Chocolate Review 2/3/2012
It's chocolate time again! It's hard to resist chocolate this time of year. But how to do it low carb? Sadly I'm still looking for the perfect solution but I do have two new products to review.
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Simply Lite-Dark Chocolate Not a bad bar flavor wise. It seems a little under-sweetened when you first bite into it, but the sweetness comes when it starts to melt in your mouth. It does have it's drawbacks though. Like most sugar-free chocolate it's sweetened with Maltitol which can have a laxative effect on some people. There's 11g of Maltitol and 3 grams of fiber. If you subtract those from the carb count that makes this bar 1g per serving. Note that there's 3.5 servings PER BAR. And there's still 100 calories per serving. The flavor is good, but eat the whole thing and you'll probably wish you hadn't. |
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Walden Farms - Yes, that's not a typo. It's calorie free. "No Calories, Fat, Carbs Gluten or Sugars of any kind." Note the quotes. Though there should be trace calories for the cocoa powder if nothing else. Serving size is 2 Tablespoons so it's less than a calorie for that amount. However, if you expect this to be like hot fudge you're going to be disappointed. It's much closer to the consistency of chocolate pudding. It's very sweet and sweetened with sucralose rather than sugar alcohols which is the good news since it shouldn't cause gastric distress. The bad news is that it has a strange and very strong acidic flavor making this more appropriate to dipping something something like strawberries into than as a stand alone chocolate fix. It is made with real cocoa powder so the chocolate is genuine, if you can get past the acidic flavor. To be fair, Chocolate Dip is how they're marketing it so it's not like they're leading anyone on about what it can do. I didn't fall in love with it like I wanted to. Still... what do you expect for 0 calories? |
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CALORIE FREE - Chocolate Dip
Chocolate Review 4/21/2011
It took me a long time to sample all these chocolates since I could only try one a day. All these chocolates were made with Maltitol and can have a laxative effect in some individuals. I found while taste testing these that if I drank a lot of water with them the effect wasn't as bad. Be aware though while many people can eat Maltitol products without it affecting their weight loss or blood sugar, some people are sensitive to it. And be aware that all these candies do still have significant calories. Any sugar free candy should be a treat only. And eating these is still better for a low carber than eating regular candy since they usually come in at about 1/2 net carb per piece. While most of these have 3-5 pieces listed as a serving size, do yourself a favor and stick to no more than one piece a day.
Russell Stover |
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Russell Stover Sugar Free Strawberry Cream - These were very yummy. The strawberry flavor was bright and crisp. The milk chocolate matched the center well. Very good. Tastes like spring. | |
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Russell Stover Sugar Free Mint Patties - A nice balance of mint and dark chocolate. Not quite as good as the full sugar variety but not bad at all. The texture is slightly different but not objectionable. | |
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Russell Stover Sugar Free Pecan Delights - I was disappointed in these. The southern girl in me expected something better but these just fell flat. I think the caramel just needs a little salt. | |
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Russell Stover Sugar Free Toffee Squares - Excellent! A nice crisp toffee enrobed in chocolate. Just the right balance of salty to sweet. Very well done. This is the one most likely to tempt me into over indulgence. One of my favorites. | |
| Hershey |  |
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Hershey Sugar-Free Milk Chocolate - Finally, pure chocolate done right. It can be very hard to make sugar free chocolate that isn't "off" but Hershey did it. Very good. Just like the full sugar version. My milk chocolate pick for use in enrobing other things. | |
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Hershey Sugar-Free Special Dark - Yum! I quite enjoyed these. Without a side by side comparison I'm can't tell these from the full sugar variety. My dark chocolate pick for use in enrobing other things. Don't know for certain that it would work but these are your best shot. | |
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Reeses Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cups - The peanut butter was slightly drier than you'd anticipate for a Reeses and had some strange bubble gum notes. But all in all it was still quite enjoyable and almost like it's sugar laden counterpart. But I think to satisfy my chocolate peanut butter craving I'd just dip the Hershey Sugar Free Milk Chocolate into some real peanut butter. | |
| Dove | ||
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Dove Sugar Free Raspberry Creme - I love these. A delicate raspberry flavor dancing with dark chocolate. And like regular Dove they melt super smooth on the tongue. | |
| Dove Sugar Free Mint Creme - This is my go to when I'm craving chocolate mint. The mint is more delicate than a mint patty. Also super smooth in the melt department. | ||
Whitman |
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Whitman Sugar Free Sampler - I was disappointed. The box was the same size as their regular sampler but when I opened it up there was huge spacers between the pieces. I felt like I got gypped. The candies were a mixed bag as well. All the caramel based candies were a little flat and cloying. It tastes like there isn't enough salt or something. The fruit cremes were generally good though. And the toffee, just like the Russell Stovers, was perfect. If you're looking for a gift for a low carber and don't know what kind of chocolates they'd like this might be nice. But for my money I'll just stick with the small bags of things I know I'll love. | |
| Werthers | Werthers Original Sugar Free Hard Candies. Ok, so these aren't chocolate, but I had to include them. These have an excellent flavor and last a nice long time if you suck on them. Just the right balance of salty and sweet. They are about half the size of a regular Werthers Original though so be aware. | |