These Orange Earl Grey Muffins are a delicious and healthy option for breakfast, snacks, or afternoon tea. Sweetened with honey, made with whole-grain flour, and studded with millet, the Earl Grey tea and orange zest add a delicate flavour to this healthy muffin recipe that you're sure to love.
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What if you could take your favourite tea and put it into your favourite breakfast food? I mean, what a journey that would be, right?
Well that's exactly what's happening here with these Orange Earl Grey Muffins. They're healthy wholegrain muffins naturally sweetened with honey and freshly squeezed orange juice, studded with crunchy millet, and oh so fragrant thanks to Earl Grey tea baked right into the muffin.
I feel like we should be having a fancy tea party with these, and to be honest they'd be great as part of a highbrow spread. But with the heft and sturdiness of wholegrain flour they'd be equally comfortable tossed into your backpack for a midmorning snack.
What's in this recipe?
The ingredients list is short and sweet, my friends, and I'm willing to bet you probably already have most of what you need on hand.
- Butter --> The queen of fats.
- Earl Grey tea --> A couple of bags.
- Honey --> For a touch of sweetness.
- Orange --> We're using both juice and zest.
- Millet --> For some nutty crunch!
- Flour --> Going in with both wholegrain spelt flour and all-purpose.
- Yogurt --> For moisture and tang.
- Egg --> Our binding crew.
- Baking soda --> For lift!
- Salt --> For balance.
Equipment:
All you really need is a bowl and a whisk to bring this recipe together. You will of course need some muffin tins to bake these beauties in as well.
You'll also need a saucepan for melting the butter mixture in, and a small pan for toasting the millet. But that's it. That's all.
How to make this recipe
You'll find detailed instructions for these Earl Grey Muffins in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. For now, we'll quickly walk through it together.
First up, toast your millet! It only takes a few minutes and brings out a delightful, nutty flavour.
Next we're going to melt the butter and honey together with the earl grey tea. I prefer to use tea bags rather than high-quality loose leaf tea as it's ground quite finely.
Once melted, set the honey-tea-butter aside to cool a bit.
Next up, wet mix! Combine the yogurt, orange juice, orange zest, and egg in a large bowl. Mix it up!
Add the cooled butter mixture and mix again.
Now it's time for the dry stuff! I'm using my lazy baker's one-bowl technique where I add all of the dry ingredients right on top of the wet and mix the dry stuff lightly together with a fork before mixing it down into the muffin mix.
Lastly, add the toasted millet.
Now scoop into muffin tins (I grease mine with butter) and bake for 20-25 minutes until your muffins are puffed, golden, and wonderfully fragrant.
Pop them up onto their sides to cool, and put on a pot of tea. You're going to love these!
Pro tips / recipe notes
What's the best tea for baking with? Although I am a total tea snob and prefer drinking high-quality loose-leaf tea, I don't see any point in wasting the good stuff in baking. Tea from tea bags is usually ground quite finely as well, which makes it ideal for baking with.
If good quality loose-leaf tea is what you have on hand, you can totally still use it. Just be sure to grind it up finely before adding it to the muffin mix.
Can you freeze Earl Grey muffins? You sure can! Nothing makes me happier than having a batch of muffins in the freezer for grab-and-go breakfasts or snacks.
To freeze muffins, simply cool completely and then toss into a freezer bag, and then into the freezer. Frozen muffins will last for about 3 months.
Are these muffins healthy? Well, friends, they're certainly healthier than your average coffee shop muffin. The sugar is very reduced compared to most muffins, and these are naturally sweetened with honey.
There is also a good amount of fiber, and thanks to the whole-grain spelt flour and millet.
Other recipes you might enjoy:
Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
Whole Wheat Ricotta Muffins
Carrot Pineapple Muffins
No Sugar Banana Bran Muffins
Healthy Cherry Muffins
Orange Earl Grey Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup millet toasted
- ¼ cup butter
- ⅓ cup honey
- 2 earl grey tea bags or 2 teaspoon ground earl grey tea
- 1 cup plain, full-fat yoghurt
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 Tablespoon orange zest
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup spelt flour or whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F. Brush muffin tins with butter and set aside.
