Lombardo Lagniappe: Orange Almond Whole Grain Muffins

Happy Monday! While my little Jack bear is napping, I've got a chance to share a recipe for some very tasty muffins I made recently. This recipe if a slight adaptation from one in the April 2014 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I made these for Joe to take to work when it was his turn to bring snacks to his team's weekly meeting. I was a little worried that they would be super dense with the quinoa and whole wheat flour, and that the guys on his team would be put off by the appearance since I used red quinoa. But I shouldn't have been! The muffins were nice and fluffy and Joe says that everyone really enjoyed them. Now as I said, these are slightly changed from the original recipe. They used walnuts instead of almonds and did not use any vanilla or almond extracts. Here's how I made them:

Orange-Almond Whole Grain Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

1 cup regular rolled oats
1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled (I cooked the quinoa and used it while it was still very hot, and it worked fine)
1/3 cup slivered almonds, chopped
1 T olive oil
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 orange
1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk with 2 teaspoons of vinegar mixed in)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
3 T. butter, melted
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. almond extract

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place oats, quinoa, and almonds on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a non-stick mat. Toss with the olive oil to coat. Spread in an even layer and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove and cool.

2. Grease or line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. In a large bowl, stir together all but 1/4 cup of the quinoa mixture, the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside

3. Finely shred 2 t. of peel from the orange. Then juice the orange to get about 3 T. of juice. In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, eggs, butter, orange juice, orange zest, vanilla and almond extracts. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. The mixture will still be lumpy.

4. Divide between the prepared muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining quinoa mixture. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

According to the original recipe, each muffin has 238 calories, 10 g fat, 43 mg cholesterol, 267 mg sodium, 31 g carbs, 3 g fiber, and 7 g protein. That's a good amount of protein for a muffin!