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Friday, March 17, 2023

Reviewing How the Printing on Zazzle Mugs Stand the Test of Time

Photo by Lou16, image created via Canva

I was making a coffee the other day and I looked at one of my favourite coffee mugs and was struck by how vibrant it still is as I feel like I've had it forever. That mug was one that was created on Zazzle and I won it in a competition on a content site that closed down in June 2015.

I can't remember if I received the mug in March of 2013 or 2014, but either way, as you can see from the photo it really is as vibrant today as it was then. I couldn't tell you how many mugs of coffee or hot chocolate I have enjoyed in this mug during that time (I use a different mug or cup for my tea). It also survived the year of the mug cake which was delicious, but my waistline didn't appreciate it!

I should note that although the mugs are dishwasher friendly I actually don't have a dishwasher so it has always been hand-washed, even so, many other graphic mugs that we've had over the years don't look nearly as bright and vibrant a decade later.

Zazzle's mugs are available in a number of different designs so whether you need a new mug for yourself or whether you're looking for a gift idea, mugs make great gifts. Whether you're after a mug for the holidays or another occasion why not check Zazzle out? You can either go straight to the site and search or you can share the love and check out some of our contributor's stores.

Have you ever brought a Zazzle mug before? I'd love to hear about your purchase in the comments.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Monday, March 13, 2023

QVC Mum Garden Sphere Review

QVC says garden sphere... I say Mum Balls! Last year I finally succumbed to the pressure (I say only in jest) of watching the garden shows on QVC and purchased the Mum Garden Sphere (aka as Mum Balls in this house).

Construction

The mums are well constructed. Each ball can either be used as is in a sphere or split apart to make two half balls. Instructions are included as to how to split the ball and once the proper opening is found, the ball splits easily.

Interior plastic hole/eye clasp are arranged around the ball and are simply unclasped to open up the ball. Easy!

Durability

So far the mum balls have lasted through summer, fall and winter with no problems except for a squirrel which seemed to find one of the mounds very interesting.

Midwestern winters are long and I thought these mums could liven up the yard in the middle of winter which was mission accomplished. Snow in October and May is not unusual which makes for a very very short growing season and it is fun to have a bit of color throughout the year (even if the color is not natural!)

Do they Look Real?

From a distance yes.

From across the deck yes, real enough!

Up close? No.

Of course the flowers look too perfect up close to be real. The color is on point for the the white mums, especially from a distance. I think these spheres fall into the of course they do not look like real mums, but I also don't believe that is the intent due to their sphere shape! Just something a little fun, little quirky and no maintenance.

After mum season, I did a little diy with tea lights which was a festive little twist for Fall fire pit season in the back yard.

Nothing of course matches real flowers! However, trading the convenience of flowers that require no maintenance is not a bad trade off either for those who love flowers, but not the labor of growing flowers.

Colors

Throughout the year different colors are offered from the traditional mum colors to garden spheres of mixed colors. I chose white the traditional white mum color with the intent of also using the mum balls at Christmas.

Which I did and added lights and a few red bows. The mum now lighted Christmas balls looked very pretty with a covering of snow for the season.

Sizes

The mum spheres and other garden balls are offered in diameters from 10 inches to 21 inches! The spheres are usually sold in sets of 2 which if split can equal 4 mounds of flowers. I ordered the 10 inch set as a try and evaluate set.

Price Point

One of the best ways to save money is to look for the free shipping days on QVC. Another way is to look for "AS IS" items. The package of 2 AS IS spheres are offered at a 20-25 percent savings.

I plan on adding a few mum balls/garden spheres to the collection this year when free shipping and AS IS mums are offered which makes for a much more affordable price point.

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Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Healthy Pistachio Cherry Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cereal Treats

I am in love with ChocZero's amazing new keto-friendly marshmallows. As soon as I received my first order, I knew I wanted to pair them with Magic Spoon cereal to make a healthier version of my husband's favorite marshmallow cereal treats. However, I didn't want to make just a plain, garden-variety, healthified version of the traditional treats. Instead, I came up with this fabulous, extra-delicious recipe where the vanilla flavored marshmallow and frosted cereal is studded with bursts of extra flavor from chopped salted pistachios, unsweetened dried cherries and sugar-free dark chocolate chips.

