These healthy quinoa flour muffins use a blend of whole grain flours like oat, quinoa, and almond to create a delicious muffin. Flavored with chai spices and topped with a delicious vegan icing!
When I was younger I used to love the chai lattes from Starbucks. They were like my favorite thing ever. They were super sweet, full of amazing flavor and I felt so fancy drinking them.
Nowadays? I've realized how much sugar those drinks actually have, so I tend to skip them in favor of a cappuccino instead. But that love for chai spiced things hasn't escaped me. It's still one of those blends that I just adore!
So today we're going to make our own DIY chai spice blend and stirring it into one of my other favorite morning treats: muffins! Quinoa flour muffins to be exact that are gluten-free, vegan, oil-free and healthy. Life is sounds pretty dang amazing right about now, don't you think!?
What is Chai Spice Made Of?
I've actually always wondered that myself! Typically when I make chai flavored things, I use chai tea bags that I steep into a strong liquid, but for these quinoa flour muffins, I wanted to use the actual spices.
So…what spices are in the classic chai spice? Traditionally it's…
- cinnamon
- ginger
- nutmeg
- cloves
- allspice
Sometimes you'll also see some black pepper thrown in there, but for baking, I like to leave that out. It's fabulous if you're using in a smoothie or something that can handle an extra kick, but for these muffins, we're sticking with the standard blend.
The Best Vegan Icing Recipe EVER
The next thing we need to discuss is icing. I've found it super challenging to find a recipe for a healthy icing as the main component in icing is powdered sugar.
Powdered sugar can be fine in doses, but it's not something I keep in my pantry, nor do I feel like it's something I want to add to my breakfast foods. Because after all muffins are meant for breakfast!
So I have finally found my solution: COCONUT BUTTER!
Coconut butter on its own is mildly sweet and to me as an almost frosting-like taste. But when melted? It makes a fabulous vegan icing/glaze. All you need to do is melt you coconut butter in the microwave or on the stove until it's a drizzlable texture. If it doesn't loosen up, add in some MCT oil until you get the texture.
You can also flavor it a bit by adding in some vanilla bean powder (or the actual beans) and mabye some drops of liquid stevia if you want it even sweeter. Either way, coconut butter glaze is my new favorite thing! You can expect to see it quite a bit going forward ????
Healthy Gluten-Free & Vegan Muffins
If you've made any of my other muffin recipes before, then you know I'm a big fan of this flour combo.
- Oat flour makes things a little chewy, but also very moist and springy.
- Almond flour provides healthy fats which help to keep things cakey and a little lighter.
- Quinoa flour adds protein which helps with the muffin's structure and rise
With that blend, we're also doing a few more things to make these muffins really healthy. We're using applesauce to replace some sugar and oil, sweetening with maple syrup instead of refined sugar and we've also added in some apple cider vinegar to make them nice and fluffy!
Overall, these chai spiced quinoa flour muffins are a treat you can feel GOOD about! They're full of complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, fiber, and even protein. And I'd definitely say they're an awesome breakfast option!
More Healthy Gluten-Free Muffin Recipes
- Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Blueberry Muffins
- Vegan Double Chocolate Muffins
- Gluten-Free Banana Bread Muffins
- Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Healthy Honey Applesauce Blender Muffins
Chai Spice Oat & Quinoa Flour Muffins
Ingredients
wet ingredients:
- 1 flax egg 1 tbsp flaxseed meal + 3 tbsp water
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
dry ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cup oat flour (oats ground in a blender)
- 2/3 cup quinoa flour
- 2/3 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
for the icing:
- 1/4 cup coconut butter (melted)
- MCT oil (as needed)
- Vanilla bean powder or paste (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin and set aside.
- Combine the flax and water and set aside to gel while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
- In a small bowl, beat together applesauce, milk and syrup. Whisk in flax egg.
- Add the dry ingredients directly into the bowl with the wet and stir to thoroughly combine.
- Fill each cup 3/4 of the way full and let rest for 5 minutes before baking.
- Bake on the center rack for 24 - 26 minutes until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 2 - 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Resist the urge to not break into them; cooling them will allow everything to set properly.
- Drizzle on coconut butter if using and enjoy! If desired, reheat in the toaster oven or in the microwave.
