Wholesome Oat Muffins and the Arrival of Fall!

I love Fall and while it will still be hot in southern California for a while yet it always feels like Fall is here when I turn the calendar to October !

Im sure the month will kick off all kinds of soups but for now I thought Id talk about my Wholesome Oat Muffins which are perfect for breakfast during the week as they are tasty but also filing enough to keep you going until lunch. The recipe is pretty much out of the South Beach Diet cookbook with a few changes.  I find that I like the baking recipes that call for use of low fat buttermilk as they tend to be healthier even if you aren't on a diet and thankfully a diet cookbook doesn't have to be all bland boring foods! All that I change is add some flax seed meal for a bit more fiber, swap sliced almonds for walnuts and add tons more cinnamon. You really cant have too much cinnamon.

I  usually start the muffins by getting out three bowls, one small, one medium and one large. In the small bowl I put in the 3/4 cup oats with a cup of low fat buttermilk. I 've just been adding about two spoonfuls of flax seed meal and similar amount of sliced almonds. After that is all stirred up I let it sit while I do everything else so the oats can soak up the buttermilk. I also make sure to get my oven going to 425 F as that can take a while to heat up.

In the medium bowl I put 1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (which thankfully is sold at Henry's by weight so I didnt have to spend a lot the first time I tried to make these), 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, a pinch of salt and then 1 teaspoon cinnamon and stir it up until well mixed.

In the large bowl, I crack in an egg,  add 1/3 cup of Splenda's brown sugar substitute (even my Splenda hating roomie likes this half real sugar mix), 1/3 cup canola oil and a heaping teaspoon of vanilla extract. I usually use a whisk to really beat the egg and get the oil and sugar mixed in. Once that is done you can add the oats mixture and mix well. Lastly add the flour mixture but only mix until just combined. Over mixing will make the muffins a little dense.

You can make this into a loaf or as I like to into 12 muffins filling each cup about 2/3 of the way full. I use silicone muffin liners which help keep the heat even and make for easy clean up. If you dont use the silicone muffin liners then be sure to spray your pan with a non stick spray - preferably butter flavored! I pop that in at 425 F degrees for 12-14 minutes and let them cool for at least 5 minutes as they can get rather hot.

After two each morning I run out quickly!