Lowest/highest calorie pastries/baked goods?

yummysesame

I need help from expert bakers/expert dieters out there with my question!!

From time to time I like to treat myself to yummy cabinet foods at cafes and I was wondering if there are specific foods that dieters should absolutely stay away from and foods that are surprisingly low in calorie?

e.g. cheesecake is one of the highest calorie foods/scones are surprisingly low in calorie (I totally made these up)

Looking forward to reading all the comments!!

melonaulait

You can't really know unless you look at the specific nutrition charts of the place. A muffin could have anywhere between ~200 - 600+ calories for example.

Also a lot of the time, I think, you'll see stuff that looks like it might be super healthy but is actually a calorie bomb. So if you're mixed between getting a (healthier looking) bran muffin or a slice of cheesecake, you might be better off with the cheesecake because the bran muffin can easily be higher cal. But it's still a guessing game unless you get the nutrition cart.

middlehaitch

Croissants. With all the butter in them they are something I would tend to bypass. Just not satisfying enough.

You don't have to stay away from them, especially if they are the warm chocolate filled ones. I just find they don't have enough bang for their calorie buck.

It is all personal preference.

Cheers, h.

markiend

I wouldn't tell myself or anybody else that I couldn't have a ( insert food here )

What are you going to do when the diet is complete ? Fitting goodies or anything that you eat / enjoy or whatever into your lifestyle is a good thing. being overly restrictive or totally avoiding any particular foods you enjoy is imho a bad choice, especially over the long run

Learn to accomodate what you want, learn portion control and you'll do better in the long run

and just in case you struggle with it, your will power will be your friend

Hannahlosing

One that surprised me the other day was those deliciously crispy apple pies from Maccas are only 260cals here in NZ I honestly thought they would be way more than that!

callsitlikeiseeit

they all vary so widely, there is no answer for this.

I've had cookies that are 50-75 calories... and ive had ones that are in excess of 400 calories lol

the trick is to fit your treats into your daily calorie goals - which may mean making it a maintenance day or adding in an extra workout to compensate.

nothing is off limits. you just have to find a way to make it work.

tasaiar1

Like someone mentioned, just eat what you think is with your calories.
Personally I avoid pastries made with puff pastry (most of them) because puff pastry is sooooi high in calorie and I don't find it worth it.

How ever (personal preference) I would get a cheesecake because I love cheesecakes and think they are with my calories

Sued0nim

I was surprised to find a jam doughnut was only 230 calories (depends on size and brand of course) but still .. meh

DawnieB1977

I was really shocked once when I shared a slice of carrot cake with a friend. I logged it and it was 400 calories for half a slice. Omg. So keep clear of carrot cake lol. It was at a chain café (M&S for Brits) so perhaps if it were fresh and homemade it wouldn't be so bad. I find homemade stuff so much better, tastes so much nicer.

Things like croissants, scones and toasted tea cakes seem to be lower in calories.

If I want something sweet I just share it with my kids, then I only get a taste lol and it's fewer calories

AmazonMayan

Just eat half of something and take the rest home for the next day if you think it will push you over calories too much. Don't pick the least calorie guess in your log.

If it's flaky or moist or has creaminess (like a pastry cream or other sauce) or cheese, etc. I'd just assume it's a lot lol. Lots of fresher fruit, maybe less. Maybe.

Edited cuz my phone autocorrecting to words I've never seen before lol

Sued0nim

DawnieB1977 wrote: »

I was really shocked once when I shared a slice of carrot cake with a friend. I logged it and it was 400 calories for half a slice. Omg. So keep clear of carrot cake lol. It was at a chain café (M&S for Brits) so perhaps if it were fresh and homemade it wouldn't be so bad. I find homemade stuff so much better, tastes so much nicer.

Things like croissants, scones and toasted tea cakes seem to be lower in calories.

