I have successfully weaned my man off biscuits by making him Muesli Slice I found on here, with less butter in it. Let me know if you would like me to repost. A batch seems to last a full week, whereas a packet of biscuits would vanish in a couple of days. I don't have a sweet tooth myself, but quite enjoy a piece of this every so often. Does anyone else have any ideas about things to make that would do the trick too!
buzzy110,
Sep 8, 6:01am
Why is the lack of butter considered more healthy! I eat lots of butter and I'm perfectly healthy.
mazzy1,
Sep 8, 6:06am
I didn't say I thought it healthier, buzzy. I just said I used less than the recipe - more of a taste thing for me. I'm perfectly healthy too! :-)
buzzy110,
Sep 8, 6:14am
Sorry I didn't get that from your post. I thought you were talking about 'healthy baking' and then referred to using less butter.
Why not re-post the recipe so we can see how healthy it is and what sort of ideas you are after because there are different opinions on what makes a food healthy.
mazzy1,
Sep 8, 6:55am
Muesli Bars • 1 cup rolled oats • 1 cup desiccated coconut • 1/2 cup wheatgerm • 1/2 cup sesame seeds • 1/2 cup sunflower kernels • 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas) • 1 cup sultanas • 125g butter • 1/2 cup honey • 1/3 cup brown sugar
1. Grease and line a 3cm deep, 16cm x 28cm (base) baking pan with baking paper. Cook oats, coconut, wheatgerm, sesame seeds, sunflower kernels and pumpkin seeds in a frying pan over medium heat, stirring, for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a bowl. Set aside to cool. Stir in sultanas.
2. Cook butter, honey and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, without stirring, for 7 minutes or until mixture forms a soft ball when a little is dropped into ice-cold water. Add to dry ingredients. Stir until combined.
3. Spoon mixture into pan. Use a large metal spoon to press down firmly. Allow to cool. Cut into squares. Store in a foil-lined airtight container for up to 7 days.
buzzy110,
Sep 8, 7:02am
Thanks mazzy1.On reading the recipe I agree with your heading, "Healthy Baking. an Oxymoron". Reducing the butter won't make the slice healthy, let alone healthier. That is just my opinion.
doubledworks,
Sep 8, 7:02am
I adapt any baking recipe to suit me.I don't like all the sugar in a lot of recipes so cut it in half automatically.
And with some recipes, I alter the butter.So if it's 250g I cut it down to say 200g and find that works well.
Or I'll replace butter with half oil / water.
holly-rocks,
Sep 8, 8:21am
Just a suggestion.
You could swap half of the butter / fat with chia seed gel, I haven't tried it myselfbut i have been reading up online and it works for most baking. so they say.
:)
sarahb5,
Sep 8, 8:46am
I never bake muesli bars anyway because they're too full of sugar and stick to your teeth like sweetened cement according to my dentist.If I'm baking, which I do for my kids' lunches, then I'd rather they just have a basic cake (banana, vanilla, chocolate, etc.) because saliva washes the crumbs away much more easily.Of course, if you're at home you can clean your teeth straight after eating but that's not really practical at school.
One cake lasts a week which, between 2 teenage boys, means they're not actually getting much every day anyway - probably works out to about 1 tablespoon of butter (or oil) and 2 tablespoons of sugar which in the scheme of things I don't think is too bad at all.Of course, I'd rather they had a carrot or celery stick or even a piece of cheese but they are both tall, slim, healthy and fit so their daily "sweet treat" doesn't seem to have done them any harm so far.
gr8stuf4me,
Sep 8, 7:31pm
What is considered healthy is a controversial issue because its different for everybody. I myself dont have a sweet tooth so use castor sugar instead of regular - I dont consider that to make it any healthier - I just prefer things not quite so sweet.At the end of the day its down to personal choice and each man or woman to his or her own.
norse_westie,
Sep 8, 8:42pm
OP that sounds like a lovely recipe. Much much healthier than commercially bought biscuits. Dont mind buzzy - she is highly critical of anyone who doesnt worship at her feet and eat like she does.
The fact is, while your muesli slice has sugar and fat it in it, it also has some great stuff that are good for us, and has none of the chemicals and preservatives that bought things do, so IMO its much better for your man. Like you, I prefer my family have home made things for this reason. Good on you - I will try your recipe myself. Thanks for posting.
sarahb5,
Sep 8, 10:58pm
Caster sugar's just as sweet as white sugar .We use raw sugar because it is less sweet and also less processed
mazzy1,
Sep 9, 2:45am
The first time I made it with Wild Thyme Honey and used a bit less of that too - it was an 'interesting' taste!
mazzy1,
Sep 9, 2:45am
Think I might try raw sugar next time, and perhaps use a little less.
norse_westie,
Sep 9, 3:06am
In a lot of recipes you can substitute concentrated apple juice for sugar, but you need to adjust the liquid content of the recipe as well. I found with my kids that over time I progressively reduced the total sugar in all my baking, so they slowly got used to less sweet things. Now I pretty much halve the sugar in many things and they dont notice.
wildflower,
Sep 9, 3:50am
I made a green tea loaf yesterday that had 2 c fruit in it plus sugar, figured it'd would sweet enough with the fruit so put bugger all sugar in and it was lovely.
Caster sugar is exactly the same as normal, just processed to make it finer and dissolve easier.
Less butter is healthier; less saturated fat.Nuts and seeds have health benefits; butter does not.
gr8stuf4me,
Sep 10, 5:36am
Wildflower, would you please share your green tea loaf recipe - Id like to try it - thank you!
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