Dunkin fanatic.

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healthyrachel1979
healthyrachel1979 Posts: 414 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey all!

My go to is a large caramel swirl iced coffee with cream and sugar. Well finally looked at the nutritional numbers and holy moly…

What are your dunkin preferably (or Starbucks) favorite low calorie/yummy tasting drink!

Tia!
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Replies

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,994 Member
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    In warm weather, iced coffee (or cold brew), no sweetener, usually no cream, although on occasion I'll put a small splash of milk or half and half in.

    In hot weather, an americano or a latte, sometimes with nonfat milk instead of 2%. Once in a while a flat white. Calories from milk don't concern me, as I get the protein and calcium for my calories.
  • sophiaa_j
    sophiaa_j Posts: 3 Member
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    Those types of coffees are soooo yummy. It's a shame about the nutritional content 😭 I've never had dunkin but I like the Nitro Cold Brew with Sweet Cream from starbucks, its 70 calories and super yum, very caffeinated. You could also try sugar free versions of your fav Dunkin drinks if that's an option? Good luck
  • mrsyeds1
    mrsyeds1 Posts: 1 Member
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    Flavor swirls are dairy sweeteners at about 50 calories, so I rarely add any extra creams or sugars. My go-to in warm weather is iced coffee or cold brew with one flavor of choice and 1 skim milk. At Starbucks the chocolate cream cold brew is normally made with 3 vanilla syrups and chocolate cold foam. I omit the vanilla syrup, add one sugar free vanilla syrup and change to light chocolate cold foam. If you download the apps for these places you can customize and preorder. This gives you more control and knowledge.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,640 Member
    edited April 2023
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    I make my chai lattes and coffee lattes at home, with skinny syrups (tasty, zero cal) and frothed skim milk.

    They are….magnificent. A 20 oz mug of chai is 54 calories (including the fat free half and half, frothed skim, and syrup) and a huge coffee latte is 25.

    I visit a coffee shop once a week to get a fresh baked squirrel cookie for le dog. Visits are for him not me, so I usually get a popsicle. A wonderful, yummy 40 calorie lemon/blueberry handmade popsicle.

    My coffee tastes better, is cheaper, takes less than five minutes to make (mostly waiting for the kettle) and I’d rather spend the hundreds of calories saved gnoshing on something edible and satisfying.

    BTW, if you’re American and don’t have an electric kettle, you’re seriously missing out. Also great for making jello, “clarifying” tap water to make yogurt etc, fast prep to boil water for pasta or soups. I don’t know why we’ve never caught on to them over here.

  • Mdin1029
    Mdin1029 Posts: 456 Member
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    I make Dunkin coffee at home and use a bit of their Extra Extra creamer (not low cal). If I order I get the regular coffee at starbucks with a splash of half and half and a bit of sugar.
  • SafariGalNYC
    SafariGalNYC Posts: 952 Member
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    Black coffee 😋 = less than 5 cals 😁
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 694 Member
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    springlering62 wrote: »
    BTW, if you’re American and don’t have an electric kettle, you’re seriously missing out. Also great for making jello, “clarifying” tap water to make yogurt etc, fast prep to boil water for pasta or soups. I don’t know why we’ve never caught on to them over here.

    +1 to this. As a british person it is genuinely incomprehensible how people don't have a kettle :D

    To add to the stereotype - tea is the choice for me. Some lovely earl grey with a slice of lemon.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,994 Member
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    littlegreenparrot1 wrote: »
    springlering62 wrote: »
    BTW, if you’re American and don’t have an electric kettle, you’re seriously missing out. Also great for making jello, “clarifying” tap water to make yogurt etc, fast prep to boil water for pasta or soups. I don’t know why we’ve never caught on to them over here.

    +1 to this. As a british person it is genuinely incomprehensible how people don't have a kettle :D

    To add to the stereotype - tea is the choice for me. Some lovely earl grey with a slice of lemon.

