Chickpea and Apricot Muffins

Chickpeas and apricots: now those are healthy ingredients in a muffin! This recipe was emailed to me from the Simply Great Meals Recipe Club. I haven't yet made it but it caught my attention because I was impressed by the healthy ingredients, particularly the inclusion of chickpeas and from a search on Zaar I couldn't find any muffin recipes containing chickpeas.

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 12
• Yields: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 150  g  dried apricots
• 1  cup  apricot nectar
• 1 (400 g) can chickpeas, drained
• 2  eggs
• 1  cup low-fat milk
• 80  g butter, melted
• 2 1⁄2 cups self-raising flour
• 1⁄3 cup  desiccated coconut
• 1  cup dark brown sugar
•  icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

Directions

1. Place the apricots and apricot nectar in a small saucepan and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
2. Place the apricot mixture and chickpeas in a food processor and process until smooth. Set aside to cool.
3. Stir the eggs, milk and melted butter into the chickpea mixture until all the ingredients are well combined.
4. Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the coconut and brown sugar.
5. Gradually stir the chickpea mixture into the flour and sugar mixture, and mix until all the ingredients are well combined.
6. Spoon the muffin mixture into 12 greased 1/2 cup muffin pans and bake in a preheated oven at 180ºC for 20-25 minutes.
7. When cooked, remove the muffins from the oven and allow to stand in the pan for 5 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool, dust with icing sugar and serve (optional).
8. TIP: Use half wholemeal self-raising flour to white to increase the fibre content.
9. NOTE: In step 6, the recipe specified 12 1/2 inch muffin cups but then said that the recipe made 15 muffins, so you may find that there is enough mixture for 15 not 12 muffins. I've specified 12 for the sake of consistency. Please clarify this point if you make and review this recipe before I make it. Once I know, I'll get the yield corrected if the mixture is indeed sufficient for 15 muffins.