These Apricot Bulgur Muffins are seriously hearty, dense, and chewy! A veritable nutrition powerhouse, they make for an awesome portable breakfast or snack
Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.
Combine the dry bulgur and boiling water together in a bowl and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix well with a whisk until thoroughly combined.
In a third bowl, combine the date paste, honey, oil and buttermilk. Whisk to combine and then add the eggs and whisk vigorously until they are completely incorporated.
Add the soaked bulgur to the wet ingredients and mix well with a spoon or rubber spatula, then throw in the dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated, no more.
Fold in the chopped apricots, walnuts and shredded coconut and again, stir until just incorporated, no more. Delicately scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure you have all the dry ingredients mixed in.
Divide the batter equally between 12 large muffin cups. The batter will need to be mounded higher than the paper cups, so try and shape the tops into nice rounded domes. The use of a large spring-loaded ice cream scoop will make your job much easier. Alternately, you could also divide the batter into 18 to 24 smaller muffins. Of course, you'd need to adjust cooking time accordingly.
Garnish the top of each muffin with a piece of walnut or dried apricot, if desired. Note that the apricots might get pretty dark in the oven. If that happens, you can always flip them around once the muffins have cooled down a bit.
Bake in a 425°F oven for 10 minutes, then decrease the temperature to 350°F and continue cooking for 8 to 10 minutes, until the tops are nice and golden and appear set, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool for a few minutes in the pan then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in a cool dry place or in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.