Thursday, March 8, 2012

Blueberry Quinoa Muffins

I finally tried cooking with Quinoa! I've been wanting to try it for a while now and I have heard great things about this fad. Quinoa contains more protein than any other flour and also contains zinc, iron, calcium, vitamin B, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and manganese. I like the sound of that!

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
1 cup water 
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups of flour 
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup frozen blueberries 
3/4 milk 
1 egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla     extract

Prep time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 25-30mins

Method:
-Preheat oven to 180 degrees (fan forced)
-Brush a 12 cup muffin pan with oil or use muffin cases
-In a medium saucepan bring quinoa and water to a boil, reduce to simmer and cover until all water has been absorbed. (Around 10 mins but water absorbs quite quickly)
-In a medium bowl mix together flour, baking powder, brown sugar, salt and the cooked quinoa.
-In a another small bowl whisk oil, milk, egg and vanilla extract 
-Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until combined. Then fold in frozen blueberries.
-Divide mixture into the prepared muffin pan.
-Bake for around 25-30mins, cool muffins in pan for 5mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

I was a little nervous trying them, but they were really yummy and turned out great. They taste even better heated up with a little bit of butter!