I got these fresh this morning and have just finished photographing them on my balcony which is bathed in NZ’s springtime sunshine – it’s a splendid  day!

My favourite Saturday morning treat is freshly brewed coffee with frothy milk (reduced fat of course) and a croissant from the fabulous Boulangerie L’epi in Ellerslie, Auckland. Outside of France these are some of the best bread and croissants I’ve tasted. They use organic flour and make a range of healthy sour dough breads. But on an indulgent Saturday morning I by-pass the walnut, rye and grain loaves and head straight for the croissants.

These yummy golden melt-in-the-mouth delicacies pack a mean fat punch. On a Weight Watchers diet two croissants count as 10 points. That’s about a third of your total food allowance for the day gone in a couple of mouthfuls! Let’s say you eat two croissants with butter and jam. It provides 1890kJ (450 calories), 26 grams (five teaspoons) of fat and 2.4 grams of fibre. For exactly the same kilojoules you could have two Weetbix with low fat milk, a banana and a slice of wholemeal toast topped with half a cup of baked beans. That’s a whole lot more food but with just five grams of fat and a healthy 16 grams of fibre – about half your daily requirement! You sure wouldn’t feel hungry for a while after that.

Eating high fibre foods is one of the best ways to lose weight because they fill you up. And the high fibre foods usually come with plenty of other vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to keep you healthy. Croissants, on the other hand, are pretty much just white flour and butter. But they taste oh so good. Thank goodness my favourite bakery is only open four days a week!