OK, my not so scientific test is complete...finally! I made the four sweetener variations -- Splenda, agave, sugar and honey. I tested for both taste and blood sugars. Taste results from best to least tasty (your taste might be different): Sugar, agave, honey, Splenda Blood sugar results from lowest to highest: Splenda, agave, honey, sugar Unfortunately, the one that had no effect on my blood sugars also was the least tasty...Splenda. Although they tasted very good, the honey and sugar cookies upped my blood sugars more than I'd like. The agave cookies, as its low GI value would indicate, raised my blood sugars but not as much or as quickly as honey and sugar, but over a longer period of time. And the taste was quite close to ones made with sugar. This is a keeper. Thanks everyone for your help! Marsha

This recipe is moist AND a little healthier than the usual Banana Bread recipe: 1/4 cup light margarine 1/2 cup sugar 1-1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 medium) 2 eggs, lightly beaten (I used Egg Beaters; fine!) 1 egg white, lightly beaten 1/2 cup buttermilk (I used reconstituted from powder) 1 tsp vanilla extract 1-3/4 cups unbl or all-p flour 1-1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (optional; I opted for NONE) 1. Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a 9"x5" pan with non-stick spray. 2. In a large bowl, combine margarine and sugar. Add the bananas, eggs and egg white. Mix until well blended. Add the buttermilk and vanilla. Stir until well blended. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the banana mixture. Stir just until the flour mixture is moistened. That's where you add the nuts, if using. 3. Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 55 min, or till a toothpick in the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Set the bread on the rack and allow to cool completely before cutting. Makes 16 servings. Nutritionals, per serving: 132 calories, 4 g fat, 34 mg cholesterol, 233 mg sodium, 22 g carbs, 3 g protein. (Nothing on the fiber, but with bananas, I'd think there would be at least a gram of fiber in each serving.) From Jeanne Jones' Homestyle Cooking Made Healthy (Love this cookbook - found it at the library and liked it, then found it at the Friends of the Library bookstore for $3 almost brand new. I haven't found a recipe yet that we haven't liked!) DonnaR/CA

I've tried all of the substitutes and I don't like any of them. The ones combined with water make toast too soggy, so there's a texture thing combined with the flavor. I don't butter vegetables anyway, I like them without, but I have not learned to eat bread or toast plain. So, I've switched to jam on toast most of the time, I make my own low sugar spreads and so can control the sugar and calories that way. Broccoli I like drizzled with a bit of sesame oil and sprinkled with sesame seeds, better than butter. Baked potatoes get topped with homemade yogurt, made with low fat milk. I've learned to just top pancakes with maple or fruit syrup and skip the butter. My family buttered muffins, biscuits, corn on the cob, bread, pancakes, fried mush, oatmeal. Yup, oatmeal. You name it, it got buttered. No wonder Dad had all those heart problems. I still bake with butter, but I've even learned to bake bread without it. If my bread recipe calls for milk, I use skim and it works fine. Canola oil instead of butter, or depending on the bread, olive oil, and the bread still tastes the same. Cream soups get milk, not cream, as do scones. Ganache, though, that needs cream. Good luck, mago, it's definitely a change but you'll get used to it and your taste may even change. You'll pick up an ear of fresh corn and wonder why in the world you covered the wonderful taste with all that butter. Maybe. There are also good recipes at Cooking Light.com, Eating Well.com, EatBetterAmerica .com, HeartHealthyLiving. com. There are more, but these seem to have the recipes that work best for me. I've also started using Clean Living, they are on line but have more recipes in their printed magazine. They are a bit extreme in some of their recipes, but many are good. Annie

Capone sends his thanks! :)