I was contacted quite a long while back by Bluechai, an organic tea company based out of Thailand. They wanted to send a free sample packet of their loose Bluechai tea to me to try out. All natural and organic blue... tea? Amazing!
I was in not compensated by Bluechai, and all of the opinions and views expressed here are my own.
The tea is made from some beautiful blue butterfly pea flowers and is the world's first and only blue tea. It's caffeine free (which means that I can give it to my little blue-loving princess without a bit of guilt) and has some amazing health benefits to boot!
I'll admit, when I first got my packet of Bluechai, I was a little skeptical and completely unsure what I was going to do with those little flowers. I've never worked with looseleaf tea before, never mind that these were actually tea flowers.
I wavered back and forth for a long time. The packet kept being moved from the counter, to the pantry, to the counter, to the pantry... Every time I saw the packet I would start spinning my wheels trying to think of what I would do with it.
My mom brought over her metal tea ball which she graciously let me borrow, thinking that perhaps I would use the little flowers to make an all natural food coloring for a... cake? No. Cupcakes? No. Ahah! Muffins!
As soon as I started making these, I fell in love with Bluechai. The color of the tea is absolutely beautiful. I had three generations (my grandmother, myself, and my daughter) all standing over the tea cup watching in amazement as the water went from clear to a brilliant blue.
And while my muffins didn't turn out blue as I had wanted them, they still tasted amazing!
I even used some of the left over tea that I had steeped to make my daughter a cold blue tea over ice with honey to drink while she scarfed down her muffin. She was tickled blue and kept telling me, "Momma, I like it! Momma, I like it!"
I'm a happy momma this morning.
Skinny Bluechai Muffins
TheSkinnyFork.com
The Skinny:
Servings: 12 • Size: 1 Muffin • Calories: 118 • Fat: 1.2 g • Carb: 24.5 g • Fiber: 1.9 g • Protein: 3.4 g • Sugar: 9.8 g • Sodium: 214.7 mg
Ingredients:
Muffins:
6 Tsp. Bluechai Tea Flowers, Divided
1/2 C. Hot Water
1 3/4 C. (7.9 Oz.) Flour (I used half All-Purpose and half Whole Wheat White.)
1/4 C. Brown Sugar, Packed
1/4 C. Stevia in the Raw (Or other C. for C. sweetener.)
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1/2 C. Fat Free Milk
1/4 C. Unsweetened Applesauce
1 Egg
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
Glaze:
1/4 C. Confectioner Sugar
1 1/2 Tsp. Fat Free Milk
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla Bean Paste
2 Tbsp. Pistachios, Shelled & Crushed
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
I like to give the inside of my liners a quick spritz of non-stick baking spray to make for easy removal from the paper later.
Steep about 4 tsp. Bluechai tea flowers in the water for 3-8 minutes.
While the tea is steeping, whisk together the flour, sugar/sweetener, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
Mince the remaining 2 tsp. tea flowers.
In a separate smaller bowl, combine the milk, applesauce, egg, vanilla, chopped tea flowers and the blue tea (once ready.)
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined.
Yeah, it turns kinda... green. Don't let that scare you - they come out more of a brown when they're baked!
Fill the muffin tins evenly and place the pan into the oven to bake for about 15 minutes or until the muffins are cooked through.
While the muffins are baking, combine the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
If the glaze is too runny, add a little more confectioner sugar. If the glaze is too thick, add a little more milk!
Once done, remove the pan from the oven.
See. What did I tell you? Brown!
Transfer the muffins onto a cooling rack and allow to cool entirely.
Drizzle the glaze over each muffin evenly and sprinkle with the crushed pistachios.
Serve with a side of some fresh fruit and enjoy!