In today's review, I'm delighted to share my brand new, original recipe that is gluten-free, grain-free and has no added sugars. Enjoy!

Low carb, keto-friendly pistachio cherry chocolate chip marshmallow ceral treats <5 net carbs per serving

My photos don't do justice to these firm yet ooey-gooey, healthy marshmallow cereal treats studded with chopped pistachios, dried cherries and dark chocolate chips. They're insanely good!

Healthy Marshmallow Cereal Treats That Taste Even Better Than the Original!

One of my favorite things about these treats is that they are firm and non-sticky when cooled while also having a fun, ooey-gooey, chewy consistency when you bite into them. This recipe truly exceeded even my high expectations for developing it. More importantly, it also earned the ultimate compliment from my husband, a dyed-in-the-wool Rice Krispie treats lover who said these are even better than the ones made from the sugar-laden original recipe!

I do want to give credit to two recipes that influenced the development of mine. The first is Scott Loitsch's Rice Krispie Treats recipe (account required) from The New York Times' "NYT Cooking" section, which gave me the idea to brown the butter before stirring in the marshmallows. The second is Maya Krampf's Healthy Rice Krispie Treats recipe from the Wholesome Yum website, which recommended coarsely chopping the cereal (I decided to coarsely crush mine instead).

The idea of adding chopped pistachios, cherries and sugar-free dark chocolate chips was entirely my own.

Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free and Grain-Free Ingredients Are Just Healthy Options. Make These Treats Your Way!

If you aren't concerned about healthy eating, feel free to substitute conventional marshmallows, chocolate chips and your favorite plain or frosted cereal (including Rice Krispies, if you like) to make these scrumptious sweet treats.

You definitely don't want to miss out on this fabulous, extra-special version of the beloved, traditional Rice Krispie treats recipe. Your family is sure to love my new variation!

Healthy Pistachio Cherry Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cereal Treats Recipe

Platter of healthy pistachio cherry chocolate chip marshmallow cereal treats

I wish you could taste these incredibly yummy treats that no one would believe are actually healthy!

Author: Margaret Schindel

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5-10 minutes

Cooling Time: 60 minutes

Servings: 16

Ingredients

7-ounce (198 g) box grain-free cereal, Frosted flavor (I used Magic Spoon), coarsely crushed with a rolling pin
1/2 cup roasted and salted pistachios (I used Wonderful), coarsely chopped
1/3 cup unsweetened dried cherries (I used Sunrise), chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsweetened butter (I used Vital Farms), plus extra for greasing baking pan and parchment paper
10-ounce (283 g) bag keto-friendly marshmallows, no sugar added (I used ChocZero)
1 tsp. kosher flake salt (I used Penzeys)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I used Penzeys double-strength)
1.75 ounces (50 g) sugar-free dark chocolate baking chips (I used ChocZero)

Directions

Lightly butter a 9-inch square baking pan. Line it with baking parchment, leaving enough overhang to serve as handles. Generously butter both the parchment-lined pan and an additional small sheet of parchment paper. Set aside.
Use your hands to mix the coarsely crushed cereal with the chopped pistachios and dried cherries. Gently rub the cherry pieces between your fingers to coat with cereal crumb "dust" so they don't stick together. Set the mixture aside.
In a 5-quart, nonstick stock pot, melt the unsalted butter over medium heat until it starts to foam. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking for another two to three minutes, stirring constantly with a silicone spoon or spoonula (spoon spatula), until the milk solids turn a deep golden brown. (Note: It took about five minutes on my glass top electric stove.)
Use the back of the silicone spoon to smear some of the melted, browned butter halfway up the sides of the pot and add the marshmallows, salt and vanilla. Take the pot off the heat and immediately start stirring the marshmallows into the hot butter until they are mostly melted.
Quickly stir in the cereal, pistachio and dried cherries mixture.
Pour/scrape half of the mixture into the prepared baking pan, then sprinkle with half of the dark chocolate baking chips. Use the extra sheet of buttered parchment to press down gently to level the surface. Quickly repeat with the other half of the marshmallow mixture and the remaining chocolate chips.
Allow to cool at room temperature for 60 minutes.
Use the overhanging parchment paper "handles" to life the cooled slab out of the pan and invert it onto a cutting board. Peel off the parchment and use a long, sharp chef's knife to cut the slab into 16 squares.
Turn the squares right side up, then serve. Wrap any leftover pieces individually in either wax paper or parchment paper and place inside an airtight storage container. Store at room temperature (do not refrigerate, which will cause them to harden too much) or freeze.

