Ragi Chocolate Cupcakes | Panjipullu(Finger Millet) Choco Cupcakes ~ Step by Step Pics

As we all know ragi or finger millet is a power pack of energy and is much needed for all age groups esp growing children. Ragi is one of the best non diary sources of calcium. Regular consumption of ragi is beneficial for bone health and keeps osteoporosis at bay and reduces risk of fracture. The phytochemicals in ragi slows the digestive process and so its highly benefical to patients with diabetes, controls blood sugar effectively. Ragi is also beneficial to relax, reduce stress and reduce migraine attacks. These tiny seeds are good source of natural iron and so helps maintain the overall health. I use finger millet to prepare puttu,ada, peechappam, porridge, laddus and many other kids friendly recipes that are devoured happily without much fuss.

Honestly speaking, I have never tried ragi in bakes until recently. The reason being very obvious, that whole ragi flour is gluten-free like rice flour and so tends to remain very dry in most recipes. The right mixing of the ragi flour with any of the gluten flours gives you excellent results too. Also, when baking with whole flours, you must be careful when beating the wet ingredients. Off late, I learnt a few tricks and tips to get the whole flours in baking. The eggs shouldn't be beaten very fluffy and light when mixing to whole flours, as the whole flour like wheat or ragi tends to flatten the aeration in the beaten egg. The resultant product will be a hard, dense mass of cake/ cupcake. Lightly beating the eggs gives better results. Fat content is an important constituent when baking with ragi as it reduces the dryness of gluten-free flour.

I have used oil here in this bake, but you can replace the same amount with butter. Milk is used too to get the right texture of the cupcake batter and the batter is of flowing consistency like dosa batter. Baking time may vary as per ovens, so keep a watch after the first 15 minutes of bake.

These cupcakes can be made beforehand and can be sent to school for snacks, or can be served to kids as a quick breakfast with a cup of hot milk. One cupcake is good enough for a filling snack, as it's made with whole flours. There are no fancy gadgets needed to bake these little cuties, and you will definitely get good results. Adding cocoa powder to these cupcakes was to mask any trace of ragi if felt in flavours and to my surprise even the grown up adult couldn't recognize the secret ingredient ;) Cocoa definitely gave that chocolaty flavour and kids were insisting on adding an extra dollop of whipped cream on top for added tastes. Do give this a try and am sure you will love these !!

Preparation time ~ 10 mins
Baking time ~ 20-25 mins
Serves ~ 8 cupcakes
Author ~ Julie
Ingredients
dry ingredients
ragi flour 1/2 cup
wheat flour 1/2 cup
cocoa powder 1/4 cup
baking powder 1 tsp
salt a pinch

wet ingredients
eggs 2
oil (any neutral oil like sunflower, vegetable, canola) 1/3 cup
milk 1/3 cup
powdered sugar 3/4 cup
vanilla essence 1 tsp

Watch on YouTube -

Method

• Sift the flours twice with baking powder, cocoa powder and salt.
• Beat the eggs lightly, add in the powdered sugar. Add in the oil, milk and vanilla essence.
• Add the flour in three batches to the wet mix and combine until incorporated well. 

• Pre heat oven to 350 degrees F or 180 degrees C. Pour the batter in the prepared cupcake pan. Bake in the pre-heated pan for 20- 25 mins (start checking from 20 minutes as we don't want the cupcakes to over bake).

• 

• Cool on a wire rack and serve at room temperature with a cup of milk.

NOTES

* If you wish to try a non diary version, then replace whole milk with almond/ soy milk.

* You may also use powdered organic jaggery or good quality brown sugar instead of granulated white sugar.

* Replace oil to butter if you wish to have a richer taste.

* Don't overbake the cupcakes, as they tend to become dry. Keep a close watch on the time.

Just a peek into the cupcake ;)

MORE RAGI RECIPES FROM THIS SPACE, PLEASE TRY OUT IF YOU LiKE ANY:)

* Ragi Puris

* Ragi Puttu

* Ragi Peechappam

* Ragi Elada

* Multi Grain Laddus

* Ragi Porridge

Check this link here for all ragi recipes in one page.