No Added Sugar Banana Bread

I'm two days into my attempt to go sugar-free... again. For the past year and a half I've bounced back and forth with sugar consumption - and I can say this. Sugar tastes good. It makes my tastebuds and my emotions happy... for a short time. Then I want more. Then I feel yucky, tired, emotional, and I gain weight. When I'm staying off of sugar and white flour, I feel more energetic, more stable, and lighter. Yesterday, after having zero sugar all day, I felt slimmer already! The element of self-discipline is important too - when I find myself running to a sugary treat to cope with emotional challenges, I realize that I'm not running to God. And in this season of my life there are a lot things that have me needing to run to God - and I want to turn to Him, not to sugar.

So, with hopes of being energetic, emotionally steady, trim, and turning to God with my struggles... I'm stepping away from sugar. Maybe I'll have it occasionally but not as the norm.

However, I like to eat, and I'm not crazy about the alternatives to sugar that I have tried. I have a favorite banana bread recipe that I have used for many years, and I've gradually modified it to the point that I made it today without adding sugar.

The results? I liked it. My husband said it tasted fine. A child who I nanny (who hates bananas but loves my chocolate chip banana bread) ate several pieces. This makes a dense, not super-sweet, but satisfying bread!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups oats (ground up in a blender)
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  ***(Modification: 7/7/15 - I often make these with about 2 1/2 cups of ground oats and the other 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats. This makes the recipe wheat-free and almost sugar free.)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 stick of butter (softened or melted)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of natural applesauce (no sugar added)
• 5 ripe bananas
• chocolate chips to suit your taste - I just pour them in - approximately 1/4 to 1/2 cup for this recipe. For my lowest-sugar version, I used pieces of Gharadelli 72% dark chocolate.

Mix wet ingredients (I use a hand mixer). Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet with dry. Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes for muffins; longer for a pan. Stick a toothpick in it to make sure it's not wet in the middle and you'll know if it's done! :)

I hope you enjoy this healthy treat!

Here they are baking in the oven... Mmmmmm.