Quinoa is my new favorite grain!!  A 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa contains 6 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber and 10% your daily requirement of iron.  Plus it’s yummy!!

Now that I can get a pound of quinoa for only $4.99 at Trader Joe’s, I finally have the opportunity to look for recipes incorporating this delicious superfood.  When I found a recipe for cranberry quinoa muffins, I knew I had hit a homerun (with a few tweaks, of course).

Cranberry Quinoa Muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Directions:

First, just let me say, I know rinsing quinoa is a pain the butt, but it needs to be done.  Otherwise, the quinoa tastes a little earthy, if you know what I mean.  It’s hard to rinse quinoa because you can’t use a colander (the holes are too big).  I saw a great tip that recommended using a coffee filter as a mini sieve.  I haven’t tried it, but if you do, let me know how it works.

Cook quinoa according to package directions.

Once quinoa is cooked, preheat oven to 350F.

Prep a muffin tin with muffin cups (or spray and flour lightly).

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, dried cranberries, cinnamon, nutmeg and 2 cups of cooked quinoa.  Put any leftover quinoa aside for future use.

In a small bowl, mix together milk, egg and vanilla extract.

Add milk mixture to flour mixture.

Divide batter evenly among 12 medium muffin cups.

Bake until toothpick inserted in middle of muffin comes out clean, 25-30 minutes.

Allow to cool in pan for about 5 minutes.  Remove from pan.

Serve warm or cold with butter or cream cheese.

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Enjoy!!