SPINACH QUINOA MUFFINS { GLUTEN-FREE, DAIRY-FREE, & REFINED SUGAR-FREE }

I'm still finding it funny when people say,

"YOU PRONOUNCE IT KEENWA? I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS KWINOAH!!!"

Say it however you like! People will know what your talking about! We had quinoa for dinner the other night and I had a bit of left overs, so I thought I'd whip these bad boys up and I'm glad I did. They hit the spot. The 'I NEED A SNACK AND I WANT IT TO SATISFY MY SWEET TOOTH AND MY TUMMY' thought was fulfilled. 

Today was an overcast day so I wanted to take pictures outside. Kyri and Seth joined me of course, since school is done now here in BC because of the teachers strike (lucky buggers) so they played while I took pictures and then we all sat quietly (because our mouths were stuffed full) and ate our muffins. They both even asked for seconds. Seth said PLEASE!!! And Kyri said GEASE!!! (her 1 year old talk). It started to rain so we moved inside.

The best part of these muffins...they don't even taste like spinach or quinoa! They have healthy wholesome plant-based ingredients and they taste like a sweet banana bread, because of the banana, sweetener, and hint of nutmeg! SO GREAT!

SPINACH QUINOA MUFFINS
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

Dry

• 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
• 1 1/2 cups oat flour
• 2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Wet

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 2 eggs - or - 3 Tbsp. ground flax seed + 6 Tbsp. filtered water
• 1 cup unpasteurized honey or maple syrup
• 1 large banana (or 2 small ones), mashed
• 4 cups spinach leaves, processed
• 2 tsp. coconut oil. melted
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon

What to do

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (177° C). Add 12 muffin cups/liners to the muffin tray.

2. Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and stir.

3. If you are using the ground flax seeds instead of the egg - Grind 3 Tbsp. flax seed in your coffee grinder or nutribullet. Mix the ground flax seed with the 6 Tbsp. filtered water and let thicken in your fridge for 10 minutes.

4. Add spinach to your food processor, I used my mini one and did three separate batches. Blend until fine but not runny. 

5. If your honey is firm add to a bowl and use the double boiler method to soften, by adding the bowl to a pot of hot water. The honey will start to melt and become runny. Perfect for the muffin recipe.

6. Add all the wet ingredients to a large bowl and stir. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.

7. Fill each muffin cup/liner with muffin batter to the rim. Place muffin tray in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 20 minutes, or until the tooth pick comes out clean. Let sit for 10 minutes in the tray, then move to a cooling rack. Make sure you eat one warm!! Enjoy and share! 

Please come back to Mandy's Healthy Life soon!

 Seth was trying to feel rain drops