Pumpkin Millet Muffins

Goodness, I think I bake way too many muffins around here.  It’s just that they’re so perfect for a quick breakfast,  packing for lunches, and they always seem to hit the spot when I’m in the mood for eating something sweet but not too sweet.  And it’s 15 minutes to make the batter, 20-25 minutes in the oven, and then they are done!  It’s instant gratification in the kitchen.

Pumpkin millet muffins are one of my favorite variations of the more traditional pumpkin bread.  It has all of the warm flavors and spices that you would expect from a pumpkin muffin, but the addition of toasted millet adds extra nutrients and a little crunch.  It’s really quite lovely.  I used coconut sugar as the sweetener as coconut sugar has been one of my top alternatives to refined sugar lately.  It has some caramel undertones to it so I find that it works well as a substitute in recipes that call for brown sugar.  The coconut flavor is hardly noticeable at all in these muffins.  I only used 1/2 cup of sugar since I prefer my muffins not to be overly sweet (theses are muffins after all, and not cupcakes), but go ahead and increase the sugar to 3/4 cup if you prefer a sweeter muffin.  Also, note that this recipe calls for 1 cup of pumpkin puree for 12-muffins.  Since most canned pumpkin comes in 15-ounce cans, I usually double the recipe and just use the entire can of pumpkin.  Serve these warm from the oven or these also store well in the freezer for later.

Pumpkin Millet Muffins

• Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup millet
• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Butter or line a 12-cup muffin pan.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the millet and stir with a wooden spoon until millet starts to pop and becomes golden brown, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer millet to a small bowl to cool.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Add millet to the flour mixture and stir to incorporate.
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, milk, butter, pumpkin, and coconut sugar. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
5. Divide muffin batter among prepared muffin cups.
6. Bake 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Notes

adapted from Whole Foods