For these Quinoa Banana Blueberry Muffins I used ingredients like quinoa, whole wheat flour, honey, bananas, blueberries and olive oil. Most of them are quite healthy and the outcome is pretty awesome, because these muffins taste absolutely wonderful and are so easy to make.
The quinoa needs to be cooked and completely cooled before you can use it in the muffins, so it’s good to plan ahead. I cooked the quinoa the night before, which makes it easier. Besides that, the batter comes together quickly and an hour later you can serve some delicious, still warm and soft muffins for breakfast.
You can reheat leftover muffins perfectly and they still taste as good as on the first day. I reheated them briefly in the microwave, as well as in the oven. Both methods worked well.
Tools & Equipment
- 12-cup muffin pan
- 2 medium bowls
- Medium saucepan
- Potato masher
- Silicone spatula
- Whisk
- Wire rack
Recipe Tips
Make Ahead: You can cook the white quinoa up to 5 days in advance. Let cool, cover and keep in the fridge until ready to use.
Ripe Bananas: For these muffins you need very ripe bananas. Sometimes it’s hard to find bananas that ripe, this is why I use a little trick here. I buy regular ripe bananas and freeze them for at least 2-3 days, where they automatically turn brown/black. Keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months. The night before you want to use the bananas, remove them from the freezer and let them thaw in the fridge. You now have the perfect bananas for this recipe.
Blueberries: I used fresh blueberries in this recipe. You can use frozen blueberries as well. If you use frozen blueberries, do not thaw them.
Liners: Do not use cupcake liners, as the muffins will stick to the liners. Use nonstick spray or vegetable oil instead.
Ingredients for Quinoa Banana Blueberry Muffins
Directions – How to Make Quinoa Banana Blueberry Muffins
Cook quinoa until tender, for 10-12 minutes. Cover and let steam for 10 minutes. Pour off any condensed water and let quinoa cool completely. Set aside 80g of cooked quinoa. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Grease a muffin pan with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Place bananas, honey and brown sugar in a 2nd medium bowl and mash with a potato masher until sugar is dissolved and bananas are completely mashed.
Add the egg and vanilla extract, continue mashing until everything is well combined. Then add the olive oil and stir to combine.
Add the banana mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until everything is well mixed. Stir in blueberries and 240g cooked quinoa.
Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups using a spoon. Sprinkle with raw sugar and reserved quinoa.
Bake muffins for about 35-40 minutes, until the tops are firm, just starting to brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 15 minutes.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
Storage: The quinoa banana blueberry muffins will stay fresh, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezing Instructions: You can freeze baked and cooled muffins for up to 3 months. Wrap the muffins in plastic and place in a zipper bag. Thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temperature and reheat in the oven for a couple of minutes, before serving.
My Summary for Quinoa Banana Blueberry Muffins
Difficulty: Simple.
Taste & Texture: The muffins have a strong smell of quinoa. However, when you bite into it, it does not taste very much like quinoa. They have very a pleasant sweetness and taste partly a little sour because of the blueberries. Inside they are very soft, but the top is nice and crunchy from sprinkling them with sugar and quinoa before baking.
Time: Cooking quinoa takes about 10-12 minutes, after that it needs to cool completely. For making the batter and filling the muffin pan, you will need about 35 minutes. Baking time is 35-40 minutes, depending on your oven, then let them cool for about 15 minutes.
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