I am really excited about these muffins! My friend Amber did the cleanse (the brave girl!) and she said she wanted something quick she could grab for breakfast that would be more substantial than a protein shake. I hear that. She suggested some quinoa pancakes she had seen but they needed to be made vegan and gluten free.

But then I was thinking, what would you put ON a pancake besides syrup? And pancakes aren’t all that portable. Then I thought, MUFFINS! Portable, substantial and easy to make.

So here you go- a gluten free, sugar free, high protein muffin that actually tastes good.

Banana Nut Quinoa Muffins(Gluten free, Sugar free)
Makes 12 muffins

3/4 cup vanilla almond milk (unsweetened)
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
1/4 cup canola oil
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups quinoa flour (or wheat flour if you aren’t going for GF)
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom or garam masala
1 1/4 cups cooked quinoa
1/2 cup dried blueberries, chopped (I used dried cranberries but I think blueberries would be better)

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Place muffin tin liners in a muffin pan and lightly spray with cooking spray. Or just grease the muffin pan if you don’t want to use liners.

Combine the almond milk and flax seed in a small bowl and allow to sit for a few minutes.
In the meantime, combine the flour, walnuts/pecans, salt, cinnamon and cardamom in a large mixing bowl.
Now, add the oil, mashed banana and vanilla extract to the almond milk and stir with a fork. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients then fold in the quinoa and dried blueberries.
Fill the muffin tins, it should make 12 muffins exactly.
Bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

I got Lilly a new bed over the weekend and took about 100 pictures of her. She is wearing a little sweater since it’s so cold out. She enjoys her sweaters.

She really likes her new bed.

Here she is parked in front of the space heater. What is this critter?

Have a great week!