Healthier Rhubarb Walnut Muffins

Healthier Rhubarb Walnut Muffins

This recipe is made with wheat, but if you are gluten free- I suggest trying it also (directions for gf are included below). I prefer to use fresh ground flour. I use a nutrimill grain mill to grind my flour, and I absolutely love it. The company is awesome. Why grind your own flour? Check out Mother Earth News for a great article on it HERE. In a nutshell, you get fresh- not rancid flour, that can be organic, certified chemical free, and more! You have choices without paying astronomical prices. If you get a mill, it is an investment- that WILL pay for itself. I buy my wheat berries from Country Life Natural Foods. 

About this recipe- these muffins are earthy with a sweet tang of rhubarb. If you like to get nutty, it includes walnuts as well. Walnuts are full of healthy oils for you. You will also be getting benefits of whole oats, and ground flax if you decide to add those to your recipe as well! Aren't you feeling healthier- just reading all of this! Now time to get mixing and baking!!

Recipe Yield:

16-17 Muffins

Prep Time 15-20 minutes

Bake time 25-30 minutes

Dry Ingredients: 
1 C. All Purpose flour (can substitute whole wheat- but add 1/4 tsp more baking powder, or sub GF flour- such as 1 to 1 Bob's Red Mill).
1-1.5 C. Whole Wheat flour (I used freshly ground hard red spring wheat berries, or sub more GF flour)
2 Tbsp. Ground Flax (optional)
1/2 C. Whole Oats
1.5 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/2-3/4 C. Chopped Walnuts

Wet Ingredients: 

2 C. Washed and Chopped Rhubarb

1 C. Brown Sugar

1/2 C. Oil (Canola, Coconut, or other good baking oil of choice)

2 Eggs

1 C. Milk

2 Tsp. Vanilla

Directions: 
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin tins with either liners or grease.
2) Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl, and all wet ingredients in another. Add dry ingredients to wet and thoroughly mix. You want your muffin batter to be a similar consistency to thick pancake batter. This is why the ingredients give a variation of 1-1.5 cups of your whole wheat flour (or GF). Start with the 1 cup of whole wheat and add more as needed until you have that thick pancake batter consistency.
3) With a spoon or 2 oz scooper (a scooper/disher is one of my fave kitchen tools), scoop your muffin batter into the muffin tins- about 3/4 of the way full for each. Once all are scooped- sprinkle them with extra whole oats for a fun look and extra fiber (this is not necessary though). You can also give it all a light dusting of cinnamon if you'd like.
4) Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. This is a big range, but depending on what flour you use- it really does effect the time. Plus it's good to get it to the level of golden that you prefer as a baker (and of course an eater, lol).

Look at that! Yum time!!