- Set a small skillet over medium heat and pour ½ cup millet in it. Allow it to toast, stirring frequently, until it has become lightly browned and is fragrant. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
- Combine ¼ cup butter, ⅓ cup honey, and tea from two Earl Grey tea bags in a small sauce pan. Set over medium heat until the butter is just melted. Whisk together and set aside to cool slightly.
- In a large bowl mix 1 cup yogurt, 1 large egg, ¼ cup orange juice, and 1 tablespoon orange zest together.
- Add the slightly cooled butter mixture and whisk well to combine everything.
- Add 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup spelt or whole wheat flour, 1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda, and ½ teaspoon salt directly on top of the wet mix.
- Use a fork to light mix the dry ingredients together, and then mix down into the wet mix until just combined.
- Add the toasted millet to the bowl, and mix to combine.
- Spoon the muffin mixture into 12 prepared muffin tins.
- Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Muffins should be puffed up and golden. Pop out of the tins and cool resting on their sides.
- Serve warm, or room temperature.
Notes
- Nutrition values are an estimate only.
- What's the best tea for baking with? Tea from tea bags is usually ground quite finely as well, which makes it ideal for baking with. If good quality loose-leaf tea is what you have on hand, you can totally still use it. Just be sure to grind it up finely before adding it to the muffin mix.
- Can you freeze Earl Grey muffins? You sure can! To freeze muffins, simply cool completely and then toss into a freezer bag, and then into the freezer. Frozen muffins will last for about 3 months.
Nutrition
This recipe was first published on March 28, 2012. It was re-tested, re-photographed, and updated on November 30, 2021.
Lisa says
I made these yesterday and sadly they did not turn out. Were quite dry and tasteless for me. Not sure what went wrong, possibly the new brand of Earl Grey tea I bought but they had little taste and a lot of crunch from the millet The recipe has a lot of steps and I followed them exactly but sadly I won't make them again.
Katie Trant says
Bummed that these didn't work for you, Lisa! Who knows whether it was the brand of tea or something else. We love them, but not every recipe works for every person.
Deborah says
This recipe sounds amazing. What would you use to substitute for honey in this recipe?
I've been vegetarian for a long time and follow Ayurveda as best I can, which recommends to not cook honey.
Katie Trant says
You could replace it with agave nectar or another liquid sweetener.
Jennie says
Yum! I woke up excited to try something new and really thought I had millet in the pantry. When I didn't find any, I opted to substitute rolled oats, which I also toasted. Not bad. But I think millet goes on the shopping list for next time. The orange and Earl Grey flavors are fantastic together. Thank you!
Katie Trant says
Aren't they lovely flavours together? The toasted millet does provide a lovely crunch, so do try it some time!
Holly. says
This is an amazing site. Love everything about it. I find that I am learning many new things about nutrition. Thank you!
Ps. It's freezing here in CT and I will definitely make the muffins tonight!
Holly
Katie Trant says
Thanks Holly! Glad to have you here, and that you're learning. Enjoy the muffins, they're some of my favourites!
Nicole Auville says
Oh, these look amazing. Do you think I can make them without the millet? I don't have any...
I can't wait until my house smells citrus and bergamot.
themuffinmyth says
You could leave the millet out, you'd just be missing the little crunchy bits in each bite. I certainly encourage you to try them with the millet in the future, though, they're really nice!
Cammy says
Oooh, I'm gonna use cream of earl grey tea....
themuffinmyth says
If you use that then you'll want to grind it up first. The tea I used came out of bags and was already quite powdery. I imagine that cream of earl grey would add great flavour! Let me know how they turn out.
Tessa says
I've gradually come to the realization that many commercial cereals are essentially micro muffin mix and can be categorized the same way, food or dessert. Some look amazingly healthy and yet are suspiciously sweet and delicious.
In a muffin you make yourself, you put in whatever you want to eat. I'd be happy to eat these...and love the orange...weekday or other.
Leanne says
I have a similar system for muffins-- most (commercial) breakfast food, I find, is actually a dessert!! Drives me nuts, but I love that you argue semantics with children over this!!
These sound really good, I've never cooked with tea or millet before, I think I'll try these out while my sister's in town this weekend. We both love to eat and analyze.
themuffinmyth says
Did you give them a try?