Calorie wars between some favorite holiday treats
Happy Holiday! I am about to ruin your day! No one really wants to know, so feel free to ignore the numbers in this article, but for those who are still counting calories as we countdown the last days of the year, here is some good news and bad news for you. Here is a list of some of the holiday favorites that may be gracing your cookie exchanges, holiday party buffets, and gift boxes this year. Again, feel free to ignore these numbers, especially if they are your favorites. You have been warned.
Mix Baked versus Store Bought Brownies
We love the smell of them in the oven. We love the ooey-gooiness of a fresh cut square from the pan. I particularly love the crumbly crust that so nicely complements a super moist brownie. With brownies you can always cut a smaller square and save yourself the guilt at least a little bit, but how much guilt is in that rich dark morsel? Well, one square at about two square inches, and figuring it is not more than an inch in thickness, is, drum roll, about 230 calories. The good news, that number is for the store bought variety. If you choose to make your own, from scratch, you lop off nearly half and are left with a brownie the same size and only 111 calories! And, you are always burning some of those calories bustling around the kitchen doing the prep work. Add in hand mixing rather than using modern convenience and you get a great arm workout too.
Classic versus Commercial Chocolate Chip
Whether they are the chewy or the crunchy, warm from the oven or dipped in a glass of milk, the chocolate chip cookie is a classic. But what about those pesky calories that come along for the ride down memory lane? This one may be good news for the more lazy cookie craver. The commercially made, store bought chocolate chip cookie rings in at 130 calories for a standard cookie. While, those tempting treats from grandmother’s kitchen come in at around 160 calories. It is a hard one to choose from for some of us. BUt if it is only once a year, why not allow for a little indulgence and make grandmother feel loved.
Roll the Oats: Oatmeal Cookies
When we try to mix healthy with sweet cookie goodness, I think the oatmeal raisin variety does a pretty fair job of living up to the task. Sweet, but not too sweet, chewy, and crumbly at the same time. We can claim, there is fruit in there! But are they really less calories than the other classics? Both commercial and home made pass the test at under most other cookies, and do it yourself is still the best. Commercial cookies come in at about 115 calories, while the home made, sing some halleluyah, a mere 65 calories per snack.
Calorie counts are estimated from the CalorieLab.com
http://calorielab.com/foods/cookies/3