    What is the benefit of an electric kettle over a kettle I sit on my stove top burner? To me an electric kettle has more "moving parts" than an old-fashioned kettle I heat on the stove -- more things to go wrong. I used the same Corningware kettle for about 40 years, until it started to look like maybe there was some kind of wear occurring with the inner lining, and I chucked it just in case and got a new glass kettle with a whistle top. It probably won't last as long as the old one (new things never seem to), but at this point in my life it could still outlast me.

    For small amounts of water, I occasionally just pop a measuring cup in the microwave instead of using the kettle.

    Anyway, I'm seriously interested in what the benefit of the electric kettle is over the stove. If it's time, I generally use the time I'm waiting for water to boil to prep the coffee set-up (French press or pour-over) or to select my tea and measure it into the infuser, then maybe fixing some food to go with my drink, putting clean dishes away, washing up, etc.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,467 Member
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    Good question. I could not do without an electric kettle. It's much faster compared to a stovetop one. When I'm impatient I boil water in it to use for e.g. pasta as it's about 3x faster than cooking the same amount of water in a pot. Generally when I need to add more water to my dinner I switch on the kettle instead of pouring cold water into the pot. It's pretty much the only small kitchen appliance that I own, next to a small rice cooker. Don't need instapots, fryers, all the other stuff, but the kettle is non-negotiable. Due to the shape it keeps warm for longer, thus when my tea is consumed I don't need to heat up the water from scratch again, hence saving energy (I do drink masses of tea!)
  • jaycooks2
    jaycooks2 Posts: 3 Member
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    Black coffee only for me iced or hot
  • lilbogie6454
    lilbogie6454 Posts: 1 Member
    edited April 2023
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    THIS!!! :D:D

    I used to get a medium caramel mocha iced coffee with cream and sugar, so I know how you feel! I have since switched my go-to dunkin order to a medium caramel iced coffee with 2 caramel swirls, 2 cream, and no sugar (and for the record, I like sweet and don't like the taste of coffee lol -- the swirl has enough sugar in it once you are able to ween off of the added sugar).

    Since I no longer have to drive to work, at home, I make homemade cold brew (half gallon mason jar with a wide mouth lid, a cold brew filter, and a reusable plastic lid for wide mouth jars (all from amazon). I then add in 2 tbsp of sweet cream creamer and 2 tbsp of any choice of coffee syrup from Davinci or Torani.

    My daily "DIY" coffee comes out to about 121 calories, 22g carbs, 3g fat, 1g protein, 22g sugar. Not to mention, it saves a lot of money if you can make something just as tasty at home! :blush:
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,994 Member
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    yirara wrote: »
    Good question. I could not do without an electric kettle. It's much faster compared to a stovetop one. When I'm impatient I boil water in it to use for e.g. pasta as it's about 3x faster than cooking the same amount of water in a pot. Generally when I need to add more water to my dinner I switch on the kettle instead of pouring cold water into the pot. It's pretty much the only small kitchen appliance that I own, next to a small rice cooker. Don't need instapots, fryers, all the other stuff, but the kettle is non-negotiable. Due to the shape it keeps warm for longer, thus when my tea is consumed I don't need to heat up the water from scratch again, hence saving energy (I do drink masses of tea!)

    The energy issue is a good point. I do tend to use the leftover water when I need to add a little to a pot or pan, since it's right there.

    For dinner, if I'm going to need hot water, I set it heating for grains or pasta or whatever before prepping veggies, proteins, etc., so I've never really felt like I was just "waiting for the pot to boil."

    And like you, I'm not big on kitchen appliances (mostly because of limited counter space). I didn't replace my coffee-maker when the water-heating mechanism died (although I did keep the carafe and the filter basket to use for pour-over). No electric can opener, air fryer, slow cooker, etc. I do have a toaster (not a toaster oven) and a food processor from when I was making nut butters and hummus, etc. (don't do that so much lately). And I have a bread maker that someone gave me (which was a "don't you even know me?" moment initially, because I baked bread from scratch for years, but I discovered it's nice for doing a single loaf or not heating the oven in the summer).
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 889 Member
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    My first instinct - for coffee drinkers -- is drink your coffee how you like it and simply make room for it in your daily calorie intake.

