Carrot Quinoa Muffins

The other day before work, I picked up a quinoa muffin from Grand Central Station. It looked dry but figured I would give it a shot. It was like tasting a cotton ball.

I decided to try to make my own quinoa muffins, but make them super-moist and satisfying. If you add the right ingredients, your healthy muffins can be just as sweet and delicious as many of the less nutritious muffins out there. Make sure you cook the quinoa until it’s tender because no one wants to bite into a crunchy muffin! Look on your package of quinoa to see if you need to rinse it. I did rinse my quinoa with a colander and a paper towel,  but an easier method would be to use a fine mesh sieve. I read that by rinsing the quinoa, it can help take away some of the bitterness.

These muffins came out moist, with an earthy carrot taste. I don’t like to add raw carrots to the batter because I find them to be too raw and crunchy when eating the muffins. The carrot puree adds moisture and gives the muffins a nice, even texture.

Allison Topilow, MS, RD, CDN, Nutrition Consultant,  loves these muffins because they provide fiber, antioxidants, healthful fats, and protein.  Great for breakfast or an afternoon pick me-up!  Pair with a cup of low-fat milk or plain low-fat yogurt and fresh fruit depending on your hunger level.  Make a double batch and freeze some for when you are in a hurry!

Kid Friendly Tips: Have your child help rinse the quinoa. Kids can help puree the carrots and add the ingredients to the food processor. My kids love to press the pulse button on the food processor, with supervision of course. 🙂 Have them add some of their own spices into the batter, such as ground ginger or ground nutmeg.

Carryover Book:  The Carrot Seed

Ingredients:
1 cup of pureed carrots
1 cup of rinsed and cooked quinoa
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
2 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 tsp of ground all spice
2 tablespoons of wheat germ
3 eggs
1/4 cup of canola oil
1/3 cup of applesauce
1 tsp of vanilla

1. Steam carrots and puree in a food processor.

2. Rinse and then cook quinoa by following directions on the back of the package (I used 1/2 cup of uncooked quinoa and 3/4 cup of water).

3. Add quinoa through maple syrup to the food processor with the pureed carrots. Pulse until combined.

4. In another bowl whisk dry ingredients (flour through wheat germ)

5. In another bowl combine eggs through vanilla. Add wet ingredients (egg mixture) to carrot mixture. Pulse.

6. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients into moistened.

7. Let batter sit for about 20 minutes on the counter.

8. Add batter to greased muffin tins. Bake at 375 for about 10-12 minutes or until done.

9. Yields 12 muffins.

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Becca Eisenberg is a certified speech language pathologist and mom of two.Through her own personal challenges at mealtime with her two young children she ventured on creating a website to help parents facilitate language and make mealtime fun. Her website gravitybread.com focuses on facilitating and encouraging language with fun and easy recipes, educational books and recommended toys and apps.

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