Crisco Zero Grams Trans Fat All-Vegetable Shortening. $2.29 per 1-pound can, or $3.09 per 20-ounce package of pre-measured sticks.
Bonnie: Crisco recently released its new Zero Grams Trans Fat All-Vegetable Shortening, which is similar to regular Crisco in its use. Both regular Crisco and the trans fat-free shortenings contain a blend of vegetable oils; both contain 12 grams of fat and 110 calories per serving. The main difference? Zero Grams Trans Fat Crisco contains no trans fats to regular Crisco's 1.5 grams.
Trans fats are formed when vegetable oils are hardened with the addition of hydrogen in a process called hydrogenation. Trans fats are a concern because they've been shown to raise the bad blood cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein or LDL) and increase the risk of heart disease.
Crisco is just one in what I expect to be a flood of new trans fat-free products in the upcoming year. If you use regular Crisco, you should give this new trans-fat-free variety a try.
Carolyn: I used this new Crisco to make brownies, to grease some tins for corn muffins and to fry up some French toast. It's made from soybean, cottonseed and sunflower oils vs. just soybean and cottonseed oils in my old can of regular Crisco.
My main man actually preferred French toast made with the Trans Fat Crisco to some I made at the same time with the old Crisco formula. (But that could have been because the Trans Fat Crisco was newly opened, whereas my opened can of regular Crisco was at least four months old.) But I detected no significant difference in how the two tasted or performed in any use. And this is a longtime Crisco consumer speaking.
McCormick Neon Food Colors. $3.69 per box of four .25-ounce bottles.
Bonnie: For the first time since McCormick's initial introduction of food colorings, there's something new in that slot on the grocer's shelf: neon colors.
These four new colorings are brighter than McCormick's original colors, but not as bright as the food pastes I buy from specialty stores to decorate my cakes. Both of these products get their colors artificially, but the paste colors are truly vibrant and, in the end, more economical to use because you need so little.
But if food pastes aren't available to you, these are a great way to brighten up both your baked goods and holiday craft projects.
Carolyn: Clothes, cars, even house colors have long since gone beyond the standard blue, orange and red and into electric blue, shocking pink and Nickelodeon slime green. But food coloring hues haven't changed in decades.
McCormick Neon is a smart move that is long overdue. But with the possible exception of the near-phosphorescent yellow-green, they're more vibrant pastels than neon.
Splenda Sugar Blend for Baking. $6.29 to $6.49 per 2-pound bag.
Bonnie: The one thing this blend has going for it is that it may get folks cooking. But before we get too excited about that, let's consider all the facts about this new Splenda Sugar Blend for Baking and decide whether it's worth it.
Splenda, the no-calorie sweetener, is combined with sugar to make this blend to be used mainly for baking. One-half cup provides the sweetness of a cup of sugar, with half the calories and half the carbohydrates. You save 378 calories per half-cup used. Translated into popular baked goods: That saves you a mere 10 calories per chocolate chip cookie, or 25 calories per sugar cookie. Factor in that the blend costs more than twice as much as a 5-pound bag of sugar, yet provides the sweetness of a 4-pound bag, and that the baked goods have a Splenda aftertaste and I ask: Would you want to ruin your freshly baked goods with this? I wouldn't.
Carolyn: This new blend of Splenda and sugar has half the calories of sugar all right, but that's only before you use it in a recipe. Add in the butter, flour and eggs that are traditionally used in baking, and the impact of Splenda Sugar Blend's calorie and carb savings is blunted considerably.
I don't mind sucralose in drinks with zero calories. But a 12 percent to 17 percent calorie savings is nowhere near enough to make up for the weird taste "lift" Splenda Sugar Blend gave to my favorite brownie recipe. My Splenda Sugar Blend brownies also didn't seem as moist and fudgy as when I make the recipe with all sugar.
Bonnie Tandy Leblang, a registered dietitian, and Carolyn Wyman, a junk-food fanatic, critique three new food items each week. © Universal Press Syndicate