Njammies Quick Answers – What Holds It Together

Binding simply means helping the other ingredients stay together. Seeds, nuts, fruit or grains don't always hold their shape on their own, so a recipe may need something that helps turn all those separate little pieces into a mixture we can shape, bake, slice or pack.

Gelatine helps a liquid mixture set and hold its shape. In our Fresh Fruit Chewies, it works with the blended fruit to create that soft, chewy structure so the little shapes can be removed from their moulds and then slowly air-dried.

Psyllium absorbs liquid and becomes soft and gel-like. In a recipe such as Mighty Nutty-Fruity, we soak it first and use that thickened mixture to help the nuts, fruit and other ingredients hold together. A small ingredient can have quite an important job.

Honey is sticky, so in some recipes it does more than bring a little sweetness. It can help coat and connect ingredients such as nuts, seeds and coconut while the mixture is being shaped and baked. We use it where both its flavour and the job it does suit the recipe.

Soft fruit can do more than add flavour and sweetness. When dates or other fruits are softened and blended into a paste, they can help bring dry ingredients together and give a mixture body. In Pear-fectly Gingered, for example, soft dates are turned into a paste that helps hold the pear, nuts and seeds together.

Because every mixture behaves differently. A fresh fruit Chewie needs to set, while a nut and fruit bar needs ingredients that will hold together through shaping and baking. We choose what works naturally with that particular recipe rather than trying to make one ingredient do every job.