I try to eat healthy, you know, get a good amount of vegetables, not so much meat and fat. Fiber, blah, blah, blah. I have been on a diet since, well pretty much since I was twelve. I’ve been doing it so long; you think I would be better at it by now. I have been trying to cut back on simple carbs and using a bigger variety of grains, like farro, quinoa and amaranth.
Hearty grains are an excellent substitution for rice, pasta or cereal. But cake, not so much. I wanted muffins, and this is where the trial and error comes in. This recipe started as a pancake recipe. Which I don’t know if I have told you, I am the WORST pancake maker ever. How does that happen? I don’t understand, practically everyone can make pancakes, right? Weird. So a horrible pancake recipe was turned into a beautiful muffin recipe.
These muffins have complex texture and sweet, nutty roasted hazelnuts. Hazelnuts are an amazing thing. Have you ever had Nutella, it has hazelnuts in it. Nutella might not be as healthy as these muffins but I think Nutella secretly has super powers, or ninja skills. You can have these muffins without feeling guilty because they don’t have a lot of sugar and the flour used is complex. They are very filling and when had for breakfast will make you feel like you can face any obstacle that you might encounter throughout the day.
See all the grains in these muffins. I’m into it.
Toast your Hazelnuts in a dry pan over medium heat. I can tell that they are completely toasted because when you shake them around in the pan they make a louder clanging noise than before, the little dark skins are cracked and peeling and they smell like, umm, I don’t know, toasted hazelnuts, I can’t think of anything that smells better than that right now, even if I can make it up. Pour them onto your chopping board and let them hang out for a few minutes. Don’t eat one, they are going to be mushy for a little while, so contain yourself. How do I know that? Well you see not only am I super fancy, I am also super smart, and no, no actually I have no willpower and I ate like seventeen all the while wondering why they were mushy and then they weren’t so I ate more. I used about ¾ of a cup of chopped toasted hazelnuts in my muffins. I started with 1 cup; I suggest you plan ahead too.
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup Farina
½ Cup Rolled Oats
½ Cup Buckwheat Flour
¼ Cup Millet
2 Eggs + 1 Egg White
1¼ Cup Buttermilk
½ Cup Brown Sugar
2 TB Vegetable Oil
2 TS Baking Powder
1 TS Baking Soda
1 TS Salt
1 TB Cinnamon
1 TS Vanilla
This is my breakfast, Toasted Hazelnut Multigrain Muffins with butter, raspberries and figs. Perfection.Measure out the rest of the ingredients and combine them all in no particular order. Once everything is combined add ½ cup of hazelnuts and then spoon into papered muffin tins. Top each muffin with a little sprinkle of hazelnuts. Bake at 350° for about fifteen minutes. They will be amazing, get over yourself. Let them cool.
Everything is easier if you’ve had breakfast.
Listen to me, I wouldn’t do you wrong. Wake up a little earlier than you normally do and have breakfast. Don’t just skip it and starve until lunch, grab a banana while running out of the door, or think coffee counts. Sit down, have a real breakfast. You’ll see the world differently.
I made a resolution to do this for myself and have been pretty successful, much successful than with the dieting, probably because in this resolution I get to do something I love, EAT! But I like who I am when I eat breakfast, so I do it. Usually I have yogurt with fruit and juice or a latte and eggs with zucchini, sometimes I get muffins. Spend a little time on yourself, you deserve it.
