Muffins get a bad wrap. Most people think of them as guilty treats but it’s so easy to pack them with nutrients like fibre and protein. The quinoa in these muffins adds a great texture and brings a stack of wholesome benefits with it. 

For this batch of muffins I made half vegan strawberry and the other half blueberry cream cheese. I loved doing it this way because I only had to make the one batch but ended with two different muffins to choose from, oh the decisions. It’s super easy if you want to make them this way also – just make the basic batter, half fill 6 muffin tins with the batter then add 1 tsp of the blueberry cream cheese and top with some more batter. Once you’ve finished the 6 blueberry cream cheese muffins add the strawberries to the batter and go ahead and fill the remaining muffin tins!

Ingredients

1 and 3/4 cups spelt flour

1/4 cup oat flour

1/4 cup flax meal

1/8 cup raw, unrefined sugar

1 cup cooked quinoa

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp sea salt

Wet Ingredients

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup agave nectar

2/3 cup rice milk

1 TBSP vanilla

Strawberry Varitation (vegan)

2/3 cup chopped strawberries

Blueberry Cream Cheese Variation (not vegan)

150 grams (5 oz) cream cheese

1 punnet of blueberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius (350 fahrenheit). Grease or line 1 12 cup capacity muffin tray.

Sift and whisk together the spelt and oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon and ginger. Add the flax meal, sugar.

Set aside.ombine the canola oil,  agave, rice milk and vanilla and whisk to combine.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until only just combined (don’t over work the batter otherwise your muffins will be tough!)

Stir in the quinoa (and strawberries if you are making the vegan strawberry version).

Pour 1/3 cup into each greased or lined muffin tin and bake away. Sprinkle the muffins with a little extra sugar if you would like some more crunch.

Vegan Strawberry variation

Add the strawberries as you add the quinoa.

Blueberry Cream Cheese variation

In a bowl combine the strawberries and the cream cheese, you may want to squash a couple of the blueberries into the cream cheese with a fork.

When you come to the step of adding the batter to the muffin tins you will only want to half fill the tin with batter, then you can add 1 – 2 tsp of the blueberry cream cheese mixture, then top it off with some more batter.

Get all of your ingredients ready.

Grease/line the muffin tray…

If you are making the vegan strawberry version wash and cut your strawberries and set aside until you are ready to add them to the batter with the quinoa…

If you are making the blueberry cream cheese version prepare the mixture by combining the blueberries with the cream cheese. Smash a few blueberries into the cream cheese to release some flavour. Also, if you are so inclined you could add some unrefined sugar or maple syrup to this mixture, but i enjoyed the cheesy flavour with a hint of blueberry…

1/4 cup of oat flour…

2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt…

2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger…

1/4 cup flaxseed meal…

1/8 cup (or 2 TBSP) raw sugar

Now mix together the wet ingredients. 1/2 cup canola oil…

2/3 cup rice milk…

1/2 cup agave nectar…

1 TBSP vanilla…

Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined…

Add the quinoa…

You want to put around 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup as they rise slightly. If you are having the blueberry cream cheese filling remember to only have fill the trays, then add 1 – 2 tsp of the cream cheese mixture followed by the remaining batter…

Vegan strawberry muffin batter…

Fresh from the oven…

Turn onto a wire rack to cool and enjoy!!! Let me know how it goes.

I’ll leave you with a few more photos…