Kale Quinoa Muffins

These Kale Quinoa Muffins are fluffy and savoury with a hint of garlic powder, nutty quinoa, and early green kale. They are also made with coconut flour for the ultimate healthy gluten-free muffins.

How to Make Quinoa Kale Muffins

The process of making these quinoa muffins is quite similar to other muffins. The main difference is that they have savoury ingredients rather than sweet ones, and utilize coconut flour instead of all-purpose.

To start, you must massage the kale with some oil or melted butter in a large bowl. This alleviates some of the kale's tough texture. This is a great step if you are using kale for salads as well. Next, you whisk your dry ingredients in a large bowl including your coconut flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, and seasonings. Afterward, you whisk your eggs with melted butter before mixing with the dry ingredients. The flour mixture gets added to the wet mixture as they incorporate better that way.

Next, you fold in your chopped kale and cooked quinoa. The kale doesn't need to be finely chopped as a chunky appearance looks nice in the muffins. Feel free to finely chop it if desired, though. You should cook the quinoa well in advance of preparing these coconut muffins, as it should be cool when adding to the batter. If you are tight on time, though, you can spread the quinoa into a thin layer on a baking sheet and refrigerate. The batter will sufficiently fill a 12-cup muffin tin. For the kale, you can use whatever variety you like the best such as curly kale, red kale or lacinato kale. No matter which one you choose, you will want to use the leaves only, as the stems can be tough.

After a fast prep time, these muffins have a total time of only 15 minutes in the oven. Definitely don't overbake, as gluten-free coconut muffins can dry out by baking too long similar to regular muffins. You will be able to determine their doneness by whether an inserted skewer comes out clean at the end of the cook time. A few dry crumbs are OK, but you don't want gummy crumbs. Additionally, when you press a finger into the top of the muffins, they should spring back rather than leaving an indentation. These are great tips whenever testing the doneness in any baked goods.

What is Quinoa?

Quinoa is a grain from the amaranth family. It originated in South America, but growers now cultivate it all over the world including Europe, Africa, and the U.S. Its popularity has grown as people can use it in baked goods, vegetarian burgers, egg dishes, or a replacement for sushi rice in homemade sushi or even regular rice. You could even consider adding it to a colourful bowl for lunch with your favourite chopped veggies, cheese, high-quality protein, and sauce. Also, check out my Mexican Quinoa Bowl.

There are a few varieties of quinoa including black, white, red, and mixed. Texturally, they are all the same and will work well in this coconut muffin recipe. The main difference between them is their colour. Additionally, black quinoa has a slightly sweeter flavour than the others.

Are These Quinoa Kale Muffins Suitable for All Diets?

These quinoa kale muffins are an excellent option for gluten-free, vegetarian, or dairy-free diets. The muffins don't contain any wheat flour, which gluten-free diets avoid. Moreover, coconut flour, tapioca starch, and quinoa are all naturally gluten-free. In fact, quinoa is an incredibly nutritious ingredient for those who love carb-rich wheat products but simply can't have them, as it is filling and has a unique nutty flavour.

Quinoa is also great for those on vegetarian or vegan diets because it is a complete protein source containing all eight essential amino acids. Additionally, it consists of an abundance of other minerals and vitamins, as well as fiber.

If you enjoy a dairy-free diet, simply replace the melted butter with a light tasting olive oil instead. Don't use a robust tasting olive oil as it may overtake the other flavours in the muffins.

How to Enjoy these Quinoa Muffins

You may be wondering when to eat these muffins or what you should serve them with. You can really eat these at any time of the day. They make an exceptional breakfast with nutrient-dense quinoa that will keep you feeling full until lunchtime. They are also great as a snack or served next to a bowl of soup.

These, of course, are delicious with some soft butter spread on them, but you could try some savoury spreads like tomato jam or an herbed compound butter too. Whether you want to eat these plain, topped with your favourite spread, or as a sponge to pick up soup, these muffins are a perfect go-to recipe.

How to Store Quinoa Muffins

Since these muffins include fresh ingredients like kale, they won't keep forever, but they aren't likely to last that long anyway. Simply store them in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to eat. You could also place them in the fridge if you like a cold muffin. Either way, you should consume them within a few days to ensure that you enjoy them at their best.

If you like having muffins on hand all the time, but don't necessarily have time to bake them, you could make a double batch and freeze half. To freeze the muffins, place in an airtight container once cooled and put in the freezer. You can just pull a few out as you need them so that you will always have quinoa coconut flour muffins available. Just take note that the kale may blacken a little in the freezer, but otherwise, they will still taste great.

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