Nutrition Facts

Here are the nutrition facts for one serving of this recipe as calculated by the Carb Manager premium app, using the My Recipes feature to create a custom recipe and entering the ingredients and quantities listed in this recipe post. My photo of all the ingredients to shows the exact brands and products I used for each ingredient (the butter is Vital Farms unsalted grass-fed butter).

I used the Carb Manager premium app's custom recipe feature to calculate the nutrition facts for this recipe, using the exact brands shown in my ingredients photo.

Tips for Making My Extra-Special Healthy Marshmallow Cereal Treats

Here are my tips for getting great results.

Choose the Ingredients That Fit Your Dietary Requirements and Taste Preferences

These are the exact ingredients and brands I used, and the ones on which the nutrition facts are based.

I chose ChocZero marshmallows with no added sugar and ChocZero dark chocolate sugar-free baking chips, which are sweetened with low-glycemic sweeteners that don't upset my tummy, unlike some other brands that give my husband and me gastric distress. (Note: I bought my baking chips last year, before the packaging was updated.)

Similarly, I chose Magic Spoon grain-free, gluten-free frosted cereal with no added sugars, one of the few such cereals that doesn't cause us digestive issues. (I initially bought a variety pack to try several flavors after reading my fellow Review This Reviews contributor Barbara's Magic Spoon keto cereal product review and both my husband and I really like all the flavors we have tried so far.)

If you want to make these treats low carb and keto-friendly, be sure to choose unsweetened dried cherries with no added sugars and minimal other ingredients. I chose unsweetened Sunrise Dried Cherries that contain only one ingredient: sweet cherries. They are surprisingly sweet, moist and delicious, and since the 1/3 cup used in this recipe is divided among 16 servings, the net carbs can fit within all but the most strict keto diet regimens. They also add a nice bit of dietary fiber and healthy polyphenols.

Crush the Cereal While It's Still Inside the Bag

Magic Spoon frosted grain-free cereal crushed with rolling pin

I used a rolling pin to coarsely crush the cereal inside the bag before opening it.

The first time I made these I tried coarsely chopping the cereal, but found it made a mess that was hard to corral. Pressing on the cereal with a rolling pin while it's still inside the sealed bag is a much neater and, for me, easier way to accomplish the same end.

Line Your Baking Pan With Parchment and Butter Generously

"Mise en place" of prepared and measured ingredients with parchment paper lined and buttered baking pan

After crushing my cereal and chopping my pistachios and dried cherries, I measure and set out all my ingredients ("mise en place") so I can move quickly during this recipe, when time is of the essence.

Keto marshmallows with no added sugar do not behave exactly the same way as conventional marshmallows made with sugar, especially when they are melted.

Trust me when I tell you that butter alone, no matter how generously applied, is not enough to prevent this marshmallow mixture from gluing itself to your baking pan!

Make sure to butter your 9x9-inch square baking pan (to help prevent the parchment paper from sliding around), paying special attention to the corners, line the buttered pan with two sheets of parchment paper and then generously butter the parchment. Make sure to cut the parchment paper long enough so that the overhang can serve as handles to let you lift the cooled marshmallow cereal treats out easily.

Mix the Crushed Cereal, Chopped Pistachios and Dried Cherries

Coarsely crushed cereal mixed with chopped pistachios and dried cherries

Mixing the cereal, chopped pistachios and dried cherries ahea of time helps to ensure that they are evely distributed into the browned butter-marshmallow mixture quickly.

As soon as the marshmallows are added to the browned butter, the mixture will be very thick and can harden if stirred too long or reheated. Combining the pistachios and dried cherries into the cereal ahead of time lets you incorporate these dry ingredients into the thick, melted marshmallow and butter mixture quickly and still get a fairly even distribution.

