Tested: Maple Walnut Blondie, Orange Chocolate Cookie, Molasses Cookie, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Cranberry Oatmeal, Double Chocolate Brownie.

Courser Farm Kitchen a little home based business located about 2 hours north of me in Warner, New Hampshire. I love supporting small local business and though they aren’t super local to me, they are local enough! I will definitely be placing orders in the future for these super awesome treats! They make cookies, brownies, bars, blondies and breads that are all gluten free and vegan! They also take special orders for cakes and cupcakes!

When I got the little box of heaven in the mail from Emma it may as well have been Christmas! I ripped it open and took a few nibbles of a few of the products but found the strength to wrap them back up (well, almost all of them…) and wait for my neighbor to be available to come taste test with me since he is gf. We had a blast eating them. The goodies we got to try were the Chocolate Chip Cookie, Cranberry Oatmeal Cookie, Orange Chocolate Cookie, Molasses Cookie, Double Chocolate Brownie and the Maple Walnut Blondie!

I am a sucker for Cranberry Oatmeal cookies so those were definitely my favorite, I just wish they had a little more cranberry in them. But then again, I always almost double the amount of cranberries in the recipe I use… The cookie was nice and chewy and perfectly spiced. The Chocolate Chip was pretty fantastic too, it reminded me of the Cookie Crisp cereal I used to eat when I was a kid. It would have been perfect dipped in an ice cold glass of almond milk. Molasses cookies rock my socks in general so it’s no surprise this one was another winner! Give me chewy cookies or give me death! The dark sweetness of the molasses with the gentle hint of ginger really made me wish I had a whole truckload of these bad boys.

Now, I am very against combining chocolate with fruit flavors like cherry, orange, raspberry, etc etc, but I was extremely surprised at how much I liked the Orange Chocolate Cookie. It is a chocolate cookie with chocolate chips with a touch of orange, which was the perfect amount for me. It actually has me rethinking my hatred (yeah, really) of fruit flavored chocolate. I wouldn’t say that I’m a convert, but I’m going to be more open minded about it. See what a good product can do?! Speaking of good products, Double Chocolate Brownies? Hell to the yes! Fudgy, chewy and wicked chocolatey? The brownie was so good it didn’t last long enough to be photographed!

New England is pretty awesome to begin with, but the fact that we have the best of the best maple syrups makes it that much better. And that is exactly what you get with the Maple Walnut Blondie. New Hampshire maple syrup in a cake like little bar sprinkled with walnut chunks. Are you salivating yet?

(Left: Maple Walnut Blondie. From Top to Bottom: Orange Chocolate Cookie, Molasses Cookie, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Cranberry Oatmeal. Not photographed: Double Chocolate Brownie. I inhaled it.)

Course Farm Kitchen sells there goods at a few local cafes and farmers markets, if you live in the New Hampshire area, or happen to be passing through, definitely stop by any of the places listed on their to grab some! If you don’t live in the area, get your butt over here and order some! What are you waiting for?!

Pros:

• Homemade.
• Local (sort of to me).
• Delicious!

Cons:

• None. Seriously.

Reviewed by Liz Whitaker

This is Halloween, this is Halloween. Halloween, Halloween!

Hi everybody, it’s Kristina again from spabettie, and I am here with a post themed on my favorite holiday. I have a few recipes to share, a cute pup, and some other fun shenanigans. A big thank you to the xgfx girls for having me here again!

Using the black quinoa is perfect for a jack o lantern.

First up, my carrot-ginger quinoa pepper jacks! These pepper jacks are always a big hit with everyone, and this year I am even more excited about the filling inside – a carrot ginger quinoa, and it’s SO good! 

This next one was all I needed last year for dessert on Thanksgiving. Couldn’t wait to make it again. Good thing the nog is back in shops already…

Pumpkin Ice Cream

From one pumpkin patch to another,

these treats are sweet!

Crispy Treat Pumpkin Patch (orange cardamom flavor).

Sometimes the spiders around here are big enough to scare the cats…

and that ice cream up there?

 Makes these:  Pumpkin Milkshakes!

My dachshund Basil loves Halloween, too. He is a turtle this year, and last year he was…

a submarine!

This time of year we just call him our Halloweenie. Now back to those pepper jacks. I let out a loud squeal when I found out that Pee-Wee Herman shared them!

I was pretty excited (I love Pee-Wee…) and have to admit I did his laugh a couple times when I saw this. ;) and the other fun thing that is happening with these pepper jacks right now…

These pepper jacks are a finalist in the Yummly Halloween recipe contest, and I would really love it if you helped a vegan and gluten free recipe win!! How cool would that be?

