Millet Muffins

My friend and cook extraordinaire, Mita first told me about these muffins months ago, maybe longer. She kept gushing about how wonderful they were. I am nodding my head and thinking, " uncooked millet in muffins, ewww...". Well she was right to gush. These simple muffins are so good, they are crunchy, and flavorful, not too sweet. They can make a great breakfast with fruit and yogurt.

So serve them with chili, they taste almost like a corn muffin, only better.
I was surprised at how much Bob loved them. The original recipe comes from Heidi Swanson's cookbook: Super Natural Everyday, as always I changed a few things but not many.

Millet Muffins
yield: a dozen

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup raw millet, lightly toasted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup canola oil (or barely melted unsalted butter)
1/2 cup honey
Grated zest and 2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees with a rack in the top third of the oven.

2) Butter a standard 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.


3) Whisk together the flour, millet, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

4) In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, eggs, oil, honey, and lemon zest and juice until smooth.

5) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until the flour is just incorporated.

6) Divide the batter among the muffin cups, spooning a heaping 1/4 cup batter into each one, filling it to a bit below the rim. I found they can be quite full.

7) Bake for about 15 minutes, until the muffin tops are browned and just barely beginning to crack.

8) Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn the muffins out of the pan to cool completely on a wire rack.

Serve warm, Bob says you don't need butter.