I found this recipe a month or two ago, and it sounded intriguing. Muffins with cream cheese? And quinoa? And raspberries? I had to try them, since I pretty much like every ingredient in them. The end result was pretty fantastic. The only thing that surprised me was that I expected to bite into pieces of cream cheese in the finished product, and that definitely did not happen. But the muffins were nice and moist, rich but not too rich, and probably the healthiest dessert I've made in a long time.
Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins with Quinoa
Ingredients:
- ½ cup white or golden quinoa
- 1 cup water
Dry ingredients:
- 1¼ cups whole wheat flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
4 ounces cold light cream cheese, diced small
1 cup frozen raspberries
Wet ingredients:
- ¾ cup white or cane sugar
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup light sour cream or fat-free Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
- Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave the covered saucepan on the burner for another 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and allow the quinoa to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well.
- Add 1¼ cups of the cooked quinoa and mix until it is evenly coated with the flour mixture. Stir in the cream cheese, breaking up any large pieces. The cream cheese should remain chunky in these muffins. Add the frozen raspberries and coat in the flour mixture. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and oil, followed by the egg. Whisk in the sour cream or yogurt and vanilla.
- Fold the flour mixture into the sugar mixture until just combined. Spoon the dough evenly among the cups.
- Bake on the center rack for 25 to 27 minutes, until the muffins are light brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes:
I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and they came out great.
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