“Healthy” cake/muffin recipes for packed lunch pls

[OnePotato2Potato]

Yes, I’m that mum 🙈
My kids do have a sweet tooth but I try to keep sugar content low in recipes I try.

Are there any go to recipes that are relatively low in sugar, perhaps sweetened by fruit that posters use?
Thanks

we do leftover muffins.
basically cut up dinner leftovers, mix the sauce with an egg and bake in cup cake paper.

not quite what you had in mind...
how about looking for sugar free flapjack recipes? often you can substitute granulated sugar with chopped dried fruit.

Thanks that’s an interesting idea for savoury.
Hmm yes dried fruit is a good way to sweeten cake but could be hit and miss with my DC!

Weetabix bars www.weetabix.co.uk/delicious-ideas/recipes/figgy-lemon-bars

Jamie’s banana bread www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fruit-recipes/banana-bread/

Mary’s reduced sugar carrot cake is nice www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sugar-free_carrot_cake_71797 I’ve only ever made it as a whole cake, but it would probably work as cupcakes.

I forgot that I’ve also made these jam tarts with sugar free jam for my diabetic mother www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/valentines-day-jam-tarts

often you can substitute granulated sugar with chopped dried fruit.

Dried fruit is worse for tooth decay than sugar as bits can stay stuck in between the teeth.

also, with most cake recipes you can reduce sugar by a third without noticing, especially if you use cocoa or raisins/dried fruit.

Does it affect the texture of the cake?

Try one handed cook website. They do muffins with no sugar but use fruit. So blueberry muffins with grated apple for sweetness. Etc

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I often cut back on sugar (especially American recipes which tend to be sweeter) it doesn’t make a major difference to the overall recipe to us.

Also have people tried substituting rolled oats for plain flour?

These apple pie muffins are great www.lavenderandlovage.com/2015/02/apple-pie-muffins-for-bramley-apple-week.html

I add a bit more cinnamon and about a third less sugar and they are still sweet enough. If you used normal eating apples I reckon you could get away with even less sugar.

What about fruit pies - a 9 inch pie will have less than 150g of sugar in. You could make little individual ones for lunch boxes. Use Muffin trays as pie cases.

I often substitute sugar for maple syrup but TBH I am not sure if it is any healthier.

What about vegetable 'cakes'. I made courgette muffins once, which felt healthy... don't know if they were really! I am sure you could find a recipe somewhere online!

Excellent ideas.

This one is delicious www.theseasonedmom.com/the-perfect-whole-wheat-banana-bread/

I don’t think fruit is a real sugar substitute though, is it? Any more than honey or syrup etc are.

If it’s sweet, it’s got sugar in it, whether from a bag of sugar or puréed fruit. Unless you’re using sweetener or stevia, but they taste weird.

Anyway, coconut macaroons are dead easy to make, only contain coconut, sugar and egg white, and I find I can massively reduce the sugar suggested in recipes without spoiling the taste. I did reduce it too much once and they lost their structural integrity though.

(Hopefully) have added a screenshot of a recipe taken from a health blog - looks delicious but I haven't tried it yet!

Joe wicks does Ones with oats, banana, coconut and blueberries. Maybe an egg too I’d need to check. But they look lovely and def no sugar

Would they eat cheese scones as an alternative to something sweet? You can put sweetcorn/olives/jarred peppers etc in them.

Muffins made with grated carrot, tinned pineapple, raisins - you then don't need very much sugar at all.

Deliciously ella has a raisin and cranberry recipe flapjack with rice syrup for sweetener but also pulses the raisins in a food processor so they become part of the sugary "glue" that hold it together

I'm not sure if this qualifies as "healthy" in this day and age, but what about the old classics like rice crispy cakes and cornflake cakes? Are they acceptable nowadays? I don't have kids at school so I don't know what the rules are anymore.

You could make them in mini muffin cases so they're actually pretty tiny, and there's minimum chocolate involved, but it's enough for a sweet treat.

Popcorn (airpopped at home) with a wee pot of toffee flavoured yogurt to dip it in? If a whole pot is too much, you could decant it into smaller tubs to eat over a couple of days.

Mini cookies? Make cookies at home, but make them really small so you can put two or three in, rather than one large cookie. I always found our kids loved mini food, for some reason, the weirdos. I made up a simple shortbread and cut it out using small sized cutters in shapes like hearts. Three or four of them kept them quiet.

If you don't mind coconut or other oil you can make a nice citrussy flapjack with dessicated coconut, lemon and lime zest and juice.

We do chocolate and banana muffins or traybake with minimal sugar. Uses up the overripe bananas.