Five 100-Calorie Packs that are Worth Every Overpriced, Processed Bite

100-Calorie Packs are the new Starbucks Skinny Latte. They are taking over the world, one grocery store shelf at a time. Though these snacks are making bank for Kraft Foods, Nabisco, Frito Lay, and every other conglomerate on the single-serving bandwagon, there has been some recent media backlash, which brings to light the fact that:

a) The 100-calorie packs are often more than twice as expensive per ounce as the products they mimic.

b) In meeting the 100-calorie limit, the snacks or sweets inside the packs are sometimes pale imitations of the originals. The 100-calorie Oreos, for example, are 20 mini “chocolate thin crisps.”

c) Smaller portions don’t make snacks good for you, especially when they are as highly-processed as 100-Cal Packs.

Still, as Americans, we have issues with self-control. I can go through a box of Cheez-Its in three days and think nothing of it, until I look at the box and realize I averaged about 5 servings of Cheez-Its a day. So, when a small package helps me know when to stop, I dig it. I do agree with above comment on the 100-calorie Oreos: these are a waste of money. So, friends, what follows is a list of my top five picks. All of these are so tasty, I thank my lucky stars that they are measured out for me in 100 calorie intervals.

1. Mr. Salty Chocolate Covered Pretzels.

I hadn’t eaten a chocolate covered pretzel in years, until I found these things. Classic salty pretzels dipped in milk chocolate. Yum! These snacks satisfy my chocolate cravings and only pack 3.5 grams of fat into the 100-calorie serving.

2. Frito Lay Baked! Cheetos.

At first, I tried the regular 100-cal pack of Cheetos. The day I discovered the baked version, I think unicorns fell from the sky. Baked Cheetos are a snack that I don’t allow myself to buy big bags of, because I will eat a whole bag in one sitting. Since I actually prefer Baked Cheetos to the regular brand anyway, I have since become addicted to the 100-cal bags, which only have 5 grams of fat content. I’m actually quite impressed with the entire Frito-Lay line of 100-cal packs, which also includes Sun Chips, Doritos, and Smartfood Popcorn.

3. Klondike Slim-a-Bear Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Cold, creamy Klondike ice cream sandwiched with chocolate, available in chocolate and vanilla flavors…and only 1.5 grams of fat. The only thing better would be if Ben and Jerry started marketing 100-calorie cartons of Cherry Garcia (of course, this will never happen, because 100 calories of B & J is probably equivalent to half a teaspoon). Also worth checking out are Breyers’ 100-calorie Double-Churned Ice cream Cups and Ice Cream Sandwiches.

4. Hostess Cupcakes.

These were my first foray into the 100-calorie world, and it blew my mind when I realized that each pack consists of 3 mini cupcakes. They come in several flavors, e.g. yellow cake, chocolate cake, etc., and even with the signature cream filling, each pack is only 3 grams of fat. How each mini cupcake can consist of about 33 calories and one gram of fat and taste just as good as the real thing, I have no clue.

5. Hershey’s Snacksters.

I’m including both varieties of these packs in the last slot for my five fave 100-cal packs, because they are very similar, but produce two different craving-killing tastes.

The chocolate Hershey’s Snacksters are made up of cereal puffs, chocolate chip cookies, and semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips; the Reese’s Pieces version includes cereal puffs, cereal squares, peanut butter chips, and Reese’s Pieces. I expected a trail-mix-like recipe for these packs because, let’s be serious, there’s no way an all-chocolate-and-peanut-butter snack can stay under the 100-calorie limit and at 4 grams of fat. But the cereal puffs are either chocolate or peanut butter, and the chocolate or peanut butter chips are a pleasant surprise in addition to the real seller: the cookies or Reese’s pieces. The cereal bits also help fill you up, and you’ll feel indulged without feeling like a beached whale.

[Photo courtesy of junkfoodnews.net]