No, it is not a question here of deciding between the two names “pain au chocolat” or “chocolatine”, but rather of determining whether the diverted recipe – using rice papers instead of puff pastry – is recommended for health.
A recipe for pain au chocolat… which isn’t really chocolate
On a TikTok video from the account of @Fitclairethe young woman prepares this famous express pain au chocolat. To do this, she mixes an egg and a little milk in a tray, before dipping four rectangular sheets of rice into the preparation. Once the leaves are well soaked, she places chocolate (white but also dark, in a second pain au chocolat) in the center before closing them to give them a rectangular shape. She then cooks the recipe in the airfryer.
The video continues with the tasting of the young girl, who does not really appreciate her revisited pain au chocolat. “It tastes more like chocolate rice…” she admits.
What should we think of this recipe, from a nutritional point of view?
If @Fitclaire didn’t like the recipe, could it still have nutritional benefits? When questioned, Alexandra Murcier, dietician-nutritionist, is not convinced of this “revisited” pastries. “There is less dough, so the preparation may be a little less caloric but pay attention to the quantity of chocolate that we put inside” she warns.
“There, the young girl puts white chocolate, which is just sugar, and she puts much more than what we can find in a classic pain au chocolat, so we must ultimately have the same caloric intake, to both recipes.
How to make a healthier variation, pain au chocolat?
If you want to treat yourself and still want it to be quite healthy, Alexandra Murcier offers us her version of pain au chocolat. “I recommend toasting bread, preferably wholemeal or traditional baguette (with a glycemic index lower than the white baguette), with a little dark chocolate, quite simply”.
It is also possible to replace the bread with pastry sheets, before cooking the revisited pain au chocolat in the oven. “It won’t be a real pain au chocolat” concedes the expert, “but it remains good from a nutritional point of view, with a lower glycemic index and better taste”.
Finally, would like to highlight the dietitian“we must remember that it is possible to have fun with a pastries from time to time, without exaggerating.