Cookie/bar "glue" that is not sugar

[leotardmakermum]

My daughter needs some snacks for during training. She has special dietary requirements that mean she cannot have wheat, dairy, honey, dates and a range of other things. I am not keen on giving her anything with added sugar. That just sets her up for sugar crashes, and is what I am trying to avoid.

I asked her, "What do you think you get the most energy from, and that keeps you going?" She thought about this and said, "I know this will seem strange, but breakfast cereal." In our case, that means homemade muesli with nuts (though these are not allowed at gym), oats, seeds, spices and a very small amount of added sugar.

I would happily make up a batch of nut-free muesli for her to take to gym, but it sounds like a recipe for disaster in terms of messiness. She is not the neatest eater, and I can see it being spilt. I was therefore wondering about making the muesli into bars or cookies. But for that I do not want to use sugar, or any sort of sugar substitute like honey, maple syrup, malt syrup, rice syrup, golden syrup, molasses etc.

What can I use instead to "glue" it all together? I had wondered about some mashed up bananas and maybe a bit of non-wheat flour. I'll certainly give that a go.

Any other suggestions? Thanks!

 

[gymgal]

are all nuts out? was thinking almond butter, which tends to be the least allergenic of the nuts. Or how about a seed butter - I think there is a sunflower seed butter. apple butter but that probably has added sugar.

eta: prunes/dried plums? I think if you were to put them in a food processor, with a little bit of water, you would get a thick paste. It certainly is concentrated sugar but it would be slower digesting than simple sugar.

can she have egg whites? making a meringue, folding in the cereal and letting it dry like a meringue "might" work?

 

[gymbeam]

just an idea...i put peanuts in an empty water bottle for my daughter to "drink" during breaks...think that might work to make eating muesli less messy?

 

[duyetanh]

Would agave be that bad to use?

 

[l.c.o]

When I make homemade bars, I use a blend of bananas, sunbutter, and honey to bind it. They have to be eaten quickly though (couple days) or they mold.

Not sure how well it would work without the honey, as I've never tried.

As an alternative, maybe powdered or condensed milk? Not as "natural" but the lactose would help it stick.

 

[leotardmakermum]

are all nuts out? was thinking almond butter, which tends to be the least allergenic of the nuts. Or how about a seed butter - I think there is a sunflower seed butter. apple butter but that probably has added sugar.

eta: prunes/dried plums? I think if you were to put them in a food processor, with a little bit of water, you would get a thick paste. It certainly is concentrated sugar but it would be slower digesting than simple sugar.

can she have egg whites? making a meringue, folding in the cereal and letting it dry like a meringue "might" work?

Yes, all nuts are out. I've never figured out whether that includes coconut too...

Prunes might work. Thanks for the suggestion.

I was wondering about meringues too. But I think you need sugar for egg whites to become meringue-like. But I had wondered about doing it sans sugar. An idea to keep in mind, thanks.

 

[leotardmakermum]

just an idea...i put peanuts in an empty water bottle for my daughter to "drink" during breaks...think that might work to make eating muesli less messy?

This is very creative!

 

[leotardmakermum]

Would agave be that bad to use?

Yes, agave is a nightmare for people who do not do well with fructose - one of my daughter's issues. Agave has an extremely high percentage of fructose, and last time I had it (I have problems with it too) I was doubled over in pain afterwards. It's not conducive to doing gymnastics, when you're in pain like that!

 

[leotardmakermum]

When I make homemade bars, I use a blend of bananas, sunbutter, and honey to bind it. They have to be eaten quickly though (couple days) or they mold.

Not sure how well it would work without the honey, as I've never tried.

As an alternative, maybe powdered or condensed milk? Not as "natural" but the lactose would help it stick.

After posting, I did find a recipe that had just muesli and mashed bananas as the ingredients. So we will try that and see how they go. Good to know that they will probably go mouldy quickly - that's very helpful, thanks.

As stated in the original post, she has to avoid dairy. She's allergic to it, so milk of any kind is no good for her.

 

[Yuenling]

How about bananas? Or some form of cooked rice ?

 

[leotardmakermum]

Yes, I had thought of bananas, thanks. Not sure how to make cooked rice work, but I can think that through, thanks.

 

[dmbgymnast]

I was wondering about meringues too. But I think you need sugar for egg whites to become meringue-like. But I had wondered about doing it sans sugar. An idea to keep in mind, thanks.

Theres a vegan meringue recipe that uses white bean liquid out there...I might be able to find it for you. It's actually really good!
*EDIT* It actually has 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp of sugar, thought it would have less.

 

[dmbgymnast]

Here's the recipe anyways, if you're interested.

 

[KnitNinja]

You can special order dextrose, which is a sweetener that doesn't contain fructose (the sugar that causes sugar crash.)
But if your daughter can have eggs, egg binds together in baking too.

 

[strawberries]

What about cashew butter? Technically, it is a fruit.

Also, on agave, I am hearing consistently bad things from my smartest friends...that it is hard on your liver, and is processed like high fructose corn syrup.

 

[leotardmakermum]

What about cashew butter? Technically, it is a fruit.

Also, on agave, I am hearing consistently bad things from my smartest friends...that it is hard on your liver, and is processed like high fructose corn syrup.

I'm not sure I need my daughter to get into an argument with the powers that be about whether cashews are nuts or technically fruits... ;-) And as it happens, cashews aren't great for those with fructose malabsorption either.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

can she do butter ? I cant eat milk or cheese but I can do butter. I make Cakes for Pink and I replace the sugar with sugar substitute ( teeth enamel problems), or maybe an American muffin type recipe using oil ?

 

[vbdb]

Here's a good one. Sugar free, held together with banana and you can just omit the nuts. Pepitas and sunflower seeds are fine in a nut free facility.
http://ohsheglows.com/2014/05/20/feel-good-hearty-granola-bars/
and you can cut them up and freeze them so no worrying about them going bad before she eats them all.

 

[Yuenling]

Some types of rice are really . There is a kind of rice called glutinous rice that is very sticky and definitely holds its shape. Even sushi rice, which i think is just the short grain variety, is sticky when cooked with more water. Just stay away from the long grain rice.

 

[gymgal]

if she has a problem with fructose, then wouldn't bananas and prunes be out? I would think the have fructose in high quantity.

coconut is not considered a nut. You may be able to use shredded as a binder. the oil too.