Reduced Calorie Croissants and Strawberry Jam – Tried and Tasted

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:

Table 1: Lower Calorie Croissant Comparison

Product	Marks and Spencer	Morrisons Eat Smart	Sainsbury's Be Good to Yourself
Ranking	1	2	3
Appearance	Outstanding	Good	Good
Smell	Good	Very Good	Ok
Taste	Very Good (Buttery)	Good	Ok
Texture/ Consistency	Very Good (Crumbly)	Smooth	Smooth
Conclusion	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.
Calories (kcal) per 30g serving	83	78	93
Fat (g) per 30g serving	5.1	4.5	6.5

Table 2: More Lower Calorie Croissants Compared

Product	Asda Good for You	Tesco Healthy Living
Ranking	3	5
Appearance	Good	Ok
Smell	Ok	Bad
Taste	Ok	Bad
Texture/ Consistency	Ok	Bad
Conclusion	Again, bit chewy and not too tasty - noticeably lower calorie.	Revolting smell, very chewy texture and unpleasant taste. AVOID.
Calories (kcal) per 30g serving	84	49
Fat (g) per 30g serving	5.0	0.7

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:

Table 1: Reduced Calorie Strawberry Jams

Product	Reduced Sugar Strawberry Jam, Waitrose	Strawberry Jam, Eat Smart, Morrisons	Reduced Sugar Strawberry Jam, BGTY Sainsburys
Ranking	1	2	3
Appearance	Good	Good	Very Good
Taste	Very Good	Very Good	Good
Texture/ Consistency	Smooth	Chunky	Chunky
Conclusion	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.
Calories (kcal) per 15g serving	26	29	29
Sugar (g) per 15g serving	5.8	5.7	7.1

Table 2: More Reduced Calorie Strawberry Jams Compared

Product	Reduced Sugar Strawberry Jam, Hartleys	Strawberry Jam, Weight Watchers
Ranking	4	5
Appearance	Ok	Ok
Taste	Ok	Bad
Texture/ Consistency	Chunky	Smooth
Conclusion	Disappointing for a jam manufacturer.	Very sweet with artificial taste, disgusting.
Calories (kcal) per 15g serving	27	17
Sugar (g) per 15g serving	6.7	4.2

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!