All you have to do is visit the site here and “like” the page. No signing up for anything, just “like”. I thank you in advance, and I hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

Are you a Pee-Wee fan? What about dogs in costume?

*****

Thanks for another great post, Kristina!

♥

Tested: Macaroni, Coconut Cookies, and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pasta and cookies made from quinoa? And they taste good? I could have never thought up such a product in my wildest culinary dreams! The people responsible for Andean Dream products really are geniuses. I will be honest though, I was a little skeptical, but still excited, when I learned about the products I was going to be taste testing. I didn’t have very high expectations but I was definitely surprised, especially by the pasta. I got to try the Macaroni, Coconut Cookies and the Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Not only does quinoa have a high protein content but it also contains calcium, phosphorous, iron and all eight essential amino acids. In addition to having a great tasting and versatile little grain to eat, you get a nutritional powerhouse. Did you know quinoa has been used for human consumption for about 3 or 4,000 years?! And to think I didn’t knowingly try it until I was 25!

The first product I tried out was the Macaroni and it was love at first bite! You don’t have to cook this particular brand as long as non-xgfx pastas which is great, but you do have to keep an eye on it, I’ve heard quinoa pasta over cooks really easily. Luckily I didn’t have that problem; it came out perfectly tender and had a really great taste as it was. It wasn’t starchy tasting like “regular” pastas and I probably could have just eaten a bowl of it plain. Okay, maybe I did, so what? While the pasta was cooking I whipped up a thick walnut pesto to pour on so if I didn’t like the pasta I would at least have something tasty to smother it in. I now prefer quinoa pasta over other varieties and can’t wait to get my hands on some more!

Onto dessert… The cookies, oh the cookies! They come in portion sized little packages, 2 per bag, and are about 2 bites each but they are adorable! Both the coconut and chocolate chip were really tasty although a little dry and crumbly but I was very willing to look past that because they both reminded me of some pre-vegan childhood favorites. The coconut reminded me of a certain pecan shortbread cookie I used to love but without the pecans. They had a very light coconut flavor and would be excellent crumbled over some xgfx ice cream. The chocolate chip cookies were very much the same as the coconut but with the addition of mini chocolate chips. They reminded me a lot of a certain kids breakfast cereal that made my favorite Saturday morning cartoon commercial. I still have some of the cookies stashed away in a cabinet so nobody eats them on me!

The makers of these excellent products are not only dedicated to providing delicious gluten free products made from quinoa, they are also dedicated to making the world a better place. The individual packaging the cookies come in is vegetable based and recyclable. The products also support 280 indigenous farming families in Bolivia who grow the quinoa for them! Any company, especially the small independent ones, trying to make an environmental and social impact are the kind I truly don’t mind paying a little extra for greatness. Everybody wins!

Pros:

• All vegan. All gluten free.
• The company has made a direct impact on improving the lives of the 280 farming families growing the quinoa.
• 5 different types of cookies and 3 shapes of pasta.
• The best dried pasta I have eaten!!!
• According to an email from the owner of the company these products are not only available on their website but at most Whole Foods Markets as well!

Cons:

• A little pricey ($5.99 for cookies and $4.99 for pasta).
• The cookies were a little dry but dunked in an ice cold glass of your favorite xgfx milk will solve that problem!

Reviewed by Liz Whitaker

Nothing coloring that creamy filling except for ripe, ripe strawberries.

You know what’s more awesome than sunflowers shooting, fig trees figgin’ and dahlias spurting forth from the warm Spring ground?  Soaking all of this goodness up while eating chocolate chip cookies stuffed with local strawberry creme.   I know!

Dreena Burton sure knows how to bake. These were amazing.

The cookie recipe is Dreena Burton’s and since it’s already xgfx, there’s nothing to do except whip up some creme stuffin’ while you wait for these to bake.  I love that the recipe only makes 13 cookies, which I think is the perfect amount.  Especially if you have decadent plans for them like I did.

The only modification made to the cookies was the use of superfine brown rice flour.  The filling was made from a standard coconut oil cream cheeze frosting:  Tofutti, coconut oil, vanilla, powdered sugar and the ripest strawberries.

xo kittee

Liz Lovely’s – Gluten Free Cookies

Tested: Gluten Free Newbie Sampler (Coconut Lemon, Triple Chocolate Mint,
Oatmeal Raisin and German Chocolate Cake)

If there were ever cookies to convince someone that not only is vegan baking awesome but gluten free can be too, these are it! I have never had such moist and flavorful cookies. The rad folks over at Liz Lovely have been cranking out the awesomeness since 2003. Maybe I am biased because my name is also Liz (and I’m lovely!) but there is no comparison to these cookies. If you know anyone that is skeptical of vegan or gluten free goodies, shove a Liz Lovely cookie in their mouth and they will shut right up! For realz.

