Heidi Swanson’s Millet Muffins

I know, I know. I’ve already covered a couple of Heidi Swanson’s fabulous recipes here, this is the last one for a while. I promise. Maybe. It’s just that these muffins are gooood, real good, almost like little lemony cheesecakes with crunchy balls of goodness in them, and they are so simple to make -  how could I keep them all to myself?

Today’s recipe comes from Heidi’s newest book ‘Super Natural Everyday‘ and take less than 10 minutes to whip together. Like the carrot cakes, you simply add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix, divide into little muffin pans and bake in a hot oven. Millet, as Heidi points out, is commonly found in birdseed (!!) but it’s also a fantastic food for humans; it is gluten-free, high in B-vitamins, protein, magnesium and dietary fibre. Baked whole in muffins such as these, it takes on a crunchy texture, almost like little grains of your favourite cereal.

You can usually pick up millet at your local health food store, it is quite inexpensive and comes in a range of finishes from raw, pearlised and even ground into flour. You can use it in baking as I have here, in risotto instead of rice, as a gluten-free alternative to cous cous, you can even have it for breakfast. This recipe uses raw millet and the amount called for cost me less than a couple of dollars so it’s worthwhile seeking it out. You might even find that you like it enough to start using it regularly in your cooking.

But back to the muffins….I find them perfectly delicious on their own with a warm cup of tea, but you could also smear them with some butter and maybe even a little strawberry jam.

Heidi Swanson’s Millet Muffins

Serves: 12 muffins

280g of pastry flour (whole-wheat if you have it)

60g of raw millet

1 tspn baking powder

1 tspn baking soda

1/2 tspn salt

1 cup plain yogurt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup honey

1 lemon

Pre-heat your oven to 205 degrees celsius.

Zest the lemon (video here if you’re unsure) and then juice it. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, millet, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl whisk together the yogurt, eggs, butter, honey, lemon zest and juice.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Divide batter evenly between muffin cups.

Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes until the tops have started to brown. You can check to see if they are cooked by inserting a toothpick into the centre of a muffin. If it comes out clean, your muffins are done.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack. Allow to cool to room temperature (if you can!) and store in an airtight container.

So good!