Tip: Use your hands to mix the nuts and fruit into the coarsely crushed cereal and rub the sticky chopped cherry bits between your fingers to coat them with cereal crumb "dust" and separate them.

Brown the Melted Butter for a Rich, Slightly Caramelized Flavor

When the melted butter starts to foam, turn the heat down to low and stir constantly...

...until the milk solids turn a deep golden brown.

This is a trick I picked up from Scott Loitsch's Rice Krispie Treats recipe in NYT Cooking, and it's a dandy one.

The added richness and depth of flavor is subtle but significant!

Add the Chocolate Chips in Layers (vs. Mixing Them In)

Keto marshmallow cereal treats mixture pressed into lined pan and sprinkled with chocolate chips

To avoid partially melting the chocolate chips, sprinkle them in the middle and on top of the marshmallow-cereal mixture.

I wanted the chips to stay intact and produce distinct "pops" of dark chocolate flavor rather than having it marbled throughout the vanilla marshmallow cereal base. So, I decided not to mix the chocolate chips into the coarsely crushed cereal with the chopped pistachios and dried cherries to avoid the risk of them partially melting when they were mixed into the warm marshmallow and butter mixture.

Instead, I pressed half of the marshmallow-cereal mixture into the prepared pan, sprinkled on half the chocolate chips, then repeated before pressing gently with a piece of buttered parchment paper to level the surface and press in the baking chips.

Note: I love the paring of the dark chocolate with the pistachios and dried cherries, but you could substitute ChocZero milk chocolate chips if you prefer.

Cut With a Long, Sharp Chef's Knife

Cooled keto marshmallow cereal treats lifted out of baking pan with the help of the parchment paper overhang

Using the long parchment paper overhang as handles makes it easy to lift the cooled, uncut slab of marshmallow cereal treats out of the pan in one piece.

Inverted cereal treats slab cut into 16 squares

Invert the cooled slab onto a cutting board, peel off the buttered parchment and cut into 16 squares.

Using a long, sharp knife to cut these treats is extremely helpful. I use the chef's knife from our excellent, inexpensive Astercook 15-piece high-carbon steel knife set with steak knives and storage block (read my review). I had no trouble cutting the slab into squares with this knife, but if yours starts to stick, run it under hot water in between cuts.

As you can see, the slab was inverted after I peeled off the parchment paper. I cut them that way and then turned them right side up before serving.

Enjoy!

Healthy Pistachio Cherry Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cereal Treats Recipe by Margaret Schindel

Posts About My Keto Diet Journey

My First Year on The Keto Diet

Preparing to Succeed on the Keto Diet, Part One

Preparing to Succeed on the Keto Diet, Part Two

Low Carb Muffins & Cupcakes: Treats to Enjoy on a Keto Diet

Low Carb Keto Chocolate Yogurt Granola Chip Pudding Recipe

Good Dee’s Keto Cookie Low Carb Baking Mix Review

Hamama Microgreens Growing Kit Review & Success Tips

My Favorite Hamama Microgreens Seed Quilt Accessories

Keto Cheddar Cheese Biscuits With Chives Recipe

The Ultimate Keto Hot Chocolate Recipe

The Best Low Carb Keto Gift Ideas: Keto Gift Guide

The Best Low Carb Keto Cinnamon Muffins

Wholesome Yum Keto Bread Mix and Yeast Bread Recipe

The Good Chocolate 100% Organic No Sugar Dark Chocolate Review

The Best Advice to Maintain Your Keto Diet Weight Loss

My New Irresistibly Delicious Keto Cheese Crackers Recipe

Luscious Low Carb Keto Triple Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies Recipe

Quick & Easy Livlo Blueberry Scones Keto Baking Mix Review

Snack Better With The Best Healthy Keto Cookie Dough Bites

The Best Quick and Easy Low Carb Keto Pizza Recipe

The Best Quick and Easy Low Carb Keto Shortcake Cupcakes Recipe

Comparing the Best Keto-Friendly Chocolate Hazelnut Spreads - No Added Sugars

The Best Low Carb Keto Sandwich and Burger Buns Mix

Blueberry Biscuit Scones — New, Easy, Low Carb Keto Recipe

The Best Keto Pizza Crust Mix With 0 Net Carbs

An Unusual, Delicious Strawberry Chocolate Tea With 0 Calories

Delicious Sugar-Free Keto Cookies That OREO Fans Will Love

Healthy Pistachio Cherry Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cereal Treats Recipe

