Since supersized coffee shop and café muffins are often packed with calories and fat, you have a tremendous opportunity to improve upon them by baking healthier versions at home. Using a recipe for oatmeal yogurt muffins is a great starting point, since you'll end up with a tasty product that contains both whole grains and low-fat protein.
Ingredients
Oats and yogurt may not be the primary ingredients in a muffin recipe, but each plays an important role in how the product turns out. Oats add crunch, flavor and texture to muffins, as well as nutritional benefits. Yogurt keeps the baked goods moist and can cut down on fat amounts without sacrificing taste. Typically, oatmeal yogurt muffins also rely on flour, eggs, butter or oil, sugar and chemical leaveners to help them develop structure and taste.
Recipe
To make a dozen muffins, you'll need 1 1/4 cups of flour, 1 cup of oats, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 2 tsp. of baking powder, 1/2 tsp. of salt, 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. of baking soda, one egg, 1 cup of plain yogurt and 1/4 cup of melted butter. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk. In a smaller bowl, whisk the egg, yogurt and butter together. With a spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the batter is evenly moist. Spoon the batter into muffin liners or greased muffin cups and bake the muffins at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. According to TasteofHome.com, each muffin has about 165 calories, 6 g fat, 26 g carbohydrates, 4 g protein and 1 g fiber.
Alternatives
To increase the fiber and protein content of each muffin you make, use some whole-wheat flour or whole-wheat pastry flour in your recipe. To start, try replacing a third or up to half of the all-purpose flour in a recipe with whole wheat. Since oatmeal yogurt muffins have such a mild natural taste, you can also improve their nutritional profile by tossing in additions that will enhance the taste and texture. CookingLight.com suggests using wheat bran, pitted dates, mashed banana, chopped walnuts, dried pineapple pieces and ground flaxseed to create a healthier and more full-bodied muffin.
Considerations
If you're cooking at home, you have control over what goes into each batch of muffins you make, but be aware that modifying a recipe doesn't always bring favorable results. Cutting fat and calories can mean making some sacrifices in terms of texture and taste, since butter, full-fat yogurt, eggs and other rich ingredients form a delicate, moist crumb in muffins and enhance their taste. To get the best results, start out with only minor modifications or choose a recipe that was specifically developed to prioritize nutrition.
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