These muffins are moist, not too sweet, and easy to make with relatively healthy ingredients. One of these ingredients is millet, and this is the first time I have ever used it.

At the beginning of this week, I made these muffins and ate the first one freshly baked with some tea. What I liked most was the moisture and the amount of sweetness, which was not overwhelming. As I ate it way too early, it was a little too moist. So I found out that the next day, or even after a few hours, the moisture finds its way, the flavours develop better, and the muffins overall taste much better and rich.

Millet is a naturally gluten-free grain rich in fibre and protein. Of course, here in this recipe, I used [wholegrain] spelt flour which is not gluten-free, but you can easily substitute it with a gluten-free flour mix. I am not entirely sure if a one-to-one substitute is the best way, though. The amount depends very much on the gluten-free flour mix you use. So you might need to do some experiments yourself.

I saw this recipe in a book about grains. I changed a couple of ingredients as I didn’t have them at home, but I had substitutes instead. The muffins are good to eat for up to 5 days when stored in an airtight container. Enjoy your new recipe!
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Ingredients:

Difficulty: Easy
(makes 12 muffins)

Printable PDF-recipe (no photos)

3.5 dl (or 1 1/2 cups or 175 gr) wholegrain spelt flour
1 tbsp + 2 tsp (or 25 gr) hulled millet (kuorittuhirssi in Finnish)
7.5 tbsp (or 75 gr) brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
75 gr butter, melted and cooled down a bit
2 large eggs
1.5 dl (or 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp or 150 gr) applesauce
2 tbsp + 1 tsp buttermilk
50 gr walnuts, roughly chopped
1 apple diced small
1 apple sliced thinly (try to have at least 24 slices)
1 tbsp powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Put 12 muffin papers on a muffin tin.

2. In a large bowl, put the first 7 ingredients above (ending with cinnamon) and whisk.

3. In a smaller bowl, put melted and slightly cooled butter and eggs and whisk well.

4. Add applesauce and buttermilk to the egg mixture and whisk well again.

5. Add the egg mixture to the dry flour mixture and gently fold until all dry ingredients are mixed well with wet ones.

6. Fold in walnuts and diced apples.

7. Divide the muffin batter equally into the muffin papers. Put 2 thin slices of apple on each muffin and push them into the batter gently a little.

8. Bake the muffins in the middle of the oven for about 22-25 minutes, until they get spongy and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, and then cover with powdered sugar. After that, take them out of the tin and let them cool on a wire rack. They will be delicious when they cool down, and they taste even better the next day. Keep them in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Enjoy!