Confession number 15 about me: I like yogurt…a lot…I’m kind of obsessed really.  My fridge is currently stocked with 1.5 kilograms worth of yogurt (don’t judge- it was on offer at Sainsbury’s :P)!  And I have no doubt that every last bite of it will be consumed before it has the chance to go off. 

Fortunately as long as it is the fat free/low-fat variety, yogurt is an excellent choice of food.  Studies actually show that yogurt may help turn up the body’s fat-burning ability, which makes it easier to reduce fat while maintaining lean muscle.  Especially if you’re female, it’s a great source of calcium, and hence limits your risk of the big O-steoporosis. 

Bet you didn’t know that a great way to cut the calories in baked goods is by replacing some of the higher-fat ingredients with yogurt?!  For example, when a recipe calls for butter, replace half the butter with half as much yogurt.  So instead of 1 cup butter, you could use 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup yogurt.  Yogurt also tenderises baked goods, so to keep them moist. 

To make use of the of the ‘ample’ amount of yogurt  in my fridge, I decided to put a spin on my baked banana oatmeal recipe by including yogurt.  As I’ve been craving carrot cake for the past week, I decided to go  with it, and added shredded carrot to the recipe.    I’m going to call them muffins because let’s be honest, ‘muffins’ are more fun to say than ‘baked oatmeal’.  Containing only 6 ingredients, these muffins have natural written all over them. 

Verdict: My carrot cake muffin was yummy, dense, and finally nipped my long-last craving in the bud.  I’m not going to lie though, it’s no carrot cake!  Realistically speaking, it’s more appropriate to regard it as a tea-time snack or a breakfast treat rather than a dessert.  Bake it with an open mind, and considering it has 1/3 the amount of calories than your standard carrot cake, give credit where deserved!  Click here if you want to give these carrot cake muffins a whirl!