Fortune cookies were once reserved exclusively for Asian restaurants, while today, they can also be found in free sale. These cute little cookies with a message written on a piece of paper that foretells your destiny are a favorite treat of many people. However, what are they made of, and how many calories do they have? If you follow a diet, will you please yourself if you eat a fortune cookie?
Today we discover the ingredients and nutritional value of the famous fortune cookies.
Keep reading to find out more about these cute desserts.
How are fortune cookies made?
Fortune cookies are simple to make, and their batter requires only the essential ingredients – sugar, flour, eggs, vegetable oil, water, and vanilla and almond extracts.
Interesting fact: You probably didn’t know that fortune cookies are shaped in the form of 3″ circles in the first step. When the fortune cookies are freshly baked, they are soft, allowing bakers to insert a piece of paper with a “fortune-telling” message and then quickly fold them with sticks into a recognizable shape. When the fortune cookie cools, it becomes hard and crunchy. You’ve probably noticed that because we usually break it in half before consuming it.
Ingredients in Panda express fortune cookies
According to Panda express, a famous American Chinese restaurant, fortune cookies usually contain 32 calories in an 8-ounce serving. Although one fortune cookie doesn’t have high-calorie value and won’t fatten you, you must be aware that it doesn’t have many helpful or healthy nutrients for your body.
Fortune cookies from Panda Express have the following nutritional profile:
- They contain 2 calories from fat
- They do not contain cholesterol
- They contain 8 mg of sodium
- They contain 5 g of carbohydrates, of which 2 g are sugar
- They do not contain proteins
Since it is a small cookie, it has a very high sugar content, and most of the calories come from sugar. However, according to the USDA, you can find some nutrients in a fortune cookie – 0.4 grams of protein and 0.2 grams of fiber.
Fortune cookie nutrition facts – 0 g
Let’s see more precisely what nutritive elements does one fortune cookie (8 grams per serving) contains:
| Nutritive elements | Amount | Daily Value |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 32 kcal | |
| Calories from fat | 1.9 kcal | |
| Total fat | 0.2 g | 0% |
| Saturated fat | 0.1 g | 0% |
| Polyunsaturated fat | 0 g | |
| Monounsaturated fat | 0.1 g | |
| Cholesterol | 0.2 g | 0% |
| Sodium | 2.5 g | 0% |
| Potassium | 3.3 g | 0% |
| Total Carbohydrates | 6.7 g | 2% |
| Dietary Fibers | 0.1 g | 1% |
| Sugars | 3.6 g | |
| Protein | 0.3 g | |
| Vitamin A | 0% | |
| Vitamin C | 0% | |
| Calcium | 0.1% | |
| Iron | 0.6 % |
So, according to the nutritive table, are calories in fortune cookies good for you? Is a fortune cookie a healthy choice?
If you’re trying to follow a balanced diet, a fortune cookie is probably not the smartest choice you can make. Although it doesn’t contain many calories and can easily incorporate its small serving size into your daily calorie needs, keep in mind that its nutritional value is insignificant. Fortune cookie has a small amount of folic acid, but it also has fiber 0 g, proteins 0 g, and fats 0 g.
What’s the final verdict? If you like fortune cookies, having one in a while won’t harm you. Still, do not exaggerate. You can find desserts that have better nutrition in the same calorie value.
Citations:
- https://www.nutritionix.com/food/fortune-cookie
- https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/172722/nutrients
