Tried and Tasted:
Reduced Calorie Croissants and Strawberry Jam

Croissants are a luxurious weekend breakfast - maybe one we save for special occasions … and rightly so, when the average croissant stacks up 180 calories and over 10g fat – and that's without the trimmings! This month the Weight Loss Resources tasting team were eager to see how lower fat / lower calorie croissants from the supermarket giants compare. Here's their verdict:

Lower Calorie Croissant Comparison:

Brand	Marks and Spencer	Morrisons Eat Smart	Sainsbury's Be Good to Yourself	Asda Good for You	Tesco Healthy Living
Overall Rating	WE LOVE IT
Comments	So good they would go unnoticed as a low calorie alternative!	A light texture and buttery taste, lovely smell - would recommend	Bit chewy and not too tasty - noticeably lower calorie	Again, bit chewy and not too tasty - noticeably lower calorie	Revolting smell, very chewy texture and unpleasant taste. AVOID
Appearance	Outstanding	Good	Good	Good	Ok
Smell	Good	Very Good	Ok	Ok	Bad
Taste	Very Good (Buttery)	Good	Ok	Ok	Bad
Texture	Very Good (Crumbly)	Good	Ok	Ok	Bad
Serving Size	30g	30g	30g	30g	30g
Calories per serving(kcal)	83	78	93	84	49
Fat per serving(g)	5.1	4.5	6.5	5.0	0.7
Calories per  100g	277	259	311	280	166
Fat per 100g	17.0	15	21.8	16.8	2.3

Conclusion

M&S have yet again outdone the rest with their "Count on Us" range. Their croissants looked amazing, had a lovely soft and fluffy inner  with a crisp and crumbly outer, and would easily go unnoticed as a low calorie alternative.

Whilst there was little to judge in appearance between Morrisons' Eat Smart, Sainsbury's Be Good to Yourself and Asda's Good for You lower calorie offerings … Morrison's Eat Smart croissants were points ahead with their lovely smell, buttery taste, and good texture.

Sainsbury's "Be Good to Yourself" and Asda's "Good for You" were both acceptable – but we wouldn't be going out of our way to hunt them down …

And finally, Tesco's "Healthy Living" were rotten.

Reduced Calorie Strawberry Jams

Having picked their favourite reduced fat croissant, the WLR tasting team got a little carried away this month and went in hunt of the best reduced sugar strawberry jam (it just had to be strawberry jam with croissants)! With the average teaspoon of strawberry jam providing 39g sugar, the team were on the hunt for a the best reduced sugar brand - here's their verdict:

Lower Calorie Croissant Comparison:

Brand	Waitrose Reduced Sugar	Morrisons Eat Smart	Sainsbury's Reduced Sugar	Hartleys	Weight Watchers
Overall Rating
Comments	Very Good Fruity jam with real strawberry taste; bit tart not too sweet	A fruity jam with whole strawberries in it	Best appearance but let down on taste, but still good	Disappointing for a jam manufacturer	Very sweet with artificial taste, disgusting
Appearance	Good	Good	Very Good	Ok	Ok
Taste	Very Good	Very Good	Good	Ok	Bad
Texture	Smooth	Chunky	Chunky	Chunky	Smooth
Serving Size	15g	15g	15g	15g	15g
Calories per serving(kcal)	26	29	29	27	17
Sugars per serving(g)	5.8	5.7	7.1	6.7	4.2
Calories per  100g	173	192	190	180	115
Sugars per 100g	38.5	38.1	47.0	44.6	28.0

Conclusion

There was little to choose between Waitrose and Morrisons Eat Smart - both had a lovely fruity strawberry taste - which you would choose is a matter of preference: Smooth (Waitrose) vs Chunky (Morrisons); and Slightly Tart (Waitrose) vs Sweet Sweet Sweet (Morrisons)

Sainsburys was rated the best on appearance, but let it self down on taste - nevertheless with 3 stars it's still in the options

Hartleys was really just ok - little fruit taste and quite sweet - disappointing for a jam brand!

And Weight Watchers - was artificial tasting - avoid.

And Finally:

If you want a great reduced fat croissant and reduced sugar jam - head to Morrisons eat smart range!

Guide to Our Ratings:
= Outstanding | = Very Good
= Good | = Ok | = Bad

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