Asparagus herb muffins

Have you ever thought about baking with asparagus? As in grating it up and throwing it in a batch of muffins? Well, that’s what I did yesterday, without hesitation, because these are the kinds of crazy things I do for the SOS Kitchen Challenge.

And boy, was I pleased with the outcome: light, flavourful, herb-scented muffins that are coloured with flecks of red sundried tomatoes and bright green asparagus. And the best part (I know you’ll love this!) is that they’re completely free of all sugars and sugar subsitutes. Yep, no sugar. None. Nadda. Zero. Zilch.

I wouldn’t suggest trying to grate asparagus by hand, unless you want to grate off your finger in the process. It’s much easier to put the grating disc on your food processor and feed the stalks through the feed tube while the processor is running. I used about half a batch of asparagus to get one grated cup full. After they’ve baked and cooled, you can enjoy these colourful treats alongside a big bowl of soup or salad.

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Asparagus herb muffins

Yield: one dozen

Ingredients:

• 1 cup spelt flour
• 3/4 cup unbleached flour (or more spelt)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup nondairy milk
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup grated asparagus
• 1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes, soaked until soft

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the spelt flour, unbleached flour, baking powder, baking soda, basil, oregano and salt. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the nondairy milk, vinegar and olive oil.
3. Pour the liquid mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture and stir just to combine. Fold in the asparagus and sundried tomotoes.
4. Spoon the batter into an oiled muffin pan, filling each tin 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge or freezer.