Pumpkin, Zucchini and Quinoa Muffins
Before I begin with today’s main event, please allow me to erm… brag a little, and also ask for your help…
A little over a month ago, I submitted my Chicken and Sundried Tomato Pasta recipe to Hostel Bookers Recipe Search for their Backpackers Recipe Guide.
Well, I am super excited to report that I made it to the next round. 😀
Out of all the recipes that were chosen, the 10 with the most “likes” will be made into a free Backpacker Recipe Guide for people to take on their travels.
Oh, how I would LOVE to have one of my recipes follow a bunch of different people on their travels around the world!
I’d really appreciate if you could all help make this happen for me by clicking on this link and liking the picture. (you have to be logged on to Facebook to be able to vote). Also feel free to share with your friends! 😉
Of course, I thank you very, very, very much for your help and support! 🙂
Now, as I was telling you the other day, I had some a whole lot of leftover cooked quinoa in the fridge and I decided to try using it in baked goods, just to see what would happen.
I was so excited with the results, I could barely wait to share them with you.
These muffins right here turned out absolutely fabulous. The combination of spelt flour and quinoa really gives them a nice, chewy yet super moist texture. They are not overly dense, but they are not all light and cakey either.
In fact, I think they are the perfect muffin consistency.
Also, I really wanted to keep the the sugar level down this time. I wanted to see if I could get away with using no sugar at all, other than that which is naturally present in the fruits, of course.
Hey, if I’m going to remove some of the guilt out of eating muffins, why not push the envelope one notch further and remove ALL of the guilt?
And you know what? It worked! These beauties didn’t need that sugar, at all.
They get all the sweetness that they need from all the various fruits and spices.
This is possibly my now favorite muffin recipe of all times. I know, I know, I always say that, but muffins have that effect on me. I always like the next one better than I did the last. 😉
So until I come up with a new muffin recipe, this one, right here, is the best muffin recipe in the whole wide world!
At least, it is to me! 😉
PUMPKIN, ZUCCHINI AND QUINOA MUFFINS
INGREDIENTS
(yelds 9 large muffins)
Dry
- 2 cups spelt flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp allspice
- ½ tsp ground clove
Wet
- 1 large zucchini, grated
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 very ripe plantain
- 4 egg whites
- 1 whole egg
- ½ cup buttermilk
Extra goodies
- ½ cup raisins
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 425F and line your muffin pan with parchment paper “cups”, regular paper cups or coat with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl combine dry ingredients and whisk until well incorporated. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mash plantain with a fork until creamy. Add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix until well blended. Pour into dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until well combined, then delicately fold in raisins and pumpkin seeds.
- Pour mixture into prepared pan.
- Bake for 5 minutes at initial temperature of 425F, then lower oven temperature to 375F and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes until tops look nice and crunchy and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan and then place on on a wire rack until they reach room temperature.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
30 Comments on “Pumpkin, Zucchini and Quinoa Muffins”
Same wavelength again! I literally just posted my zucchini biscuits…and then went to see what you were up to, and there were yours! I think they’d make a complete meal, one’s sweet, and one’s savory! Good job on cutting the sugar out. They look great!
Yay! That’s so exciting, you totally deserve it! I will definitely be liking the recipe for you!
And those muffins look and sound fabulous!!!!!! Yummmmmmmm
Thanks Nora! I appreciate that! 😀
I have made that pasta dish so many times since you posted it. IT IS INCREDIBLE and so non-threatening to a “non-cook” like myself. I really hope you do well!
Alright Jaclyn! Real happy to know that! 🙂 Thanks for your good wishes!
Congeatulations!! How cool is that!! I will ofcourse vote for you! And love those quinoa muffins..:)
Thank you Simone, I appreciate that! 🙂
voted! good luck! the muffins sound great… love the idea of using quinoa in baked goods!
I plan to try the quinoa muffins. Did you use white spelt or whole grain spelt flour? I need to convert the spelt to something gluten free. Measuring by weight is the best way to do this and and these two spelt flours have differents weights. Thanks for your help. I can’t wait to make these.
Whole grain, of course! 😉 I didn’t even know a white version existed.
Hope you like ’em! 🙂
i just made your quinoa zucchini muffins this week! i look for hearty muffins for my girls afterschool snack before their daily gymnastics or dance (depending on daughter : ) they need something hearty and substantial to go with a green smoothie–and this fit the bill especially with the addition of quinoa…i topped these with a lucuma cashew frosting i found from another blogger….i did add 1/2 cup of sugar–afterall, i gotta make them just sweet enough so my girls devour their home made snack….lovely recipe–thanks again!
Thanks for that great feedback Eva! Glad your girls liked the muffins! That cashew frosting sounds delicious, too! GREAT idea! 🙂
Can I replace the pumpkin with sweet potato? Sweet potato just is tastier than pumpkin to my taste. Thanks for the recipe. It is truly a new recipe for me. I am going to make it this weekend.
I really wouldn’t see why not? Definitely worth a try… Let me know how it turns out if you do try it! 🙂
I wanted to make some mini muffins for my boys. What difference would you suggest for cook time?
Not sure, Jessie… I think I would start checking after 10-12 minutes and take it from there. Just make sure you keep a close eye on them and you should be fine.
Hey there,
I was wondering what your suggestions might be on a substitute for the buttermilk (preferably dairy free)? Thanks
I heard that you can replace it with an equal amount of unsweetened soy milk if you add a little bit of lemon juice to it, but I’ve never tried it myself so I can’t testify…
These were great! I made them last night. My slight modifications are that I used a can of pumpkin puree instead of just 1 cup (I believe it worked out to about 1 1/2 cups if I remember correctly) and I added about 1/3 cup of Splenda. They turned out perfectly.
Just a quick question: do you happen to know how many WW points these would be?
These look wonderful, but I’m curious as to why you chose plantain over bananas. Can you use banana instead of plantain?
Sarah, I chose to use plantain because I have a soft spot for it. I much prefer its denser texture and its less sweet flavor. I find its not quite as “wet” as regular bananas and works beautifully well in baked goods. I don’t see why regular bananas wouldn’t work, though, as they are extremely similar still!
This is just what I was searching for! Can I ask why you used egg whites? Is there anyway I could replace these with less eggs but use the whole egg?
Thank you! 🙂
Sure! You can use 2 whole eggs instead of the egg whites, no problem (so that’s 3 eggs total, just to be clear)… Hope you like ’em, Ashleigh!
I’m having a hard time getting mine to cook all the way through.. They have been in there for over an hour now. The top is getting very brown, but the insides are still too mushy!! /:
I do not have quinoa at home; could I use oats instead and the egg whites in a carton instead of the real ones from eggs? Thank you so much for your timely reply.
I’m not sure about the oats, Judith… I think if I was going to use them, I would go with steel cuts and I would cook and cool them first. As for using the carton eggs, they would definitely work!