Quinoa Boosted Breakfast Muffins

by glamorousgreens

I love oatmeal. I eat oatmeal every morning of everyday. I actually get excited at night because I know when I wake up in the morning I get to have oatmeal. Some people don’t exactly share my enthusiasm for the deliciously mushy morning goodness. Take for instance, the boyfriend. I wouldn’t say he loathes it but he won’t be singing its praises anytime soon. So in an attepmt to mix up his breakfast spread I came upon these yummy muffins. I like to say they’re quinoa “boosted” because quinoa has only a supporting role in these complete carbohydrate energy bombs. The ones I made have apples and pecans in them but you can really substitute that combo for any fruit and nut you’d like. Same goes for the flour. I used 3/4 a cup whole wheat and 1/4 a cup hazelnut. You can do that same split with a different flour or you can use the same flour for the whole sha-bang. Now get ready for a spring in your step.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup hazelnut flour
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 Tsp baking powder
1 pinch of nutmeg
1/2 Tsp salt
2 Tsp cinnamon
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 Tbs ground flax seed
3 Tbs water
2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 Tsp maple syrup
1 cup chopped apple
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Yielded about 12 small muffins or 8 heaping ones.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prep muffin pan with muffin papers or spray with light oil mist if it’s not a non-stick pan. Mix together your flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pinch of nutmeg. In another bowl mix together applesauce, ground flax, water, almond milk and maple syrup. Add the quinoa into the dry ingredients and then mix the wet ingredients into that. Lastly, fold in your apple and pecan pieces.

Fill each muffin about halfway for the mini guys and all the way to the rim for the big puffers. These breakfast bad boys only have to cook for 18-20 minutes at 400 degrees. Check them with a toothpick to see if they’re done and then allow them to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before you transfer them to a cooling rack.

If you’re like me and you can’t wait until morning to feast on one of these muffins there’s no shame in enjoying one for an afternoon snack. They are full of healthy energizing carbohydrates and just enough sweetness to make it seem like a little midday treat. They may even give my precious oatmeal a run for its money.