Thursday, January 6, 2011

"Sugar Free" Chocolate Options: YC Milk Chocolate Bar with Orange Bits

For the first two parts of my “sugar free” chocolate review series, I reviewed plain dark and plain milk chocolates, and found that the dark chocolate was indistinguishable from similarly-branded dark chocolates, but the milk chocolate had little going for it. For the last post in this series, I’ll be checking out a flavored chocolate bar: The YC Chocolates Milk Chocolate Bar with Orange Bits.

This bar has 190 calories in a 41 gram serving, which means that if you eat a 41 gram serving of this instead of regular milk chocolate, you’ll consume about 20-35 fewer calories. Not much of a savings in the way of calories, but since like the bars from Trader Joe’s, they were sweetened with maltitol, some individuals with blood sugar or dental concerns might be able to enjoy this chocolate but not others.***

The orange aroma is apparent immediately upon opening the packaging, though it is just a bit artificial. The orange taste is also a tad artificial, though not overwhelmingly so, and the tastes of the chocolate and orange are well-balanced. Texture-wise, this bar is extremely smooth, and it is clear that YC uses high-quality cocoa butter. This is a bar that I might eat regardless of the sugar statistics, though it’s not one that I would chase down like the Vosges Barcelona Bar.

Have you tried any sugar-free chocolates? What did you think?

******NOTE: I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. If you are unsure of whether or not this product is appropriate for you, please consult with a medical professional.

8 comments:

  1. I've never tried sugar-free chocoholate, but I probably would just to be able to say that I did! =P

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  2. I am fascinated by the concept of sugar-free chocolate - I haven't seen it anywhere in real life yet. I find in general health food store chocolate tends not to be made with the best cocoa, so if I see this one, I'll probably pick it up to try. Why can't healthified, whole, and delicious exist in perfect harmony in the grocery stores?

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  3. My bro-in-law used to make raw chocolate with cacao butter, cashews, and agave nectar and it was good! And of course now they say that agave is bad. I recently saw the Vosges Red Fire bar in sugar free. Usually I'm against fake sweeteners, but if they were giving out samples, I would totally try it. ;)

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  4. No sugar *and* orange? This is like my idea of hell :P

    P.S. Did you know Vosges does a sugar free barcelona? And a sugar free red fire, from memory...

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  5. @fitchocoholic Some of it isn't that bad, it used to be terrible and chalky, though.

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  6. @Alina This is a serious question when it comes to chocolate. Why can't cane- or honey-sweetened chocolate taste good? Wonder if there is an issue with the cocoa butter.

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  7. @Jessica @ bake me away! That raw chocolate sounds amazing. I may have to try it.

    I understand some folks need to shy away from sugary stuff. It makes me happy to know that there are some chocolates out there that they can still enjoy.

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  8. @Hannah I have, in fact, seen the sugar free Vosges bars - they weren't in production back during my days of dental woes. Too bad, I'd have spent tons of money on them because those are two of my favorite Vosges flavors.

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