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| Udderly bovine: Milk chocolate, and no sugar. |
I love seeing new companies on the horizon, especially when we’re a nation more than ever looking for gluten free, sugar free solutions. So when Simply Lite placed itself on my radar, I was excited to garner some of their products and share my feelings with you.
After all, with so many bars currently on the market in stores, it’s nice to see some still adding themselves to the mix in order to service people looking to keep insulin levels (and waistlines) in check.
Their Milk Chocolate bar is no exception. With a simple ingredients list: Maltitol, Cocoa butter, Whole Milk Powder, Cocoa mass, Inulin, Soy lecithin, and Natural vanilla, at least you’re not being deceived by high-falluting, polysyllabic latinate names for man-made ingredients. Many of the low carb veterans out there know what these ingredients entail–especially the maltitol–and can use it with care.
With 3.5 servings per 3 ounce bar (I’m thinking you have to be pretty adept with math to break down 12 bars into 3.5 servings. I’d just claim four servings to be safe), the flavor is deliciously creamy and milky, with a light, fruity center point and a slightly vanilla note at the end. Not at all unpleasant for a chocolate bar, let along a milk chocolate bar in the low carb range.
While I am not generally a fan of maltitol, its presence helps keep dieters honest due to its laxative effect in overindulgence. This is especially important, since, as its flavor is so believable and delicious, and because the carb count here is lower at 2 net carbs per less than an ounce of this product, it it wouldn’t be hard to eat the entire bar in a sitting if one was to throw caution (and her underpants) to the wind (and I do mean wind).
With a nice flavor and real milk chocolate appeal, this bar is delicious enough to have you believing Hershey’s threw on a foil wrapper and tried to take you to dessert.
Rating: ♥♥♥
Price: $2.29 for 3 oz package
Usefulness: Cooking, baking, snacking
Negative: Maltitol.
Found at: Trader Joes, Shop Rite, TJ Maxx and Marshalls and online
Website: Simply Lite
Hi Jamie,
Do you know of any other low-carb chocolate bars? I can't really do the maltitol.
Sorry if this is a duplicate. I'm having some trouble leaving a comment.
Kate
I'm not a dark chocolate but their Dark Chocolate with Almonds bar is pretty good, too.
Hi, Kate! If you can't stomach maltitol Ipun alert!) then look for companies like Green&Black's (review coming this week). You're looking at real sugar as opposed to a sweetener, but the carb counts aren't much different. Another product I love is Lindt. The higher the percentage of cocoa, the better.
I love these bars- they have been the best discovery for my sugar-free lifestyle! The milk chocolate bar really fills the need when I'm craving a "sweet treat" after lunch or in the evening, and the dark choc almond bar is a tasty sophisticated tasting treat too. And I absolutely agree – the Malitol stops me from eating the whole thing! These bars are 2 rectangles across – 3 rectangles = one serving.
Ellen
Think of Maltitol as 80% of sugar. It has a GI of 52, where table sugar is 60. Calling products sweetened mostly with maltitol "low carb" is disingenuous.