Muffins!

I'm in the mood to bake, and as much as I love my diet and the size that it has made me, baking is just not as fun as it used to be. Last year I was baking these. Ya, remember those? I hardly can. Ahhh...those were the days. I can almost taste the buttercream right now. (And side note - why did I say my birthday was January 3rd? It's always been the 2nd as far as I know).

So goodbye decadent cupcakes. Hello Splenda aftertaste.

It's not that bad. Tonight I made my favorite muffin - Banana Chocolate Chip. It's actually my husband's speciality and when I say "speciality" I mean the only thing he bakes. But they are to die for!

So I made a low G.I. version (or, should I say, lower G.I.). They came out pretty:



They tasted pretty good, too. Usually, they are decadent. These aren't decadent, but they're not bad. They just needed a little pat of butter on them to take them up a notch.

I altered the original recipe as I went along (Splenda, less butter, etc. [I looked into using canola oil in place of the butter, but apparently purists don't recommend doing that in recipes that originally call for butter. I don't know.. I'm sure it wouldn't ruin them]). Near the end, I realized the batter was looking more like dough, so I added some milk, which the original recipe did not call for. The first batch came out less sweet than I had hoped, so I added a little more Splenda. And that did the trick, because the second batch was good even without a pat of butter! (Although I wouldn't object if you still wanted some.)

Here it is:

AYWH's Nearly Guilt-Free Lower G.I. Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

3 ripe mashed bananas
1/2 stick butter/margarine (this is where the "nearly" and "lower" comes in)
3 tbsp. light butter
3/4 cup Splenda
2 tbsp. sugar (because I always like to use a touch of the real stuff)
2 eggs (I use Eggland's Best because they have Omega-3)
2 tbsp. milk
2 cups white wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
dash of salt
1 tsp. vanilla
chocolate chips (again.. not necessarily low G.I., but everything in moderation)

Beat butter and Splenda/sugar until creamy. Add eggs, flour, milk, baking soda, salt and vanilla and mix until smooth. Mix in mashed bananas and chocolate chips (I ended up using about 4-5 tablespoons of mini chips, but you can play it by ear depending on how good or bad you want to be). 

Bake at 350 degrees for twenty minutes (mine always need to go for longer.. maybe like 25?). 

That's it! Now eat one and pretend you are totally splurging. I had two in the span of a half hour (probably not recommended) and I didn't even notice a Splenda aftertaste - that's the sign of a successful low G.I. baked good!

Let me know how yours turn out!