Video
Nutrition
Amazing, made the a couple times, but an altered version based on what I had. Made my own oat and quinoa flour with a spice/coffee grinder. I didnt have applesauce so used 3 flax eggs (3 tbsp ground flax + 6.5 tbsp water) and a banana instead. Reduced the amount of sugar to 1/8 cup white sugar, and added 3 tspn cinnamon (love it), ginger, and 1/4 tspn nutmeg. Did not make icing (sugar control) lol. Delicious variant recipe. Thank you!!
Great gluten free muffin and an interesting flavour. I used a retired coffee grinder and ground the oat flakes and quinoa seed to a flour-like consistency. I like to weigh my dry ingredients and in this case that info would have been helpful to me. Grinding worked well. I combined the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then added the combo to the wet ingredients. I did that so the baking soda and powder didn’t activate while I was busy measuring the spices. I use silicone muffin cups, so next time i may put a little circle of parchment on the bottom of each cup before adding the filling. Thanks for sharing!
Can you make quinoa flour out of quinoa?
We haven’t tried making quinoa flour at home. You might be able to do it with a high speed blender but a grinder would be better.
Just made these! Had to sub 1/3 cup sorghum flour and 1/3 cup garbanzo flour for the almond flour, because I was out, but pleasantly surprised with the recipe. Very tasty and a beautiful texture. Thank you for the recipe.
Thanks for sharing your substitutions, Peggy 🙂 I’m so glad you liked the muffins!!
Please suggest any substitute for almond flour!
I don’t have one, unfortunately!
I didn’t have almond flour available, so just switched it out with some Bob’s Red Mill GF Baking Flour. Turned out great!
Hi just FYI in the instructions above you’ve left out the cider vinegar… i see it added in the demo video, but good to update for thoroughness.
Thanks so much for catching that! I’ll update 🙂
I never write any comments or reviews but this recipe wss absolutely the best. I’ve tried countless gluten free recipes and they were all just ok. Not only is this recipe great but all recipes from simply quinoa have yet to let me down. I thank you so much!
Yay!! I’m so so SO happy to hear that 🙂 thank you, Rosa!
Could an egg be used in placr of the flax egg? And would the recipe still workout without the added sugar?
Thanks!
Yes, you can definitely use an egg instead of the flax. Sugar is a bit trickier, but you could try swapping it with banana or applesauce!
Love these muffins! For some reason I had quite a lot of batter left. But as I don’t like to throw away food I used the leftovers to make pancakes. Best idea ever, they ended up tasting like Christmas morning 🙂 quite sweet, but my husband and I ate them for dessert with some vanilla ice cream:) Thanks for this recipe!
Such a great idea!!! Maybe your pan is just a bit smaller than mine or something 😉
As a lover of chai, these are my favorite muffins. Easy to whip up and even delicious without the icing too!
yay! so glad you like them 🙂 xox
Can I use coconut flour in place of the almond and adjust the liquids?
I don’t think so since coconut flour is its town animal in terms of baking! I’d suggest finding a coconut flour muffin recipe that was developed specifically for that flour 🙂
What can I use in place of quinoa flour?
Maybe oat! I haven’t tested, so I’m not sure 🙂
What is the purpose of the quinoa flour?
It adds protein, structure and flavor to the muffins!
I made these chai muffins. I am fighting a weight issue and sweets are my downfall. These muffins are low in sugar and taste great. The only thing I will change the next is add a little sweet to the coconut butter. These are a lovely, healthier choice for those that have a hard time giving up those prepackaged sweet cakes in a box. Good luck.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!! Add a drop or two of liquid stevia would be perfect for the icing 🙂
These look absolutely delicious!! I’ve been meaning to ask you, and I know it’s a crazy question given your blog name! But I’m highly sensitive to quinoa, so I avoid using it in recipes. Such a bummer, because I love the taste of it, but it causes me such pain! What do you recommend as a substitute for quinoa flakes? Thank you!
Oops I meant to say what should I use in place for the quinoa flour? I have seen some recipes that call for quinoa flakes, but I haven’t made either of those types of recipes because of the quinoa flakes or flour ingredients. I’d love to know of a substitute! I’m gluten free as well!