Published December 23, 2017
A candy cane at the holiday after school activity. Hot chocolate with whipped cream after ice skating. A plate of cookies that were supposed to be for Santa. The holidays can turn into an IV sugar solution for kids!
Research suggests that babies are naturally inclined to crave sugar as soon as they exit the womb. It’s not a preference at this very early stage but rather a biological reality. To complicate matters, consuming sugar causes kids to crave even more of the sweet stuff. This can be a recipe for disaster during the holidays!
US dietary guidelines recommend consuming less than 10% of daily calories from added sugars. On a 1,500-calorie diet, a level appropriate for moderately active 4- to 8-year-olds, just less than 10% would be about 33 grams of added sugars per day.
So what do we do here at Gourmet Gorilla? Our goal is to limit the amount of added sugar, especially raw sugar. Since we still want to make sure that the children we are serving enjoy the food & think it looks, smells, feels & tastes great, we use more of honey & fruit (applesauce/blueberries/bananas) for the sweetness in items like our muffins, granola bars, and quickbreads. But we know that sugar does more than just sweeten the product. It also plays an important role in the chemical properties of the baked good, and we have to keep a little in. It locks in moisture which gives the muffins/quick breads a moist & soft texture, and helps with the structure & color. Our ultimate goal is to limit the amount of added sugar but since we make all our baked goods in house, we can control where that sugar comes from and keep it to a minimum!