As soon as the super cute pink box arrived at my door it took every ounce of strength I had to not rip each package open and inhale them all, especially after looking at the nutrition facts. The cookies are pretty big, so big that an entire cookie is two servings. One serving is between 170-190 calories depending on the cookie and that is doubled if you have no self control. After taking one bite I am willing to bet you can’t eat only half either! Or just one! Some might think they are a little pricey at $3.99 for one pack, but keep in mind that one pack is two cookies but four servings. To me, it is a small price to pay for something as
nomtastic as these cookies!

I got to try the Coconut Lemon, German Chocolate Cake, Triple Chocolate Mint and Oatmeal Raisin. As soon as I ordered the package I couldn’t stop drooling thinking about the Coconut Lemon. I’m not normally interested in anything citrus-y, especially sweets, but I will eat just about anything with coconut in it. These were the first ones to get opened and while I would have liked more coconut flavor, the lemon flavor wasn’t overpowering at all. It was more like a refreshing little hint. Out of all the cookies, these were the most chewy and moist.

The German Chocolate Cake cookies were A-MA-ZING, I felt like this cookie was created just for me. The perfect balance of chocolate and coconut had me foaming at the mouth for more but I was so selfless that I even shared them with my boss! While she isn’t vegan, she is gluten free and very vegan friendly. I gave her the cookie first thing in the morning and not much later I could hear her busting the package open at her desk. She double checked the ingredients because she couldn’t believe something that good was gluten free! In fact, she
said this in an email to me, “That by far is the very best tasting cookie I have had that is gluten free.” They are a very rich cookie and would be perfect followed by a tall glass of cold almond or coconut milk.

Oatmeal Raisin was up next and as much as I loved the first two flavors I tried it was a nice break to have something a little less sweet. These weren’t like any other oatmeal raisin cookie I’ve had before and I can’t decide whether I liked that about them or not. The oat flavor was definitely there but there weren’t many pieces of actual oats in the cookies, something that makes an oat based cookie go from good to great in my book. They weren’t quite pureed but they weren’t quite whole oats. Other than that, they had an incredible amount of spicy flavoring and chewiness with plump raisins and walnuts throughout.

Last up was by far my favorite, Triple Chocolate Mint. My love for mint mixed with chocolate far exceeds my love for coconut so these were right up my alley. I am salivating just thinking about them now. If you used to love Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies then I promise that you will fall in love at first bite. The flavor matches the original Thin Mints but the cookie is built completely different. The cookies were more cakey and crumbly than the other flavors with chunks of chocolate nestled inside and topped with a drizzle of chocolate. Really a decadent treat! I also shared these with my boss, but looking back (no offense Lil!) if I had known how much I was going to love them, I would have been selfish and eaten them both myself. Lil also loved them and had this to say about them, “Mmm mmm minty and chocolatey. On a scale of 1-10 I would rate it a 10 for deliciousness.”

Pros:

• Every cookie has moisture and flavor unmatched by any other xgfx treat I have
  tried to date.
• Lots of yummy flavors to choose from.
• They use real ingredients, organic whenever possible and they are located in New England just like me!
• You can buy them in select stores, not just by mail order!

Cons:

• The cookies themselves are pretty big, which is great except that each whole
  cookie is two servings, and one serving is packed with calories.
• I have no more.

If you haven’t tried any of Liz Lovely’s cookies yet, you are missing out on life! What are
you waiting for?!

Reviewed by Liz Whitaker

This biscotti is just like a chocolate chip cookie… except it won’t fall apart if you decide to dunk it into your cuppa Joe.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3/4 cup organic granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 flaxeggs (2 tbsp flaxseed meal mixed with 4 tbsp water)
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1 cup sorghum flour
• 3/4 cup potato starch
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 °F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.

Combine olive oil, sugar, vanilla and flaxeggs together into smooth mixture.

In separate smaller bowl, combine the almond flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, salt and baking powder. Sift together to mix all the flours together really well.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients until a stiff dough forms. It may appear crumbly at first, but keep mixing until you have a very thick dough.

Add in chocolate chips.

Divide dough into two balls and place onto parchment paper. Use your hands to shape each ball into a loaf, about 2″ x 10″ each.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Increase oven temp to 375 °F. Once loaves have cooled, carefully cut diagonally to make long cookies.

Place on opposite side that they were baking on as a loaf, and bake in preheated oven for about 8 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool completely. They will get nice and hard and biscotti-like.

Dunk!