    If you want to try and get a little less calories for it (particularly if what you like to drink has a LOT of calories)...look on the ticket for Dunkin and see how many cream/sugar are in it. Like for a medium, it's '3' of each. For a large it's '4' of each.

    So, whatever size you get...try getting one less of each and sort of ween yourself off and save some calories.

    But, ultimately, if you want coffee in the morning and you don't like it other ways --- enjoy your coffee.
  • 8rbncr8mv5
    8rbncr8mv5 Posts: 7 Member
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    It isn’t from a coffee shop and it’s not particularly low calorie but I use a caramel premier protein or Fairlife drink and mix it with a little bit of a coffee concentrate and it gets me 30 grams of protein (170 calories) and I really like it. I do it with coffee ice cubes so it stays cold and doesn’t get watered down
  • healthyrachel1979
    healthyrachel1979 Posts: 414 Member
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    SafariGalNYC wrote: »
    Black coffee 😋 = less than 5 cals 😁

    I caaaaant
  • SafariGalNYC
    SafariGalNYC Posts: 952 Member
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    healthyrachel1979 wrote: »
    SafariGalNYC wrote: »
    Black coffee 😋 = less than 5 cals 😁

    I caaaaant

    @healthyrachel1979 - I never thought I’d be a black coffee drinker. I always loved milk and sugar, and most of all cappuccino … my grandmother always drank it black. … a few years ago .. I started doing espresso and somehow it just changed.. I started liking the plain better… sounds weird to me too being the black Coffee gal. Lol - I get it though, I would have said I ick a few years ago. Interesting how tastes change.

    😉
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,640 Member
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    I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone can go to a Dunkin or Starbucks for a high calorie coffee and not leave without a high calorie something else to go with it.

    Old me would have required a sampling of at least half a dozen donuts before I could get out the door. (Although I would have rationalized that a dozen was the “better deal” and left with that.)

    Hats off to those of you managing “just” coffee.

    …..or, are you? 😈
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,190 Member
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    springlering62 wrote: »
    I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone can go to a Dunkin or Starbucks for a high calorie coffee and not leave without a high calorie something else to go with it.

    Old me would have required a sampling of at least half a dozen donuts before I could get out the door. (Although I would have rationalized that a dozen was the “better deal” and left with that.)

    Hats off to those of you managing “just” coffee.

    …..or, are you? 😈

    Haha--that sounds like my last trip to Starbucks! I was NOT popular in the drive through lane that morning. Friends were moving, so I went and picked up coffee and breakfast sandwiches and some snacks for later since I knew they wouldn't stop and actually eat a meal. The barista had to go back and check to see if they had everything I wanted in stock. Too bad I couldn't really see the looks on the faces of the people behind me when I got the drink carrier with three coffees, and a big ol' bag with three breakfast sandwiches, two protein boxes and a couple of sweet treats!
  • spacetreemonkey
    spacetreemonkey Posts: 171 Member
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    I like chai lattes, caramel frapps and chocolate chip fraps. I'm sure there's more, but there's not much variety in New Zealand. I think Gloria Jeans used to make a tim tam drink that was nice.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,981 Member
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    healthyrachel1979 wrote: »
    Hey all!

    My go to is a large caramel swirl iced coffee with cream and sugar. Well finally looked at the nutritional numbers and holy moly…

    What are your dunkin preferably (or Starbucks) favorite low calorie/yummy tasting drink!

    Tia!

    A few years ago DD's messed up my partner's iced coffee order and gave him one with caramel, which he gave to me. Oh my...I bought one thing of Ghirardelli caramel and made this at home, but decided I couldn't afford the calories and stopped. I normally make coffee at home. I get a lot of flavor for few calories by using half Starbucks caramel coffee and half Teeccino almond amaretto.

    Twice this summer I've been out with my partner and did indulge in a small DD caramel coffee. That's how I reduce calories - I get these caramel treats only very rarely, and get smalls :wink: Oh, and previously I would have gotten a Boston cream donut, so still a win.

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