in the original recipe; if you have a big sweet tooth, you may need to up the sweetener)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Method:
- Cook quinoa according to package instructions
- When quinoa is cooked, preheat oven to 350 F
- Prepare a muffin tin with either nonstick spray or by rubbing the cups with a bit of oil and dusting with flour, tapping out the excess
- In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, dried cranberries, and 2 cups cooked quinoa; reserve any leftover quinoa for another use.
- In a small bowl, whisk together oil, milk, honey, egg, and vanilla. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and stir just until combined; divide batter among prepared muffin cups. (Don’t over-stir or they will be tough)
- Bake until toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes for regular muffins; 40-45 minutes for jumbo muffins
- Cool muffins in pan, 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 5 days.
Nutritional Info:
This is based on using skim milk as the liquid; Milk alternatives like almond or hemp will reduce the calories.
Jumbo muffins | Regular muffins |
