Starbucks offers Low Fat Options for Drinks & Pastries

How many of us are loyal patrons at Starbucks outlets? Whether it’s by choice (there are some who swears by their daily dose of Starbucks coffee) or by force (like me, who always has to conduct meetings at Starbucks) all of us are somewhat frequent patrons of Starbucks.
I have blogged before about Starbucks’ Food (HERE) when they launched some new additions to their food menu and I still think Coffee Bean offers much better options, especially for their breakfast sets & their salads.

Still, I applaud their recent campaign where they offers reduced/low fat options for some of the range of drinks & pastries.
In February, I was thrilled when I saw the Starbucks Reduced Fat Mandarin Cranberry Muffin, in conjunction with Starbucks’s In With the Good winter promotions feature beverages that give better-for-you beverage options without compromising on taste or quality.

Starbucks Reduced Fat Mandarin Cranberry Muffin. RM5.90 +

The two all-time-favourite beverages, Green Tea Latte and Caramel Macchiato, have a lighter option now — Low Fat Green Tea Latte and Low Fat Caramel Macchiato.

Here’s my Low Fat Caramel Macchiato (RM12.00) with my Starbucks Reduced Fat Mandarin Cranberry Muffin as breakfast during one early morning meeting.

I find it a wee too sweet but I guess that’s caramel for you. Smooth and buttery, the Low Fat Caramel Macchiato is made with freshly steamed low-fat milk, with a shot of rich espresso & drizzled with Starbucks’s signature caramel sauce.

The Low Fat Green Tea Latte is a lightly sweetened blend of green tea from Japan with steamed low-fat milk and topped with foam, making it smooth and creamy. So this is the tea option if you don’t fancy coffee.

I enjoyed my Reduced Fat Mandarin Cranberry Muffin as I love the combo of sweet tangy oranges with tart cranberries. It could be physiological as well, since it’s eeerrrrrr.. reduced fat so I didn’t have to worry about calories & I chowed down the whole muffin happily without guilt. LOL!

The whole muffin was buttery & fragrant with a nice citrus- y scent. Unfortunately, it was a limited- time- only promotion. For the month of March & April, I’m back to enduring meetings at Starbucks drinking plain water.  :cry:

Then just last week I was at Starbucks for another meeting & I spied this Low Fat Apple & Carrot Muffin – (RM5.90).
Oh yes! LOW FAT! I ordered one immediately. 

This one tasted much healthier compared to the Reduced Fat Mandarin Cranberry Muffin as this muffin was baked with wholemeal flour. There were plenty of shredded carrots but in case you’re wondering if it tasted like a carrot cake; the answer is No, it doesn’t. The apples chunks were primarily in the middle of the muffin. I still prefer the Mandarin Cranberry one compared to this, but heck, beggars can’t be choosers so I’ll just stick to this till Starbucks offers another low fat muffin/cake. I wonder what’s next??  

So, what about you guys? What would you normally order at Starbucks if you are hungry?

The promotion is on in all Starbucks coffee stores.

All pictures are: