The one thing about having the kids home during summer break is feeling like they are looking for snack food constantly. My suggestions of "grab an apple" or "how about some nuts?" seem to only get me an eyeroll and a sigh. I realize that they are probably just bored, and are looking for a quick fix of chips or crackers so that they can return to their predictable summer ennui, but I'm feeling like we can't just go all day, every day eating packaged pantry food for snacks. This afternoon I decided that rather than have the constant "I don't feel like eating that" dialogue surrounding my suggestions, I would make muffins. I know that everyone around here will eat muffins, and I know that I can add all sorts of ingredients so that I feel good about what they're eating. This recipe is amended from the Millet Muffins Recipe in Super Natural Every Day, the latest (superb) cookbook by Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks. The recipe can also be found in a recipe sampler she published online here. I love the light crunchiness of the millet and the addition of sliced almonds allows me slip in a little extra protein. The amendments to Heidi Swanson's recipe yield about 6 additional muffins, so you'll need an additional pan or to bake in batches.
Millet Muffins with Apple and Sliced Almonds
Amended from Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Pregrease muffin tins if not using muffin liners.
Makes 18 muffins
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup millet
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup greek yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup melted butter, cooled
2/3 cup honey
zest of one lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup apple, peeled and diced
1/3 cup sliced almonds
In a large bowl, whisk the flours, millet, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl, mix together the greek yogurt, eggs, melted butter, honey, lemon zest and lemon juice until thoroughly combined and smooth.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until all of the flour mixture has been incorporated.
Gently fold the sliced almonds and diced apples into the batter.
Scoop the batter into the muffin tin, 1/4 cup at a time. I use a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop and the batter is just thick enough that it works great.
Bake for about 15 minutes, rotating the pan/s about halfway through for even baking. Bake until the tops of the muffins are golden and starting to split a bit. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about five minutes in the pan. Turn out the muffins to finish cooling on a wire cooling rack. They are delicious eaten warm with (or without) butter and jam.
