After social distancing for more than a few days, it's all too easy to fall into the all-day snacking trap at home. If you’re currently dreaming of a cookie that will curb your cravings and also just happens to be low-carb, low-sugar and delivered to your doorstep, now is a great time to discover
Chipmonk Baking.
Brought to life by co-founders Josie Hernandez and David Downing early last year, Chipmonk Baking is a mail-order cookie company providing freshly baked, diabetes-friendly cookies made primarily from nuts, eggs and their signature sweetener mix. In this period of social distancing, it feels more convenient than ever to be able to try the creations from this burgeoning small business through direct delivery to your house.
click to enlarge Each Chipmonk cookie contains just 1 grams of sugar compared to comparable cookies that contain 10 grams of sugar on average.
Photo by Erika Kwee
After being blindsided by a diabetes diagnosis in 2016, Hernandez turned to diet and exercise to manage his symptoms, hoping to avoid medication. After successfully lowering his blood sugar purely through lifestyle and diet changes, Hernandez spent a weekend experimenting in the kitchen, hoping to tackle his sweet tooth with desserts that wouldn’t spike his blood sugar. His creations turned out to be a hit with family and friends, and after partnering with Downing, the team turned his baked goods into a full-fledged business that delivers treats for those struggling with diabetes, celiac disease, or simply following low-carb diets.
Each cookie delivers ideal macros for those looking for low-carb, high-fat treats—most cookie pack 14-17 grams of fat with only 1-4 grams of net carbs and only 1 gram of sugar. As an avid consumer of fully sugary, fully carb-laden desserts, I was skeptical that these would measure up to conventional cookies, but it didn’t take more than a few bites to convert me—with a soft, almost muffin-like texture, these cookies are chewy and rich and full of flavor.
What sets Chipmonk apart from other “healthy” cookie brands in the market?
click to enlarge Diabetes-friendly cookies are made primarily from nuts, eggs and sweetener except for their vegan chocolate chip cookie flavor, which omits the egg.
Photo by Erika Kwee
“The ingredients we use—namely the blend of allulose and monkfruit—make for better-tasting desserts but also have effectively zero impact on blood sugar,” says Hernandez. “Other low-carb brands may say they’re low carb, but they still have an impact on blood sugar. The most important dietary aspect we try to address with our desserts is glycemic impact. Diabetes is serious and we want to make sure we’re providing sweet, tasty and better for you options. Most ‘healthy’ desserts don’t usually taste great and we’re hoping to change that narrative.”
Allulose is a naturally-occurring sugar that has a slightly different chemical arrangement than fructose, which changes the way the body processes allulose. The Chipmonk team blends it with monkfruit sweetener for a blend that behaves like sugar when baked, yet contains fewer calories and doesn’t increase blood sugars—a key requirement for cookies that were originally designed for people with diabetes.
“I’m a type two diabetic and I live the low-carb life. I likely care more than anyone else how my products affect people,” said Hernandez.
click to enlarge The coconut cookie is co-founder Josie Hernandez's top pick.
Photo by Erika Kwee
But these cookies are worthy of a new addiction whether you have diabetes or not. Founder favorites include the white chocolate macadamia nut cookie (Downing) and the coconut cookie (Hernandez). My personal favorite? The peanut butter cookie—the pure, nutty flavor is enhanced with flecks of peanut chunks—and the red velvet brownie bites, which are made from a sunflower seed butter base. Most cookies include egg, but they do offer a vegan chocolate chip cookie flavor.
Apart from cookies, Chipmonk recently released a chocolate sunflower seed spread (think a low-sugar Nutella replacement). You can even bake your own cookies at home thanks to
dry mixes of their most popular flavors (just add butter, egg and vanilla). Or, for the more advanced, experiment with your own low-carb recipes with their signature
allulose-monkfruit sweetener mix.
So, stay home but stay healthy when it comes to dessert—and continue to support local businesses from the comfort of your home. To try Chipmonk cookies, check out their variety boxes of freshly baked cookies
on the website. Orders are typically delivered within 3 business days once shipped, and shipping is free for orders above $40.
click to enlarge Chipmonk Baking offers variety packs of their low-carb, low-sugar cookies on their website.
Photo by Erika Kwee
And if you’re worried about contamination, know that Chipmonk Baking is vigilant about running a highly sanitary commercial kitchen with the following requirements:
1. We sanitize all our workspace before we start baking and all the equipment is sanitized after being used previous bake).
2. We wash our hands thoroughly before handling any ingredients.
3. We wear hair nets, aprons and beard nets.
4. All goods are baked thoroughly at high temp.
5. All finished product is handled with gloves.
6. All finished product is heat sealed in bags.