Easy, Decadent, High Protein, Sugar-Free Rocky Road Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

The Best Quick & Easy Low Carb Sausage and Ricotta Calzones

How to Make Refreshing Vanilla Italian Soda (With or Without Cream)

Reviews of the Keto Diet by Barbara C. (aka Brite-Ideas)

My Personal Keto Testimonial

How I Stayed Committed to the Ketogenic Way of Eating

Saturday, February 11, 2023

Book Review of ‘In Cold Chamomile’

A Valentine’s Day Cozy Mystery

Image of a cup of tea with heart-shaped cream on top

In Cold Chamomile

Author Joy Avon brings us Book #3 in her “A Tea and a Read Mystery” series.

Story Locale: Heart Harbor, Maine

Time: February

Event: Valentine’s Day

Main Characters: Callie Aspen, Great-Aunt Iphy Aspen, Deputy Ace Falk

Story Plot

Callie Aspen and her Boston Terrier Daisy have moved to Heart Harbor, Maine where she helps out her great-aunt Iphy in her aunt’s vintage tearoom - Book Tea. The tearoom’s sweet treats all have a bookish clue.

As the story of In Cold Chamomile begins, Callie is getting ready for the town’s big Valentine’s Day event to be held at Haywood Hall, a famous old mansion recently renovated.

A cup of tea on a tray with a book and flowers

The event has six main themes all based around love, including a musical performance, the tearoom’s sweet treats brought by Callie and Aunt Iphy from their tea shop, and a second hand book market where you can ‘bring a book, take a book’. Additionally, a book expert is on hand to appraise (and buy) vintage books brought in.

But, trouble is brewing in the form of an argument the librarian has with the book expert. Plus, the baritone who arrives for the music program turns out to be someone Aunt Iphy recognizes as an old acquaintance she had hoped never to meet again.

The event appears to be going well until a dead body is discovered. Suspicion points to quite a few people who had reasons to want the victim dead.

Enter Deputy Ace Falk to investigate. Falk not only is currently acting Sheriff due to the Sheriff being ill, he is also the boyfriend of Callie Aspen. In the first two books in this Tea and Read mystery series, Callie had ‘helped’ solve previous murders (of course getting herself in trouble and danger as the heroine in cozy mysteries tend to do). This time, Ace wants Callie to stay away from any ‘amateur sleuthing’ because he worries that her impulsiveness will endanger her. But when Aunt Iphy’s friend-from-the-past (the baritone) is suspected of the murder, both Iphy and Callie set out to clear his name.

Summary

A delightful cozy mystery that is light-hearted and easy to read involving books and tea and a murder to solve. A fun Valentine’s Day read.

Note: All three of the books in the ‘Tea and Read Mystery Series have ‘tea’ names (In Peppermint Peril, Sweet Tea and Secrets and In Cold Chamomile). Described as “The Perfect Brew” by a fellow cozy mystery writer, this is a delightful new series.

*In Cold Chamomile book review written by Wednesday Elf

*Images source: Pixabay

In Cold Chamomile: A Tea and a Read MysteryCheck Price In Peppermint Peril: A Tea and a Read MysteryCheck Price Sweet Tea and Secrets: A Tea and a Read MysteryCheck Price In Cold Chamomile: Book Tea Shop Mystery AudiobookCheck Price

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Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Delicious Sugar-Free Keto Cookies That OREO Fans Will Love

If you are following a sugar-free, low carb or ketogenic diet or just trying to cut down on sugar and empty carbs, either for overall health and wellness or for weight loss, there are certain comfort foods from childhood that you may crave but try to avoid in favor of healthier options.

Fortunately, there are now several brands of low carb chocolate sandwich cookies available to OREO lovers who want to eat healthier. Today, I'll be reviewing HighKey Sugar-Free Sandwich Cookies, which have the best clean ingredients for someone on a low carb, gluten-free, sugar-free or keto diet.

