Apricot Millet Muffins

 

I saw this recipe for apricot millet muffins on Weelicious and was intrigued. I knew that my kids wouldn’t go for dried apricots, and I didn’t want another banana-based muffin, but I had millet in the pantry and it seemed like the apricot was calling me name, so I decided to adapt the recipe and replace some of the banana with apricot purée. I toasted the millet for a shorter time, and after I poured 6 muffins in the tin, I added mini chocolate chips to the rest of the batter for the other 9 muffins. They’re good either way, but obviously my kids prefer them with chocolate! I found the plain ones to be a bit bland once they were no longer warm, so I served them with apricot jam. The millet in here basically gives the muffins a little crunch; it’s a nice addition, but these would still be good muffins without the millet. The recipe below is my version.

½ cup millet
1 ¾ cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ cup lactose-free butter, room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 (15-oz) can of apricot halves
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk substitute (lactose-free milk with 1 Tbsp. lemon juice)
½ cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 °F. Grease a muffin tin (you might need more than one – I got a total of 15 muffins).

Place millet on a baking sheet and toast for 5-6 minutes. Remove and toss the millet to make sure it is toasted evenly and toast an additional 2 minutes. Set aside and cool.

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the toasted millet.

In a separate bowl or standing mixer, beat the butter and sugar until combined, about 1 minute. Add the egg and beat for another minute.

Drain the apricot halves, then purée them in a blender or food processor.

To the bowl with the butter mixture, add the apricot purée, mashed banana, vanilla extract, and buttermilk and beat until combined.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in the mini chocolate chips, if using, until just combined.

Fill muffin pan with batter. Bake for 20 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean).

Cool muffins for 5 minutes in their tins, remove and continue to cool.