Pin-tested Quinoa Berry Bliss Bites

Hi Everyone! Before I get into these yummy, healthy, filling little muffins, I want to let everyone know that I am currently taking requests for healthy pins you have been wanting to try and just haven't gotten around to making. I'll be making a list and you might just see a recipe you can finally try in confidence.

Also, let me just say that I am not a chef. I am not a nutritionist. I am just a mom, a fat girl turned chubby turning fit girl, if you will.

Ok, the moment you've all been waiting for......

QUINOA BERRY BLISS BITES!!!

It seems like anytime I am searching for new quinoa recipes to test out I am noticing a repetitive pin pattern of this gorgeous little nummy. They are from a website called DAMY HEALTH. (They have some other great looking recipes there also ;) ) So here's the recipe:

Prep time: 5 Minutes – Cook time: 35 Minutes – Total time: 40 Minutes
Yield: Makes 12 Quinoa Berry Bliss Bites

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cups Cooked Quinoa
• Juice of 1/2 Lemon
• Zest of 1/2 Lemon
• 4 Packets Stevia
• 1 Tbsp Honey
• 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
• Dash of Salt
• 5 Egg Whites
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Cup Berries (If using strawberries – dice)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Spray regular muffin tin with a healthy, non-stick cooking spray.
3. Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix completely.
4. Let set for a couple minutes in the bowl.
5. Using a 1/4 cup as your scoop, scoop mixture into muffin tin filling each cup half way.
6. Place in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and let cool for a few moments in the muffin tin before gently removing them from the muffin tin and placing them on a cooling rack.
8. Tip – using a knife to release the muffins from the edge of the muffin tin is the best way to get these out easily.
9. Enjoy!

Seems easy enough right? I had to try it. I picked up some of the ingredients I was lacking at the store yesterday and honestly couldn't wait to pop these things in my oven this morning.

For those of you who don't know my new b.f.f. Quinoa, you can head over here and educate yourself!! Furthermore, if you think to yourself.."I couldn't ever cook that stuff! I don't even know how to SAY Quinoa! (Keen-Wah btw) let alone cook the stuff!" Do yourself a favor and read the simple walkthrough for cooking Quinoa here. There..no more excuses k?

SO! Off I went! I preheated my oven to 350 degrees and gathered all my ingredients..

MMMM. My mouth was watering!

Next step was cooking my quinoa. The first part is toasting it. I took a tbs. of coconut oil (my favorite is pictured below)

There's my quinoa getting all toasty..you want to toast it for about 5 mins. after you start to smell the nuttyness(?). While that got all toasty, I started on my mixing bowl.

The recipe says to mix all the other ingredients in a bowl, and since I have a little o.c.d. I go top to bottom on the ingredients list usually.

So that's:

the zest of 1/2 a lemon, with 1/2 a lemon's juice

4 packets of Stevia in the raw

1tbs Honey

1/2tsp Baking SODA (I always confuse it with the other one..like I said, I'm not a chef!)

Dash of salt

5 egg whites

1tsp vanilla

and 1 cup of berries

I used 1/2 cup of blueberries and 1/2 cup of raspberries, just because that's what I felt like eating..but you could really put anything you like in these.

Fast forward to my quinoa being done since I'm assuming you've done your "how to cook quinoa homework" as assigned above..you mix the quinoa into the wet ingredient bowl. I chose to fold in the berries at the very end...but I suck at life and they still bled all over my pretty quinoa..oh wells!

Now you're ready to bake! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Calm down ok!

Spray a muffin pan with some cooking spray (may I suggest Trader Joe's coconut oil spray?) and spoon the mixture into the muffin molds.

Pop these bad boys in the oven for 30-35 minutes per the recipe (I did 30 and they were PERFECT.)

I let them cool for a few minutes...who am I kidding I couldn't wait to move them to my cooling rack as soon as the pan hit the counter.

After they stopped steaming and were cool enough for human consumption...I had to have one.

So what is my final take on these "Quinoa Berry Bliss Bites"? They were really good! If you go into any healthy food adjustment hoping you won't be able to notice a difference in taste I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment. These are not blueberry muffins with a streusel topping from your favorite bakery..but these are great if you are on the go, need a snack, are craving something a little sweet, or just need to get a surprisingly healthy meal into your mouth hole a.s.a.p. So feel free to try them! Tell me what you think!