Lemon and Orange Chia Seed Muffins

Muffins! They're cake that you can eat for breakfast, what's not to like?

The best part of any food (song, smell, person, or place for that matter) is when you're hit over the head with a very specific memory of a happy place and time in your past causing a big, goofy grin to spread across your face. Lemon poppy seed muffins rock my socks and immediately transport me back to the vacations of my childhood in Florida. Our favorite breakfast spot was the Broken Egg on Siesta Key and their lemon poppy seed muffins were always a tasty treat to start my day.

All that being said, I can't remember the last time I had a lemony breakfast cake speckled with tiny seeds of happiness and I'm sure that I've never made them. These muffins are a collaboration brought to you by two friends of mine - Bob and Sally. 

The term friends is used generously here, as Sally is a baker/blogger whom I've never met and Bob is the namesake of a company! Sally's Baking Addiction was the inspiration behind this recipe and Bob's Red Mill recently sent me a boat load of goodies including Chia seeds.   

Besides making those cute little pets, ch-ch-ch-chia seeds are a member of the mint family. Now a very trendy health food, #chiaseeds were part of Aztec and Mayan diets and they're packed full of goodies like omega3, protein, and fiber. 

Ancient warrior food, novelty plants (including Duck Dynasty), and now muffins! There's no stopping the ch-ch-ch-chia. Honestly they don't have much of a flavor, but neither do poppy seeds. These ones are better for you and have a longer shelf-life. Win-win.

Lemon and Orange Chia Seed Muffins

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Makes roughly 16 muffins

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour

1/2 of a cup of sugar

1/4 of a cup of brown sugar

3 Tablespoons of chia seeds 

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 of a teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 of a teaspoon salt

1/2 of a cup of melted butter

1 Tablespoon of Penzys Lemon Peel (re hydrated with 3 Tablespoons of water)

Juice and zest of one orange

2 large eggs

1/2 of a cup of plain yogurt

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Muffin tins and papers, too!

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Stuff muffin tins with empty papers.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugars, chia seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, mixing well. 

In another bowl, whisk together the melted butter, lemon peel, orange juice and zest, until combined. Add the eggs, whisk. Add the yogurt and vanilla, and whisk again.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing together until just combined. Expect the batter to be quite thick, being careful not to over mix. Fill the muffin papers and bake for 5 minutes at 425.

After 5 minutes, leaving the muffins in the oven, reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake for 10 - 13 minutes more until the tops are golden brown. (I'd never before heard of or done anything like this, although my girl Sally can certainly be trusted!)

They turned out to be citrus-y perfection! My hubby and I had a few for dessert the evening they were baked and a couple more the next day for breakfast. They're good both warm and cool and they're not too sweet for eating first thing in the morning. 

They'd freeze wonderfully and I'll be making them again before my next road trip or airport adventure, regardless of the time of day!

I shared my muffins with colleagues who were happy to gobble them up. After leaving the last of the bunch in a coworkers office I received this photo:

Sharing is caring, right? Thanks Bob and Sally for sharing!