Quinoa muffins

Today I made quinoa muffins since we had some leftover quinoa in the cupboard and I wanted to ty Martha Stewart's quinoa muffin recipe, with some variations of my own.

Verdict: 2.5 out of 5 stars. If you like quinoa, you might even give them a 3. These were healthy and moist and held together well. With the added apricots and almonds they also looked lovely. But I found the quinoa taste a little off-putting. Frankly I'll stick to using it as a substitute for rice, couscous or potatoes for meals from now on.

Oatmeal-quinoa muffins with fruit and nuts
Makes 12

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 1/4 cup grapeseed or any neutral tasting vegetable oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup wheat germ
• ½ cup quick cooking oats (not instant)
• 3/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup currants or raisins
• 1 dozen whole almonds
• Dried apricots, chopped to make 1 cup

• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, bring quinoa and 1 cup water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cover, and cook until water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender, around 10 minutes. Let cool.
2. Meanwhile brush a standard 12-cup muffin pan with the vegetable oil. You can also use melted butter. Dust with flour and tap out excess. Or just use a non-stick pan, and use paper muffin cups.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, wheat germ, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, currants, chopped apricots and 2 cups of the cooked quinoa.
4. In a smaller bowl, whisk together oil, milk, egg, vanilla and cinnamon. Add liquid mixture to flour mixture, and stir just until combined. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Stick two almonds into each muffin.
5. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Store in an airtight container up to 5 days.