My gleeful love of baking anything in a mini-muffin pan was born out of a pin I found from Iowa Girl Eats for Mini Cinnamon Rolls. I made a batch for Christmas morning breakfast last year and they were a HUGE hit.
But cinnamon rolls aren’t exactly easy on a girl’s figure. Apparently this crazy grain, quinoa, is so I decided to try it. And what better way than in a mini-muffin pan? And boy did Kristin come through again with this recipe! Mini Ham & Cheese Quinoa Cups.
Her directions are pretty straight forward. If you have a summer garden, then this recipe would be great to adapt as a way of using up some of those excessive stocks of zucchini that wont stop growing, as well as various other veggies you’re in the mood for. The ingredients are all pretty simple.
The chopping/dicing prep needed really makes me feel like I’m *actually* cooking (instead of stirring mac’n’cheese from a box). And when you have all the dry ingredients together it looks so colorful!
…But then you add the egg and it starts to look like….. welll. Yeah.
But then the anticipation once they’re in the oven and cooking builds and in about 20 minutes you get something like this:
Annnnd finally the taste-test.
When I was originally baking these last week, I instagrammed an ‘in progress’ shot before I put the pan in the oven, and since then I’ve linked a handful of friends who all agree it’s quite tasty! And at 47 calories each, they’re an excellent alternative to the boring Smart Ones I’ve been defaulting to lately.
Overall, I’d say this is an excellent treat to try for your first foray into quinoa. Easy, straight forward, and healthy. Can’t beat that! I will surely be making these for Bill and I when I’m in Pittsburgh next.
Have you found any fun quinoa recipes lately? And am I the only one who just loves to say ‘quinoa’?
~ Beth
B & B Build A Life 
Awww, this looks so fantastic, well done!! =)