Gluten-Free HighKey Sugar-Free Sandwich Cookies 2 Net Carbs Per Serving!

My husband no longer misses his OREO cookies as much, now that I found these delicious low carb, gluten-free, sugar-free keto sandwich cookies for him.

Who Loves OREO Cookies?

Before we switched to a low carb way of eating for health reasons, one of my husband's favorite treats were OREO cookies. In fact, "Double Stuf" OREO cookies (filled with twice the amount of vanilla creme filling) and mint Oreos were extra-special treats for him. But two Double Stuf OREOs have not only 140 calories but also 21g of carbohydrates (my entire daily carb allowance when I was following a keto diet for weight loss!), including 13g of added sugars. Even two classic OREO cookies have 110 calories and 16g of carbs, including 9g of added sugars. So, both Double Stufs and classic OREO cookies were no longer an option as a sweet treat for both my husband and me.

So the answer to "Who Loves OREO Cookies?" is our taste buds and our emotions but, sadly, not our bodies or our health.

What's a Health-Conscious OREO Cookie Lover to Do?

In order for our low carb lifestyle to be sustainable, we look for alternatives to our favorite treats that support our health and nutrition goals or, in the case of treats, at least don't sabotage them. That's why I got so excited when I started seeing low carb and sugar-free cookies similar to my husband's beloved OREOs. Then I started reading the ingredients and nutrition labels...and I got less excited.

Thanks to the popularity of the keto diet, the term "keto" sells. Unfortunately, since there is no universally agreed-upon definition of a "keto diet" or a "keto" food (my post on Preparing to Succeed on the Keto Diet discusses this topic in more detail), marketers slap the "keto" label on anything that is low in net carbs, regardless of the quality or nutritional value of the ingredients. So, for those of us who are looking to make healthier food choices, it's up to us to educate ourselves about ingredients and nutrition and read packaged food labels carefully, and to experiment to find out which low-carb ingredients spike our insulin levels, cause gastric distress, etc., since each of us has a different metabolism and a different reaction to the same foods.

Three Low-Carb OREO Cookie Alternatives

I found three vanilla-filled chocolate sandwich cookies that looked similar to OREOs and claimed to be "keto" or "keto-friendly" and started reading and comparing the ingredients and nutrition labels. The three contenders were:

Here's how they compare vs. each other and vs. classic OREO cookies:

Chocolate Vanilla Sandwich Cookie Ingredients and Nutrition Comparison*
* Ingredients and nutrition data obtained from Amazon product pages on 01/30/23
	HighKey	Catalina Crunch	Rip Van LEOs	OREO
Serving: 2 cookies
Calories	60	90	100	110
Total Fat	4g	6g	6g	4.5g
Saturated Fat	1g	3g	3g	1.5g
Trans Fat	0g	0g	0g	0g
Cholesterol	0g	0g	0g	0g
Sodium	130mg	95mg	80mg	85mg
Total Carbohydrate	17g	12g	13g	16g
Dietary Fiber	7g	3g	6g	0g
Total Sugars	0g	2g	3g	9g
Added Sugars	0g	2g	2g	9g
Sugar Alcohols	4g	0g	0g	0g
Allulose	4g	2g	2g	0g
Net Carbs	2g	5g	5g	16g
Protein	<1g	4g	3g	<1g
Ingredients	Resistant Cassava Fiber, Erythritol, Allulose, White Rice Flour, RSPO Palm Oil, Non-GMO Canola Oil, Cocoa Powder (Processed with Alkali), Egg Whites, Natural Flavors, Sunflower Lecithin, Oligofructose, Baking Soda, Salt, Xanthan Gum, Psyllium Husk, Water, Stevia Extract, Monk Fruit Extract.	Palm Fruit Oil, Allulose, Pea Protein, Cane Sugar, Cassava Flour, Tapioca Flour, Inulin, Cocoa Powder, Cocoa Powder (Processed with Alkali), Xanthan Gum, Natural Flavor, Sunflower Lecithin, Baking Soda, Sea Salt, Stevia Extract.	Palm fruit oil, Vegetable fiber, sugar, milk protein, wheat flour, allulose, sugar cane fiber, cocoa processed with alkali, wheat starch, oat fiber, sea salt, baking soda, chocolate extract, sunflower lecithin, vanilla extract, stevia leaf extract.	Unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate {vitamin B1}, riboflavin {vitamin B2}, folic acid), sugar, palm and/or canola oil, cocoa (processed with alkali), high fructose corn syrup, leavening (baking soda and/or calcium phosphate), salt, soy lecithin, chocolate, artificial flavor. Contains: wheat, soy.

