Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pecan Quinoa Muffins

 

For starters, I love these muffins, and so does my husband. :) They're so moist, and, well, amazing and I absolutely love the texture that the Quinoa adds to it. Throw in some nuts of your choice and your all set.

You will need: .Whole Wheat Flour. Quinoa.  Molasses. Ginger. Nutmeg. Baking Powder.  Baking Soda. Salt. Sour Milk. Eggs. Canned Pumpkin. Vanilla Extract. Nuts of your choice.
[an oven is also helpful]

.............Preheat oven to 350..............

You'll want to get your Quinoa started right away. The recipe calls for 1 cup of cooked Quinoa, but I am far too lazy to figure out the water vs Quinoa ratio. So, I measure out a cup of Quinoa, and 2 cups of water. Cooked, it makes approx. 2 1/2 cups, but I'm cool with that. I make these frequently so I just freeze the leftovers and get them out next time I go to make them. Anyway, dump the water and Quinoa together into a sauce pan with a slice of butter, and bring to a boil. Cover. Put the burner on low, and let the whole thing sit for 15 minutes.

While the Quinoa is doing its thing. Take your pecans and hull them. Then save out the 12 nicest looking ones you can find. I like to put a pecan on top of each one of my muffins. It just makes them look cooler. Put the remaining pecans in a nut chomper, and chop them into many little pieces. [I don't know what those things are called, I've always just called them "nut chompers" and will happily do so for the remainder of my life]

Okay, so I seriously never have sour milk on hand. Who does? It's nasty, and sour. But we all probably have some white vinegar . So we're going to use that to create a "substitution". Measure out your milk, in this case; 1/2 cup. Then add about a tablespoon of white vinegar. You probably could get away with less, but I try to stay on the safe side. The vinegar causes the milk to curd, and sour. Very quickly. So I just set the milk up on the window sill and let the magic work while I get everything ready for it.

Mix together dry ingredients.

By now the milk is ready. So mix your milk, eggs, pumpkin, molasses and sugar in a separate bowl.

Get your Quinoa and Pecans and add them to your dry mixture. It will look something like this when its all mixed up.

Add the pumpkin mixture and stir well.

I use cupcake pans because: A. I don't have muffin pans. B. I like my muffins to be a manageable size.
Grease the pan if you don't have cupcake papers.
Fill them almost to the top.

After they're filled, the pecan haves that you saved back, on the top and then stick them in the oven for 20 minutes.

While you're waiting on them to bake, you can go read a book. Or do the laundry. Or Text your friend. Or check them continually. Or take a shower. Or, you could make some tea and clean up your mess and do the dishes, like I did. Basically, do whatever floats your boat until the timer goes off. I mean, I would recommend not running off and forgetting about them. But that's just me. I tend to be the type of person who turns the oven light on and am always watching my food. But, be warned, if you watch these, you might have a freak out moment, in the 7-10 minute area. It looks like the pecans are too heavy, and the batter is too weak...and like the whole recipe is flopping before your very eyes, while you stand helplessly on the other side of the door. Piece of advice: Resist the urge to stomp your foot or kick the oven. Because that will make them fall.
Take a deep breath. Chill. And stop watching it. If you did everything right, it will make an impressive comeback. :)

When the timer goes off, check them. They should be done. Every time I've done this recipe its taken exactly 20 minutes. But I still do the whole tooth pick thing. You know, where you stick the toothpick into the cent one and pull it out to see if anything is sticking to it. If it is, let it bake awhile longer. If it isn't (like the picture), then they're done. :)

Take them out, and enjoy at your leisure. :)

Recipe

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup of molasses
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of Quinoa, cooked and drained
2 eggs
1/2 cup of sour milk
3/4 cup of canned pumpkin
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/4 cup of crushed nuts of your choice (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil or butter a 12 cup muffin pan, or use muffin pan liners. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. Add the Quinoa and nuts. In a separate bowl beat together molasses, eggs, pumpkin and vanilla. Gradually stir into dry ingredients. Mix just until its all consistent. Spoon batter into muffin pans and put nuts of your choice on top. Bake 20 minutes.

So there ya go! Enjoy. :)

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