Imagine if you were a dietitian that was constantly being asked by your patients if there was a healthy gourmet tasting cookie? One they could have with their cup of tea or coffee and that would not interfere with their blood sugars and cholesterol? Plus one that people with irritable bowel syndrome on the low FODMAP diet could also enjoy? Well you may say no, sorry and suggest alternatives. Or you could find a way to say ‘yes’ like this week’s guest expert.
About our expert:
Antigone Kouris-Blazos is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition at La Trobe University, past managing editor of Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition and www.healthyeatingclub.com, is an Accredited Practising Dietitian with over 25 years experience, has co-authored 5 university text books and 3 of her own books including a cook book released this year and has over 40 published papers, mostly on the Mediterranean diet and longevity.
As far as I know, I am the first dietitian in Australia to develop a food product and take it to market. If I am wrong, I’d love to hear about others who have done the same. It took 2 years (in my spare time) to develop SkinnybikTM because adjusting the recipe to make it superior nutritionally would often result in a cookie that was hard, dry, tasteless or costly. My dietetic and food science skills and love of cooking and eating certainly came in very handy.
But I could not have done it without my husband and biscuit lover Chris Blazos (Director of Skinnybik) who is a mechanical engineer with experience in food manufacturing. He guided me on how sticky the dough can be in order to get through biscuit making equipment. He also kept complaining that the cookies tasted great but were too dry (due to their very high fibre content) so I juggled the ingredients resulting in a texture resembling soft-baked like muffins or cookies just out of the oven.
Testing times
I also got over 200 patients to taste test at my clinic before I finalised the recipe. When one of my patients said “are you sure these are healthy – they don’t taste healthy” I knew I was ready to launch. We had achieved a cookie with wholesome nutrient dense ingredients like wholemeal spelt flour (14%), rice bran, oat bran (14%), almond meal, dates (9%), eggs and sunflower oil (contributing to its good levels of magnesium and vitamin E).
To reduce the carbohydrate load of the cookie for people watching their blood sugar levels, I removed half the sugar and added Splenda (sucralose). Sucralose is not a sugar alcohol or a laxative so is suitable on the FODMAP diet. I tried stevia but this left an undesirable after taste. I then removed half the spelt flour and replaced it with oat bran and rice bran – this significantly reduced the starch content, greatly increased the fibre content to 11g/100g (most biscuits have less than 3g/100g) and did not affect the taste too much. SkinnybikTM is probably low GI but it has not been formally tested yet.
The cookie cuts it
There is no other cookie on the market which ticks so many good nutrition boxes and is made with spelt flour. It is wheat free, dairy free, yeast free, free of artificial colours, flavours, preservatives, laxative sweeteners and aspartame. It is suitable on the low Fodmap diet because it is dairy free, wheat free, low in fructose, nil laxative sweeteners/polyols and only 1-2g date per cookie.
Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute healthy choice criteria for label reading are: Total fat >10g/100g or less, Saturated fat 2g/100g or less, Sugar 15g/100g or less, Fibre 7.5g/100g or more, Sodium 120mg/100g or less. Diabetes Australia Healthier Options criteria for sweet biscuits are: kilojoules 1500 kJ/100g or less, total fat 10g/100g or less if saturated fat is <1/3, sugar (no target), fibre 3g/100g or more, sodium 400mg/100g or less.
SkinnybikTM compares reasonably well to these recommendations, except for total fat. It is moderate in fat (15.8%) but is low in saturated fat (2%) and trans fats (0%). It contains only good fats from sunflower oil, rice bran and almond meal. Compared to a regular oatmeal biscuit, it is reduced in: sugar by 50%, carbohydrates 40%, calories 25% (has 53 calories per 15g cookie), total fat 25%, saturated fat 90%, trans fats 0%, salt 85%; increased in: protein 70% and fibre 350%. Check out the full Nutrient Comparison Table.
Editor’s comment:
Wow Antigone. Fantastic story and behind the scenes look, thank you. And thank you too for the samples. I loved the spelt taste and the hint of date. SkinnybikTM can be purchased on-line and in selected IGAs, Foodworks, Health Food Stores (Sunnybrook, Passionfoods, Fresh n Crisp) and Hospital cafes in Melbourne only. A gluten free version with a similar nutrient profile (mocha & dark chocolate) is coming soon. Enquiries www.skinnybik.com RRP: $7.99 for 9 cookies in tube or 2 pack $1.99 (15g each). What do you think lovely Scoop community?