South Beach Peanut Butter Muffins

One of the things I miss most during phase one of the South Beach Diet is the loss of baked goods. Breads, cookies, rolls, muffins, cakes... *sigh.*  This year, I found a recipe for muffins, using ground flax seed and ground almonds instead of flour.  They will not win any tasting contest, but man did they hit the spot when a baked-good craving hit!


INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup egg whites (2-3 eggs)
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1/4 cup ground almonds (* My Magic Bullet did a great job on this!)
1/4 cup Splenda granular, sugar substitute (* I used Stevia. This has a "different" aftertaste to it. If you're not used to it, I would use Splenda or another sugar substitute).
1/2 cup natural-style peanut butter
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Melt peanut butter in microwave for 1 minute or until smooth.
• Mix all ingredients together.
• Pour into mini muffin cups (24 cup tray), and bake 15 minutes.

*FYI - I received a Babycakes Cupcake Maker for Christmas. This was the first time I tried it out and it worked great! As you can see from the photo, it makes mini-muffins, but the non-stick meant I didn't need to use any liners.