This section covers reduced calorie cookies, cakes and pastries: reduced sugar, sugar-free, gluten-free and low-fat. If you’d like to nominate the best diet cookie, just click on the link.
A word about ingredients:
Maltitol is a member of a family of bulk sweeteners known as polyols or sugar alcohols. It has a pleasant sweet taste remarkably similar to sucrose (table sugar). Maltitol is about 90% as sweet as sugar and significantly reduced in calories. The safety of maltitol has been proven and it approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.N. World Health Organization, and the E.U.’s Scientific Committee for Food. The only downside is that excessive consumption has a laxative effect; however, “excessive” is several times the normal portion. See additional information about sugar substitutes.
Sugar-Free means that there are no sugars n the product. There can be sugar substitutes, such as aspartame, saccharine, or sucralose.
No Sugar Added means that the product contains natural sugars from ingredients such as unsweetened apple juice, raisins, oranges, and other fruits or fruit juices.
Spelt Flour is used in a wide variety of cereals, pastas, crackers, baked goods, and beers. It has long been popular in Europe: the ancient Romans knew it as farrum, modern Italians call it farro, Germans call it dinkle. Spelt is used as a wheat substitute for people who have wheat allergies (although it is not gluten-free). It is a delicious grain, and people who don’t have allergies enjoy it.
Make a delicious low-calorie fruit soup by puréeing 2 pounds cantaloupe, then adding 3/4 cup herbal fruit tea and 1 to 2 tablespoons of lime juice. Garnish with chopped mint and melon balls or berries. Enjoy it at any meal of the day, or as a snack. For protein, add fat-free plain yogurt with no-cal sweetener.
