Homemade lactose-free baking successes =)... and taxes =/

It's that time of the year again for Americans... the dreaded need to complete the annual tax return. Those who receive money back will be happy, and those who have to owe the government more money than they already paid via their paychecks and other taxes paid through purchases, etc. feel screwed and upset =P Which one of these categories did you fall under this year? o.O
Either way, successfully baking yummy treats can make the situation even better =) I have two homemade lactose-free recipes to share!
The first one is a blueberry streusel pastry recipe - these are supposed to be muffins but since I haven't invested yet in muffin pans, I will call these blueberry streusel squares =) I based my recipe off of this original one: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Blueberry-Streusel-Muffins-2/Detail.aspx
- My modifications were only using the egg white (no yolk), using Silk Light Vanilla soymilk, and using olive oil instead of butter/margarine with reference to this handy conversion found via Google searching --> http://www.amazingoliveoil.com/substitute-olive-oil-for-butter.html
These turned out great! It's sugary but this experiment allows me to think that there are alternatives for folks like me who have become lactose-intolerant and prefer to eat low-fat foods ;) yay! Note: since I didn't have any muffin pans to use, this came out as a big rectangular blueberry muffin LOL

Lactose-free, Low-fat Blueberry Streusel Pastry

The second one, I intended to make the banana-walnut version of this streusel "muffin"-based pastry, but I was curious about making a chocolate version and added 3/4 cups of Hershey's "special" dark chocolate (100% cacao) powder (as on the back of the Hershey's powder container, it mentioned 3/4 cups of the powder for making a chocolate cake, so I thought... sure, why not?) But this ends up being too much chocolate powder for the base mixture already made by using the aforementioned recipe, so I had to add about 3/4 cups more Silk Light Vanilla soymilk, and then the mixture was back to equilibrium - although it looked very chocolaty so I suggest if you want to try this recipe, you must REALLY love chocolate (and you should not mind the slight bitterness of the dark chocolate, unless you use a different chocolaty powder for your recipe) ;) I then added one very ripe banana and about 3/4 cups of walnuts that I chopped up a bit. After baking, it looked like a big rectangular chocolate muffin ;)

but it looked like it needed something... a topping! I decided to glaze it with homemade vanilla glaze - so I used this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vanilla-Glaze/Detail.aspx?prop31=5 (although I used the same Silk Light Vanilla soymilk instead of actual / whole milk and substituted the melted butter/margarine for heated olive oil using the same aforementioned conversion website) - other things to note if you're experimenting with trying to make your recipes "healthier" by lessening the sugar content (etc), ... at first I tried to lessen the amount of confectioner's/powdered sugar in this glaze recipe but I found that it doesn't work out because the mixture is soupy without the right amount of this sugar so definitely follow the recipe's amount of sugar is my suggestion - however, there were reviews that stated the amount of milk listed did not make sense so everyone who used this recipe measured the milk in tablespoons instead of teaspoons like the recipe states, and so I made sure to measure my amount of milk in tablespoons instead (FYI) ;)

The reviews also stated to let your cake/pastry cool for about 20 minutes (I think I let it cool for longer than this since I kept experimenting with the sugar amount for the glaze though =X) so I would recommend this. The glaze doesn't actually solidify nicely until about 15-20 minutes after sitting on top of the cake/pastry (in my opinion or from this experience so again, FYI). And even with the glaze though, I still felt like it needed something... so I dusted it with more confectioner's / powdered sugar - looked better... still needed something... so I chopped up / crumbled more walnuts and dusted the very top of the pastry with this - MUCH BETTER! Here's the result:

Chocolate Banana-Walnut Powdered-Sugar Pastry

Even though I am a chocolate fan, I must say that the blueberry streusel wins between these two, but both are tasty treats and are lactose-free AND low-fat! Sugary - yes, but it needs some flavor right?
If you try these recipes or experiment on your own, please let me know how it turns out! I think I will try the banana-walnut version again without chocolate and with the streusel topping next time - I'm super curious as to how that will turn out. But for now, blueberry streusel for the win! =D
As for taxes... whatever the outcome is for you this year... make some yummy treats for yourself and you will feel better ;) If you are reading this and do not have to file taxes, you are LUCKY =P
Happy baking everyone =)