Costco Snack Review : Birch Benders Paleo Pancake & Waffle Mix

So today we are going to review one of the two healthy pancake options available to Costco. The “Birch Benders Paleo Pancake & Waffle Mix”. Now that’s quite a mouthful. I was intrigued as most Paleo and Keto diet experts in their Costco runs were recommending these but I had to have a look by myself.

Paleo Pancake & Waffle Mix by Birch Benders

Ingredients and Nutrition

Before we get into the ingredients and nutrition, if you are reading this and you are from Birch Benders, please fix all your serving models and packaging. You need to be a math major to understand how the servings map to any of the actual recipes. Is it deliberate? Maybe, however not giving discerning consumers an easy way to calculate their calorific input is a poor strategy.

Delving deeper into nutrition, on an average you will be consuming close to 420 calories per 6 small pancakes which a normal athletic person would be expected to ingest.

This obviously does not include any toppings you may use. Please do not use syrup if you care about your health, I use nut butter which adds another 190 calories for 2 table spoons. So this is definitely not a low calorie or a weight loss food once you make it a lunch replacement.

In terms of ingredients it has Cassava Starch(note that deceptively almonds is the first ingredient on the packaging) with a low glycemic index (46 per livestrong), very good! They use organic coconut cloud which is the only organic food used here. It matters a lot in Almonds IMO wherein they are sprayed with a ton of pesticides but they use regular almond flour to keep costs low. For the sweetener they use monk fruit and no other sugar alcohol so that’s really great and has unnamed spices and leavening agents.  Monk fruit adds no calories and does not evoke an insulin response like other sweeteners. Overall very clean ingredients, would be even better if they had used organic almond flour and Eggs. 

The eggs are actually an interesting twist to this saga though, organic eggs have a much better nutrition profile than regular eggs but at least you save on cost and messes because eggs are already there in the powder. I prefer to have my pancakes with organic eggs for what its worth. So I will deduct half a point for the non-organic ingredients.

4.5/5

Taste

The proof of the pancakes is ofcourse in the eating. I made my pancakes with the original recipe first which I found to be too thick and my pancakes werent cooking fully. Later I modified it by adding more water for perfect fluffy pancakes. The pancakes stick together well due to the egg and no additional binders or milk is needed. I added some organic blueberries because why not.

However when I ate it, overall I was not very impressed with the taste. It tastes like eating fluffy paper with a hint of sweetness. No real taste comes out in my opinion. I have tried cheaper brands like Krusteaz and not to cheaper ones like Kodiak and they do taste a lot better but they have worse ingredients. I will finish this pack and then I look forward to trying their new Keto blend instead hoping that the keto blend tastes better.

 

2/5

Verdict

If you are in it purely for the health, you probably sacrifice taste all the time. Only then would I would recommend getting this. Otherwise I will probably recommend the Krusteaz whole grains protein pancakes as a much better tasting alternative to the Birch Blenders Paleo Pancakes. The pancake mix at my Costco costs $11.49 for 42oz which is 27 cents an ounce, compare that to Amazon which sells it for a pricey pricey 41 cents an ounce 🙂 

Overall Rating

3/5

Costco Snack Review : Sports Research Golden Milk With Turmeric and Ginger

No matter where you live you cannot escape the hype and benefits of Golden Milk. Since I am Indian I have had it since I was a kid but America has just discovered Golden Milk and I am here to give you the run down on the Golden Milk at Costco. I know you have been tempted to buy it, but is it any good? This is the second review in our Costco Snack review series after the Sonoma Vegetable Crisps.

This Golden Milk is made by Sports Research and is available at Costco for $28.99 ($29.99 online – Membership Required) and Amazon has it for around $34.99. So ask your Costco member friends to grab you a box if you want to try it.

Ingredients and Nutrition (4/5)

Sports Research does not disappoint with the ingredients they have chosen for this product. At 60 calories, its not really a low calorie food but a bunch of those come from MCTs which may actually help you lose weight.

Sports Research Golden Milk Calories

The organic ginger and organic Turmeric are the main ingredients you should be looking for in the Golden milk and there is enough of those. Lets have a look at the other ingredients:

Organic Natural Vanilla Flavors, Organic Lou Han Guo (Monk Fruit) Extract, Organic Cinnamon, Organic Cardamom, Organic Nutmeg, Organic Black Pepper, Organic Acacia, Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Quillaia Extract

Other ingredients mostly help in sweetening and overall flavor and its good to see the manufacturer sticking to mostly organic spices. I would have preferred a better quality oil.

One thing to be cognizant of is that if you make this with milk, you are possibly creating a 180 calorie drink with around 120 coming in from the milk. Absolutely not a diet or low calorie drink. Have it if it fits with your macros.

Taste (5/5)

The proof of the golden milk is in drinking. I made the Golden Milk with Planet Oat’s Vanilla oat milk. That is 90 calories per serving so my drink is net 150 calories.

The taste is one of the best in terms of Golden Milk I have had in the US. The Golden Milk has a nice nutty flavor and the monkfruit adds the perfect amount of sweetness to the drink. 10/10 will recommend. Infact I might be addicted to this. Unlike the Bio Schwartz golden milk, it doesn’t have a stevia after taste and mixes well in any medium.

Verdict

Incase it wasnt clear from the Taste section, my verdict on this is a clear buy. The only con is that is very expensive. I would have been happier if 30 servings cost around $20 but it is what it is. I use it as a nice pick me up after a hard workout to help with inflammation. Have you had it as well, what did you think?

 

Overall Rating

4.5/5