Werther’s Original Sugar-Free Caramel Coffee Candies
Pros: Satisfying coffee flavor laced with caramel
Cons: The “laxative effect” of sugar substitutes
It isn’t easy for a diabetic sugar junky, especially as Halloween draws near. In my pre-diabetic days, I would only have to wonder about how to make costumes for the kids without sewing or spending more than a few dollars (a little makeup and a prop or two). As for buying candy for trick-or-treaters, it was a two-bag neighborhood in those days. There were about a dozen or so little ones who’d come while we were putting in our finishing touches, and about the same number of taller deep-voiced trick-or-treaters would show up just as we were getting back with our children. If I needed a sugar fix, there were a few fun-size-whatevers left in the bottom of Bag #2. Because I didn’t have diabetes, candy wasn’t taboo – and my craving for it wasn’t overwhelming. The old saying is true: You want most what you can’t have.
Sometimes, you can have what you want. Werther’s Original Sugar Free Candies taste like their regular candy line. Our son was visiting us and kept dipping into my Caramel Coffee flavored Werther’s without a clue that they’re sugar free. The coffee flavor is light and lets the caramel flavor blend in at will. The texture is smooth and buttery right down to the end. This is a far cry from the old days of sugar free candy that used to taste like chocolate covered mothballs.
The active sweetener is acesulfame-K, a form of sugar alcohol that might have a laxative effect if you overdo the candy. If you haven’t had anything with this type of sweetener before, it’s a good idea to have only one or two pieces at first. If you’re sensitive, it won’t take much to cause trouble. However, over time, the effect isn’t quite that strong.
The other ingredients are: isomalt, cream, butter, artificial flavoring, salt, caramel color, coffee extract, emulsifier, and soy lecithin. For those with food allergies, Werther’s Original Sugar Free Caramel Coffee Candies contain milk and soybeans.
The nutritional information states that a serving size is five pieces, but it’s rare that someone would eat these hard candies like they were cookies or potato chips. I tend to have one or two over an evening at the computer. Since that’s how I eat them, I thought I would at least try to give you the rest of the nutritional information for each candy instead of five at a time. Each candy has 8 calories, 1/5 gram saturated fat, less than 1 milligram cholesterol, 11 milligrams sodium, and 3 grams carbohydrates.
Each candy is individually wrapped, and a bag contains about a dozen candies. Werther’s Original Sugar Free candies can cost anywhere from $3 to $5 dollars, depending on where you shop.
This Halloween, let the trick-or-treaters have their candy corn, and buy yourself Werther’s Original Sugar Free Caramel Coffee hard candies for those sweet-tooth cravings. If you enjoy variety, add a bag of Werther’s Original Sugar Free Caramel Apple hard candies to the mix. Enjoy!