Well, how many people resolved over the holidays that the time had come to really commit to their goals to eat healthier, sleep more, exercise better, and all those other equally noble, important things?
Yeah, me too.
Then I got hooked on Suits the very first week of the new year, and sleep and exercise went out the window. There is no time for anything right now but to finish all the (too many) episodes and move on with my life. I haven’t gotten into a show in ages, as we don’t have regular TV anymore and I never bother to look for something to watch on Netflix unless it’s an occasional animal documentary or something equally lame that I can’t help but love with an undying love. (Coconut crabs, you guys. Those things are incredible.)
As soon as this series is done I have to close my ears to the follow-up recommendations people have been giving me and go back to never watching anything and not caring how out-of-touch I was. This show has taken over my life like a good book does, but a book is easier to finish. I am a fast reader, and if I’m into a book I can reasonably commit to finishing it before going to bed, or it will just play out in scene after crazy scene in my dreams and I’ll awake no more rested than I was before going to bed. This show is like that, only it takes so.much.longer to get through and I have to go through the motions of laying in bed even if I never sleep without visions of good looking people in fabulous clothes with exceedingly stressful lives running through my mind.
So, no sleep or exercise, but there’s never a good excuse not to eat healthy. (Ok, one of you is probably thinking of an excellent excuse this very moment, go ahead and tell me.)
But I have no excuse. Muffins like these that taste delicious and pack serious nutrition making eating healthy easy. It also helps that my two youngest boys love these, and they make great lunches and afternoon snacks. While my Best Ever Berry Muffins are still the best berry muffins (ahem, *cupcakes*) in the land, these are their healthier, still delicious, cousins. Every family needs a cousin with a good healthy makeover, right?
I promise you can’t taste the lentils. If you’ve had lentils in other things you might be thinking there will be an odd pea-soup sort of taste, but I made these on the sly and asked everyone if they liked them before listing the ingredients for them, and no one even guessed anything was odd. And when I made them again, they knowingly still ate them. If you want to increase your fibre and protein intake in a handy portable muffin, this is your lucky day :)
Lentils and oats and berries. You know you want to try them. And when you buy a bag of red lentils and realize you only need 1/4 cup and want to mutter things at me, don’t do it. Make my carrot lentil soup instead and love me more.
- ¼ cup split red lentils
- ¼ cup old-fashioned large flake oats
- 1 cup water
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup melted butter or vegetable oil
- 1 cup fresh or frozen berries (if frozen, do NOT thaw first) - we love a mix of raspberries and blueberries!
- In medium saucepan, combine lentils, oats, and water. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat and let stand for 5-10 minutes to cool and for some of the water to absorb.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Gently stir in berries.
- When lentil mixture has cooled enough that you can comfortably put your finger in it, whisk in the milk, egg, and butter (or oil). Add to dry ingredients and stir just until combined - it will be a bit lumpy, but there should be no dry flour showing.
- Divide batter over 12 paper-lined muffin cups. Sprinkle tops with extra oats, sunflower seeds, or a bit of granulated sugar for garnish, if desired. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until edges are just golden and a tester comes out clean from the center. Let sit in pans for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
Adapted from lentils.ca, which also lists the nutritional information if you’re interested :)
I had lentils in the pantry and blueberries that I needed to use so decided to make it expecting to throw out… Exceeded my expectations!!! These muffins are DELICIOUS!!! And sure enough, there is no lentil flavor. So good that I had seconds! Amazing! Don’t hesitate to make!!
These muffins are great. I made them first according to the recipe but subbed 1/2 cup whole wheat flower and my kiddos LOVED them. I’m now experimenting. Great recipe and base for experimenting! Yummy.
So…I made them…We ate them but….still not convinced. Is it just meal or does anything with oats leave me feeling hungry. Maybe my body doesn’t process them very well….who knows. Anyway, it was a good excuse to buy lentils.
Haha, yes, I think oats are supposed to be filling…although these muffins probably don’t have enough for them to be. You’ll have to make the carrot lentil soup now…I know that one will convince you ;)
I love hearty muffins like this! Perfect for breakfast on-the-go!
Anna, I smiled at you telling us not to mutter at you when we realize we only need 1/4 cup of the lentils! That just means we’ll get to make more muffins before we need to remember to buy lentils again, right? I think I need to put lentils on my grocery list for tomorrow…these look well worth trying.
So I read through this recipe yesterday, but didn’t add lentils to my grocery list. Then this morning I went grocery shopping, and lo and behold, the lentils totally caught my eye when I walked by them in the aisle, and normally I never notice them! It’s meant to be! I bought the lentils and will be trying these muffins soon. :) Plus, I figure these muffins would be a nice addition to our “trying-to-eat-healthier” life.
Interesting combo…will have to try them :)