GF Yogurt Banana Oat Muffins

These are also great with chopped walnuts, but my daughter's classroom is nut-free, so I omit them so she can bring the muffins in her lunch.  If you want the chopped walnuts, then do 1/4 cup nuts and 1/4 cup chocolate chips instead of the full cup of chocolate chips.  Or a 1/2 cup of walnuts and omit (gasp!) the chocolate chips.

Gluten-Free Yogurt Banana Oat Muffins
Yields 1 dozen muffins


Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 - 3 ripe bananas (approx 1 cup), mashed
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1.5 cups GF oat flour
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin tin with paper liners.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream together oil and sugar.  Add eggs and mix.  Add bananas and mix  Add yogurt and vanilla and mix.  Add salt, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder and mix.  Add half the oat flour and mix until fully incorporated, then mix in the rest of the flour.  Fold in chocolate chips.
• Divide the batter into the prepared muffin tins.
• Bake for 30 - 35 minutes until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before transferring the muffins to a cooling rack.

These keep at room temperature for a few days and in the fridge for about a week. If you want to freeze the muffins, let them cool completely first before placing them into an airtight container.

Banana Baked Oatmeal

This recipe is adapted from the Baked Oatmeal one on the official South Beach Diet website and cookbook. It is not fluffy like a muffin, but rather dense and chewy like a bar, which is what the original recipe instructs you to make.  You can prepare it in a 9"x9" pan and then cut into bars per the original recipe, or you can use a muffin tin and make individual muffins from it, which is my favorite way to do it because it makes things much more convenient in the long run. The chocolate chips are totally optional. ;-)

I don't have a link to the original recipe because I don't subscribe to the SBD website, but if you do, or if you check out the cookbook, you can easily find it.

Banana Baked Oatmeal
Adapted from the official South Beach Diet Baked Oatmeal recipe.
Yields 12 bars/muffins.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup fat free milk
• 3 eggs
• 1.5 cups ground flaxseed
• 2/3 cups brown sugar (or Splenda if you're strictly SBD-ing)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 medium (or 2 large) mashed over-ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a 12-count muffin tin with non-stick spray.
• In a bowl, combine rolled oats and milk.  Toss it to evenly coat the oats with milk.  Set aside.
• In another mixing bowl, beat eggs with a hand mixer.  Beat in the flaxseed, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, baking powder and salt, until well combined.  Add in the mashed bananas and chocolate chips and combine.
• Add the oatmeal mixture to the egg mixture and combine with a wooden spoon.
• Divide into the prepared muffin tin.  These hardly rise at all, so don't be afraid to fill 'er up to the top.
• Bake for 25 minutes.

Oatmeal Rum Raisin Cookies

Ok, let me start off by stating the obvious: these cookies are not SBD-friendly.  I suppose you could make them so with a few substitutions (Splenda in place of sugar, Smart Balance in place of butter, etc.), but I personally don't use artificial sweeteners, and I love my butter in baked goods.  But they do have oats and whole wheat flour, that counts for something, right?  :-D

I've been making these for as long as I can remember baking cookies.  I recently added the rum twist a few years ago.

Oatmeal Rum Raisin Cookies
makes 2 dozen large or 3 dozen medium cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup rum
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1.5 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups whole wheat all-purpose flour
• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Combine rum, vanilla extract and raisins in a small bowl.  Cover and let stand for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, olive oil, sugar and honey until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and blend until fully incorporated. Stir in the rum raisin mixture. 
• In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, 1 cup at a time, and mix until well-blended.
• Drop by (heaping) teaspoonfuls onto an un-greased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on size of cookies, or until lightly browned.
• Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cookie rack.

Variations:

• Add 3/4 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips.
• Add 3/4 cup chopped walnuts.