If I want something sweet I just share it with my kids, then I only get a taste lol and it's fewer calories

nah carrot cake is highly calorific, even home made

yummy but not a 'health' choice

acidosaur

markiend wrote: »

I wouldn't tell myself or anybody else that I couldn't have a ( insert food here )

What are you going to do when the diet is complete ? Fitting goodies or anything that you eat / enjoy or whatever into your lifestyle is a good thing. being overly restrictive or totally avoiding any particular foods you enjoy is imho a bad choice, especially over the long run

Learn to accomodate what you want, learn portion control and you'll do better in the long run

and just in case you struggle with it, your will power will be your friend

Presumably, when their diet is complete, they will move to maintenance and thus have more calories to play around with. This means they can make different choices which suit them when they are maintaining weight. However I see nothing wrong with aiming for lower calories when you are restricting. It's what I do and how I've lost 50lbs so far.

melaniecheeks

Go for the smallest item. Starbucks have little mini chocolate brownies, or else a tiny macaroon.

ilex70

Maybe not in the pastry case, but biscotti is generally not that bad unless they are double chocolate dipped or something.

WinoGelato

rabbitjb wrote: »

DawnieB1977 wrote: »

I was really shocked once when I shared a slice of carrot cake with a friend. I logged it and it was 400 calories for half a slice. Omg. So keep clear of carrot cake lol. It was at a chain café (M&S for Brits) so perhaps if it were fresh and homemade it wouldn't be so bad. I find homemade stuff so much better, tastes so much nicer.

Things like croissants, scones and toasted tea cakes seem to be lower in calories.

If I want something sweet I just share it with my kids, then I only get a taste lol and it's fewer calories

nah carrot cake is highly calorific, even home made

yummy but not a 'health' choice

Um carrots are a vegetable. Ergo carrot cake is health food. Silly rabbit...

Francl27

What is worth it is what you REALLY want.

If I'm really craving cheesecake and I have something that has lower calories just to save calories... it will be a waste of calories because it just won't be as satisfying. So I don't even go to the bakery unless I'm craving something specific. If I actually have to make a decision about what I want to eat... I don't want it enough and I'll save my calories for when I do.

And don't waste calories on subpar baking goods either. The croissants from my favorite bakery (and the ones I make) are pretty dense and actually very filling on top of being delicious, and totally worth the 300 calories, for example. Grocery store croissants? Airy, bland, and not filling at all.

Anyway, if you just want something sweets for the heck of it.. have a piece of chocolate or one small cookie.

cw106

I had to cut pastries completely.
Was major cause of my obesity.
Now, can have them but baulk at the empty calories versus better choices.
Sometimes,if you cant trust yourself;you just have to strong and eradicate 1 of thousands of items.

oolou

Hard to say ... my mum's homemade fruit scones came out as 165 calories (before adding jam, cream etc) but it's likely that they are smaller than the ones you'd get in a café. I think danish pastries are around 270 cals, but again hard to say. I'm in France and they don't go overboard with portion sizes here.

omma_to_3

French Macarons aren't horrible. Usually less than 100 calories per cookie and delicious. And yes, cheesecake is one of the worst options (though totally worth it sometimes). Stay away from pound cake too.

kshama2001

rabbitjb wrote: »

DawnieB1977 wrote: »

I was really shocked once when I shared a slice of carrot cake with a friend. I logged it and it was 400 calories for half a slice. Omg. So keep clear of carrot cake lol. It was at a chain café (M&S for Brits) so perhaps if it were fresh and homemade it wouldn't be so bad. I find homemade stuff so much better, tastes so much nicer.

Things like croissants, scones and toasted tea cakes seem to be lower in calories.

If I want something sweet I just share it with my kids, then I only get a taste lol and it's fewer calories

nah carrot cake is highly calorific, even home made

yummy but not a 'health' choice

Next time I make carrot cake I'll replace half the oil with applesauce and see how much that helps reduce calories.

kshama2001

I had a slice of chocolate cake and was dismayed to find out it had almost 500 calories. I wouldn't eat just half of it. Next time I'll have one of these, which is better than supermarket cake anyway, and is half the calories, and the raw batter freezes well: http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/totally-chocolate-chocolate-chip-cookies-29

Bella0531

It really varies from bakery to bakery. I know some people here are saying scones, but at my old bakery ours were packed with sugar and we used heavy cream in 'em! Definitely not low calorie!

Angel food cake is a good choice, especially topped with fresh fruit.