Plate of HighKey Suger-Free Sandwich Cookies

This plate of HighKey Sugar-Free Sandwich Cookies makes my husband miss his OREO cookies much less, now that we follow a more health conscious, low carb but still delicious approach to eating.

Why I Chose HighKey Sugar-Free Sandwich Cookies

Here are a few of the reasons I decided to order HighKey keto sandwich cookies as a healthier alternative to OREO cookies.

Only 2g of Net Carbs

As you can see, the HighKey Sugar-Free Sandwich Cookies have only 2g of net carbs, compared to 5g each for the Catalina Crunch Keto Friendly Chocolate Vanilla Sandwich Cookies and Rip Van LEOs Sandwich Creme Cookies.

Lower in Calories

Two of the HighKey Sugar-Free Sandwich Cookies have 60 calories, compared to 90 calories for two Catalina Crunch keto sandwich cookies and 100 for the Rip Van LEOs.

No Added Sugars, Gluten-Free

The HighKey sandwich cookies use low glycemic sweeteners that don't spike blood glucose. Other than the white rice flour, which is gluten-free but can spike blood sugar levels, the ingredients are surprisingly clean for this type of low carb sweet treat.

By contrast, cane sugar is the fourth ingredient in the Catalina Crunch sandwich cookies. Since cane sugar spikes insulin and is something my husband and I try to avoid completely, that pretty much knocks these out of contention for us.

Similarly, the Rip Van LEOs sandwich cookies contain not only (cane) sugar but also wheat flour, neither of which ingredients are considered keto-friendly, although people who follow a "dirty keto" diet may not be bothered by this.

Not a Perfect OREOs Dupe, But a Good, Healthier Option

HighKey Sugar-Free Sandwich Cookies taste good, especially to those of us who have kicked our food addiction to cane sugar and wheat flour. However, they are by no means an exact dupe of classic, sugar-laden OREO cookies.

The chocolate cookies are harder and don't soften as readily when dipped in regular or dairy-free milk. They are also more brittle and the filling is firmer, so you can't twist to separate the two chocolate cookies and lick off the creme filling, a favorite part of the experience of eating classic OREO cookies.

For us, and probably for many people who must eat gluten-free or sugar-free, the trade-offs are well worth it.

Healthier Packaged Foods With Clean Ingredients Cost More Than Their Conventional Counterparts

I compared the Amazon prices on January 30, 2023for classic OREO cookies, HighKey Sugar-Free Sandwich Cookies, Catalina Crunch Keto Friendly Chocolate Vanilla Sandwich Cookies and Rip Van LEOs Sandwich Creme Cookies (Cookies & Creme flavor). Here are the price comparisons per package and per cookie.

Chocolate Vanilla Sandwich Cookie Amazon Price Comparison*
* Prices on Amazon on 01/30/23
	HighKey	Catalina Crunch	Rip Van LEOs	OREO
Quantity	3 packs (4.27 oz packs), 10 cookies each = 30 cookies	2 pack (6.8 oz boxes), 16 cookies each = 32 cookies	2 pack (6.77oz), 16 cookies each = 32 cookies	60 Snack Packs (2 Cookies Per Pack) = 120 cookies
Item Price	$17.99	$17.63	$14.39	$29.40
Price per Cookie	$0.60	$0.55	$0.45	$0.25

My Recommended Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free Alternative to OREO Cookies

If you or someone you know is on a sugar-free, gluten-free, low carb or ketogenic diet, these keto friendly HighKey Sugar-Free Sandwich cookies would make a great gift or something to keep on hand for when they visit. They're a sweet treat both kids and adults will appreciate!