Oat Muffins

Once you get past the first two weeks of the South Beach diet, you start adding back healthy carbohydrates – whole grains, brown rice, oatmeal and the like. One of my favorite foods, and one of the things I most wanted during Phase One, is a good muffin. Oh I love muffins. Give me a choice between a bowl of ice cream and a cinnamon-y muffin, I’m taking the muffin! Of course, even though I found a good recipe for a muffin which I can have on Phase Two, I still shouldn’t eat the whole dozen. As a matter of fact, I should only have one. To make it easier to resist the muffin monster of temptation, I offer a simple solution.

Freeze them.

Just put them in a big Ziploc bag and toss those tempters in the big chill. For an extra layer of protection, I put them out in the big freezer in the garage. That way I have to consciously decide to go out and get my one muffin, which I then microwave for about 40 seconds. Yum! This works for all kinds of muffins, by the way. Not just healthy ones. I used to freeze my apple-cinnamon muffins so the sugar topping wouldn’t get soggy. Freeze and then microwave and the topping was still crispy! But I won’t linger on those…

Freezing Muffins – Works For Me!

Oh…and if you’re interested, here is the Healthy Oat Muffin recipe. They’re very yummy…unless you’re still used to eating highly sweetened foods. In which case, you might not like them.

Ingredients
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons oats
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour or whole grain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (I use pecans)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup brown sugar substitute (I use real maple syrup, I try to avoid artificial sweeteners)
1 teaspoon vanilla
InstructionsPreheat the oven to 425°F.

Coat a 12-cup nonstick muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups. In a small bowl, combine 3⁄4 cup of the oats and the buttermilk. Let soak for 30 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and walnuts. In a large bowl, stir together the oil, egg, brown sugar substitute, and vanilla until well blended. Stir in the oat mixture. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Do not overmix. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons oats over the muffins.

Bake for 11 to 15 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes. Remove to the rack to cool completely.

Recipe from The South Beach Diet Cookbook.