I want to introduce you to Mac Cookies, short for Macadamia Nut Cookies!!! Guess what the secret ingredient is? …nope, not macadamia nuts but they do make it taste great. Coconut Palm Sugar!!! I bought this sugar like 6 months ago but with the move from Toronto I couldn’t find it:P I went out and bought some more. What I love about coconut palm sugar is its taste! Both my mother and I agree that it tastes like a blend of baked graham crackers and brown sugar.

I wouldn’t view it as a replacement for regular white sugar but rather another option for refined brown sugar or the Splenda Brown Sugar Blend. I only say that because the carb counts between refined white sugar and coconut palm sugar are almost the same (12.60 &12.00 carbs per tablespoon). When I was looking up carb counts in fatsecret.com I was surprised to see 1 tbsp of coconut palm sugar is equivalent in carbs to Splenda’s Brown Sugar Blend.

Here’s something else to consider… 1 tablespoon of unpacked brown sugar is 8.76 carbs and packed is 13.43 carbs whereas, coconut palm sugar is 12 carbs for the same amount.

Here’s how it is made:

It is a two-step process. Harvesting or “tapping” the blossoms of a coconut tree. Farmers make a cut on the palm tree and the sap starts to flow from the cut. The sap is then collected. The sap collected is then transferred into bigger pots and placed over moderate heat to evaporate the moisture content of the sap. The sap is translucent and is about 80% water. As the water evaporates, it starts to transform into a thick syrup-like substance known as a “toddy”. From this form, it is further reduced to crystal, block or soft paste form, or it remains in this form. Source: wikipedia

What lead me to try the sugar is that it is low glycemic (35 on the scale, 55 or less is low glycemic, sugar is 60), high in minerals, and has a unique taste. Ever since I switched my Spenda for natural sweeteners and lost 3 pounds within two weeks I’m a little bias towards the real deal but using only a little of it. Once again I just want to say it’s not that different in carb counts than sugar and brown sugar so don’t go wild with it if you are trying to keep it low carb. Using the coconut palm sugar in the cookies made each cookie about 5 net carbs.