Ideas for healthy(ish) treats/biscuits for the kids.

sleepybookworm7

Hi,

Since I began lurking on this site, my cooking habits have been transformed by you guys. I now make my own biscuits/cakes for the kids :T (this is a big deal, believe me!).

However, recently I've been getting a little concerned about the amount of sugar I often use in these and wondered if you clever people had any recipes for healthier treats!

scotrae

Has anyone tried a low-sugar substitute in Twinks' hobnobs? I try not to worry about the sugar but my boys happily chew through big pieces of dried apricots and cranberries in them so at least they count towards their 5-a-day!

One of my boys loves the Mr S cheapo Houmous with veg sticks too, which works out pretty economical (unless I get the munchies and finish the pot off when he's only just started!)

nuttybabe

I have recently found a really good recipe that my kids love. It did have alot of sugar in it so I have adapted it. It is kind of like a malt loaf fruit cake type of thing, really nice with butter/marg on it. I use a coffee mug for the ingredients:

1 mug oats
1 mug milk (I use semi to reduce the fat)
1 mug raisins/sultanas/mixed fruit/prunes - anything you want - i am going to try apple next time
1 mug sugar but I mash 2 bananas in the mug and fill rest up with sugar so only about 1/4 mug sugar in mine
I also put some cinniman (sp) in with mine.

leave to soak together for an hour.

add 1 mug of self raising flour

line loaf tin with grease proof paper and pour in.

cook in preheated oven at 180 degrees for 1 hour 10 mins (adjust timing if using different sized mugs/cups.

Really nice warm and according to recipe tasts nicer the longer it is kept but mine does not last more than 2 days!!!!!!!!!!

sleepybookworm7

scotrae wrote: »

Has anyone tried a low-sugar substitute in Twinks' hobnobs? I try not to worry about the sugar but my boys happily chew through big pieces of dried apricots and cranberries in them so at least they count towards their 5-a-day!

One of my boys loves the Mr S cheapo Houmous with veg sticks too, which works out pretty economical (unless I get the munchies and finish the pot off when he's only just started!)

Thanks for this, the kids love Twink's H/N... Have you got the recipte for the cheapo Houmous?

scotrae

Sorry for the confusion about the houmous - it's 'Mr S' as in the supermarket with his Basics brand. A big tub for 75p and really tasty. I know several people who rave about this one as the nicest houmous they've tasted and it's brilliant value for money.

I reckon that some of our fruity hobnobs would have 30-40% less sugar in them purely on the basis of the amount of fruit taking up that proportion of the dough volume. I fancy trying that other recipe out but typically don't have any old bananas hanging around at the moment.

Outdoorlass

I make fairy cakes, but halve the amount of sugar, once they are iced you really can't tell tbh. Or add som sultanas to the cake mix and quarter the sugar as they are sweet anyway.

HTH:p

easy

scotrae wrote: »

Has anyone tried a low-sugar substitute in Twinks' hobnobs? I try not to worry about the sugar but my boys happily chew through big pieces of dried apricots and cranberries in them so at least they count towards their 5-a-day!

Oh blimey, I have a HUUUUUGE worry about those sugar-substitute things. OK, we know sugar makes you fat and rots teeth. But if you run around alot (as most kids do, esp if their parent's encourage it), and brush your teeth (which parents should ensure their kids do), those problems go away. And the fruit sugars in those apricots & cranberries aren't processed sugars either.


But aspartame etc are largely untested over the long term in growing bodies/brains. In the USA aspatame is regarded with much more suspicion than here in the UK, and I think with good reason.

Sugar substitutes are not allowed in this house. Any confectionary/squash/etc labelled "no added sugar" stays in the shop.

I'd suggest simply making fewer biscuits or cakes.

Kimitatsu

easy wrote: »

Oh blimey, I have a HUUUUUGE worry about those sugar-substitute things. OK, we know sugar makes you fat and rots teeth. But if you run around alot (as most kids do, esp if their parent's encourage it), and brush your teeth (which parents should ensure their kids do), those problems go away. And the fruit sugars in those apricots & cranberries aren't processed sugars either.


But aspartame etc are largely untested over the long term in growing bodies/brains. In the USA aspatame is regarded with much more suspicion than here in the UK, and I think with good reason.

Sugar substitutes are not allowed in this house. Any confectionary/squash/etc labelled "no added sugar" stays in the shop.

I'd suggest simply making fewer biscuits or cakes.

Can I just say I agree with Easy here!!

I make all sorts of bits and pieces at home (currently have fairy cakes in the oven lol) but using sweetner is far worse for your children than sugar. Sugar is readily burnt up as it is already glucose so as long as they are normal children and doing everything at a million miles an hour you should have no issues. Artificial Sweetners actually encourage the brain to eat more sugar as they increase dopamine levels rather than seratonin levels as sugar does.

There was a report out today as well that aspartame can lead to early kidney failure, so I would either reduce the sugar in the baking or use a substitute such as dried fruit. Being honest if thats all the kids have to eat they soon wont notice the difference!!

ubamother

Many children are cheese-monsters, so you could go down the savoury treats line e.g. cheesey/marmitey straws with dips?
Also, carrot/courgette cakes are naturally sweeter so could/should have less sugar in the recipe and you automatically get extra mummy points for adding a vegetable!!
When you make sweet treats you could make them smaller - kids tend to think of the number of biscuits rather than the total mass they are consuming! Or make sure you choose recipes with fruit added for natural sweetness, a bit of goodness and you can take a bit of sugar out of the recipe.

ifonlyitwaseasier

i use half the sugar in my verskion of twinks and add dried fruit to make up the difference, tis lovely!!

babyshoes

Dried dates are to my mind sweeter than sugar, so an ideal addition to any recipe that calls for dried fruit!