Thursday, February 24, 2011

Mini Blueberry Spelt Muffins

I've had the entire week off of work and feel like today is the first day I have actually been able to relax! Relaxing in my standards is baking, cleaning and going to the gym :) All 3 things make my day so much more enjoyable. So, after waking up at 5:45 am with Ollie and having a nice big bowl of oatmeal to hold over my hunger for a while, I hit the kitchen! I had some spelt flour left over from the scones I tried to make last week and wanted to give this flour another try. I headed over to Whole Foods Recipes, one of my favorite places to find good and healthy recipes, and found one for mini blueberry spelt muffins! Blueberries are finally going down in price (at least at Trader Joe's this week) and since I had two cartons in my fridge I decided to put them to use as well.


Ingredients:
  • 4 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups spelt flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon grated grapefruit zest (I didn't have an orange so improvised)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups fresh blueberries

Begin by preheating your oven to 375 degrees. Butter or grease your muffin pan so it will be ready to fill. In a large bowl, combine the oil and sugar. Then stir in the applesauce, eggs, orange juice and vanilla extract.

In a second large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, zest and salt. Stir flour mixture into oil-egg mixture until just combined. Gently stir in blueberries.


Fill your muffin pan (either mini or large) with the batter. This recipe will make either 12 large muffins (which you would bake for about 30 minutes) or 24 small muffins which I baked for about 12 minutes.


Why bake with spelt flour? Spelt flour has so many nutrients. It is an excellent source of vitamin B2, a very good source of manganse, and a good source of niacin, thiamin, and copper. What the heck does all that mean? IT'S GOOD FOR YOU! Much better than all-purpose white flour and has more/different nutrients than whole wheat flour. Spelt flour contains 15-21% of protein (which is more than wheat).


**Spelt flour is not gluten-free. It is closely related to the common form of wheat and is not suitable for those with celiac disease or a gluten allergy or intolerance.**

I think they turned out great! I added a lot of blueberries so there was a "burst" in your mouth each time you bit into one of these mini-muffins.


Don't forget to enter into our first GIVEAWAY! Today is the last day to enter and winners will be announced tomorrow afternoon. I have absolutely loved reading all of your comments about who you would enjoy tea and scones with and can't wait to hear from more of you!

9 comments:

claire said... Best Blogger Tips

Mmmmm those muffins look delish!

Cindy said... Best Blogger Tips

I've never heard of spelt...where do you buy it?

alyce said... Best Blogger Tips

These look so good. Nice photos too.

Food Frenzy said... Best Blogger Tips

Simple and delicious...great job. Congrats on the Top 9.

We invite you to share this post and some of your favorite food posts on Food Frenzy.
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Threemealsaday said... Best Blogger Tips

Congrats on the top 9. I just made my first spelt flour recipe the other day; carrot muffins. I also adapted another banana chocolate chunk muffin recipe today. It is a great flour to try out but not cheap.

Thanks for sharing this write up on spelt flour muffins. Photos are very nice.

Cindy...we get our flour at Whole Foods.

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

You made your mama proud! Very entertaining as you always are! Love the apron picture but I will donate my Yankee one to you so you can look a little more "manly." Cheryl

Jamie said... Best Blogger Tips

Yummmy! My store did not have fresh blueberries, so I used raspberries and added ground flax seeds and they are awesome! Thank you!

Sierra said... Best Blogger Tips

You guys are fabulous..i love that you cook together and take so many pictures. Plus added bonus the recipes..FANTASTIC. This website has now been added to my favorites haha. Great muffins, made them and they were delicious. Thanks :)

-Sierra

Alex@Spoonful of Sugar Free said... Best Blogger Tips

These pictures are amazing! They look absolutely adorable. Great recipe!

 
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