Lemon Muffins (C3)

Recipe Author: Simmie Sinow

Caution: Do not overbake, even by 1 or 2 minutes -- that can make all the difference in the world!

2 scoops Vanilla Whey Protein Powder
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 3/4 cups Oatmeal
3 Tbsp Unsweetened Almond Milk
2 containers (12 ounces total) CarbMasters Vanilla Yogurt - creamed well
2 Eggs
2 Tbsp lemon flavored sugar-free jello pudding powder
1 heaping tsp Baking powder
1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp Stevia Extract
1 1/4 Tbsp Olive oil

Combine all dry ingredients and mix together well.  Then add the yogurt which you have "creamed" really well with a spoon until it is very smooth (kind of like beating an egg, only with a spoon).  Add the rest of the "wet" ingredients (almond milk, eggs, oil) and mix well.

Spray either a 12-serving or 6-serving muffin tin with your favorite nonstick spray and put the batter into each muffin tin.  I use an ice cream scoop, as the size that goes into each one is perfect for the 12-serving tins and 2 scoops is perfect for the 6-serving tins.

Bake 18-20 minutes in a 350 oven.  Be sure that you do not over-bake these, as even 1 or 2 minutes will make the difference between good and somewhat dry.

Remove from the oven and place on your counter and let them sit for 5-10 minutes, then remove from the baking pan.

These do not need to be frozen, however they do need to be refrigerated.

I usually sit one out on the counter in either a covered plastic container or bag the night before and reheat in the microwave for about 30 seconds maximum.  I usually place a damp (almost wet) towel around them to keep the moisture in.

I couldn't keep my hands off of these before taking a picture, as you can see:

Note: If you cannot find CarbMasters yogurts near you (Kroger brand), what they are is a non-greek yogurt that is low fat and low sugar (1.5g fat, 3g sugar) and 60 calories per 6 ounce serving.  Look for something comparable to that or find a plain non-greek yogurt.

I just made a second batch with this recipe using 1 container of CarbMasters Banana Cream Pie yogurt and one of their Vanilla (I didn't have two of the Banana in the house or I would have used that) and Banana Creme Sugar-Free Jello pudding powder.  They're in the oven right now, but the batter had a really strong banana flavor, so I think this is my new Go-to recipe for muffins.

ALSO, I'm going to play around with doing mini muffins -- I think the recipe will make 36 of them (a little over 1 tsp per tin of the batter) which makes those around 44 calories each. You could have 4.5 of these for ONE natural starch.  I'll update this post once I experiment with the batter and find out exactly how much on the mini muffins it makes -- they would be good for a starchy snack that "sticks to your ribs" a bit more than the poppers.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
Calories: Regular sized: 134; Jumbo: 268
Fat: Regular: 3.9g; Jumbo: 7.8g
Fiber: Regular: 2.2g; Jumbo: 4.3g
Protein: Regular: 8.4g; Jumbo: 16.7g
Carbs: 15.9g; Jumbo: 31.7g
Sugars: 1g; Jumbo: 2g

17 Day Diet specifics: 
Natural starches: Regular: 3/4 natural starch; Jumbo: 1 2/3.

Jumbo muffins are basically twice the size as the regular muffins.

For those on MyFitnessPal for tracking recipes, these can be found there as the following; look for the brand name of 17DDGal Blog:
Lemon Muffins 6 ct
Lemon Muffins 12 ct