I don’t think I’m alone in craving sweet treats once the weather gets chillier. And it’s been a while since I’ve shared a recipe for something decadent, so I’m posting a dessert treat this month. I always have bananas on hand for my pre-run snack but last week I overbought and had a few extra-ripe ones left over at the end of the week. That was enough of an excuse to get baking. The recipe for these Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins calls for three bananas which, by serendipitous coincidence, was exactly the number of mushy bananas I had on my counter. The recipe is flourless too, also providential since I pretty much never have flour in my pantry. So, besides being delicious, these muffins are great for anyone with gluten sensitivities.
Sign up to my newsletter today to receive the recipe for these yummy Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins. And read on for more about why the colder weather might give rise to sugar cravings and why it’s always better eat homemade treats when cravings strike.
Sugar cravings in winter – evolution at work or are you feeling SAD?
From an evolutionary standpoint, winter meant harsh conditions where food was often scarce. So perhaps sugar cravings at this time of year come from a biological imperative to eat energy-dense foods in order to lay on fat to serve as both insulation and food storage. Today, however, we live in heated homes and food is never very far away so the question is how to assuage these cravings without the pounds creeping up year after year.
Another factor at play may be Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), where reduced exposure to light in the darker winter months may cause a type of depression. When you are feeling low in mood, you might crave sweet treats for the hit of dopamine (the feel-good hormone) that they provide. Of course getting outside for some morning light and other light therapy can help with this, as does exercise.
But sometimes you still feel that craving for something sweet and it’s part of our enjoyment of life, so why not? The key is to make sure it’s as healthy a sweet treat as possible and that you don’t go overboard.
It’s always best to bake your own sweet treats
Here are a few reasons why it is always best to bake your own sweet treats:
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You can control what goes in them.
Most commercially prepared muffins that you buy in a supermarket, coffee shop or fast food outlet rely heavily on refined sugars and not the best quality fats. For one, they are cheaper and, two, doing so allows them to get away with lower quality ingredients as the intensely sweet taste tends to mask any shortcomings in the flavour of the ingredients. Commercially prepared options also generally have food additives to increase shelf-life and, personally, I’d rather avoid these.
For example, my Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins are sweetened with maple syrup and mashed banana. These have far more nutrients in them than the table sugar used in commercial muffins. And they aren’t overly sweet. My muffins have 15 grams of sugar per muffin, but they also have 10 grams of protein and 4 grams of fibre, which slows digestion and therefore the sugars are more slowly released into the blood stream.
Compare this to Starbucks’ Blueberry Muffin with Yogurt & Honey, which has 28 grams of sugar, 6 grams of protein and 1 gram of fibre. At least this muffin is made with largely “real” ingredients. Your typical supermarket variety, not so much. Take, for example, Farmer’s Market brand Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins. These have 30 grams of sugar, 5 grams of protein and only 1 gram of fibre. But also contain “Artificial Flavour, Modified Milk Ingredients, Palmmono- And Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl-2-lactylate, Xanthan Gum, Citricacid, Modified Cellulose”. No thanks.
2. It takes time and work to make them so you want them to last.
Definitely this one is a biggie for me. When I’ve just spent an hour making some muffins or cookies, I’m not going to polish them off too quickly. I’ll stretch them out for maximum enjoyment for the effort. For example, my husband and I will split one of these muffins after a run, or sometimes as a dessert treat. Generally, a few bites does the trick. I don’t need to eat the whole thing to quash my cravings. And as far as muffins go, these are pretty quick to make. They use only one big bowl, so cleanup is quick too. If you have a mixer, you can whip up a batch even faster. Enjoy!