Kendra's Treats

I continued my quinoa flour experimentation with these chocolate fudge muffins. There was a recipe on the back of my quinoa flour for chocolate cupcakes. Umm, cupcakes?? I knew I had to make some! Since it was 6 o’clock in the morning though, I thought maybe I’d make some cupcakes and call them muffins ;). Not exactly, but these muffins are on the sweet side. These days there isn’t much difference between muffins and cupcakes, but for me a muffin should be less sweet than a cupcake. My first thought was that I’d just reduce the butter and sugar in the recipe on the back of my flour, but by the time I was finished my recipe looked nothing like the original! My recipe was lower in fat, sugar, and had fewer steps. Oh yeah and they were A-MAZING! Jordan ate 3 for breakfast =). You can’t taste the quinoa at all! They have a wonderful, light crumb and a rich, chocolaty flavor. It seems like we all know people who can’t eat gluten, and since these muffins are gluten-free they would be the perfect treat to surprise those people with. You won’t even have to buy any crazy ingredients! These muffins are still on the sweet side and you could definitely add some frosting on top and call them cupcakes, but you won’t need to do that because I have an actual quinoa cupcake recipe coming for you soon! Enjoy!

Chocolate Fudge Quinoa Muffins {Gluten-Free}
1 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
2 tbsp Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp quinoa flour*
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg + 1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup plain fat-free greek yogurt
1/4 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 6 muffins cups with non-stick spray. Place a medium, non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Add quinoa flour and stir until flour starts to brown slightly. Remove from heat and transfer flour to a plate or bowl to cool.
2. Heat water in microwave 40 seconds. Stir in espresso powder, cocoa powder, vanilla, and canola oil.
3. In small bowl, whisk sugar, quinoa flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add chocolate mixture, egg, egg white, and greek yogurt to dry ingredients and stir until combined.
4. Add in chocolate chips. Divide batter between prepared muffin cups. Bake for 15-17 minutes. Makes 6 muffins.

Notes: I used Bob’s Red Mill quinoa flour that I found at Kroger. If your store doesn’t carry quinoa flour, you can make your own by grinding quinoa seeds into a powder in a clean coffee grinder.

Nutritional Info (per muffin): 178 calories; 6.5 g fat; 26.1 g carbohydrates; 2.2. g fiber; 4.8 g protein