You can add 1/4 cup chopped dates or sliced almonds to this, but we wanted to cut down on the fat and carb content, so we eliminated them. In addition, we substituted 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce for 1/2 of the butter called for in the original recipe because 1/2 cup butter is a lot of fat!! Also, you can use all white flour, but we wanted to increase the nutritional aspects, so we used some whole wheat flour. Lastly, the original recipe called for 1 cup brown sugar. We used 1/2 cup Splenda brown sugar instead to make it diabetes-friendly.