Dessert – Page 13 – The Celiathlete

August 7, 2014

Product Review: So Delicious Dairy Free Minis No Sugar Added Fudge Bar

So Delicious Dairy Free Minis Coconut Milk No Sugar Added Fudge Bars

Product: So Delicious Dairy Free Minis Coconut Milk No Sugar Added Fudge Bar – $5.99+

Happiness is…a special delivery of ice cream. And that’s exactly what happened. A super special delivery from my friends at So Delicious Dairy Free. And every bit of it was ice cream. Delicious gluten-free and vegan ice cream. Pardon me while I do a quick jig of happiness. When life delivers you ice cream, you have permission to dance. So dance and get those pints and boxes into the freezer. Stat!

And then…pace yourself.

It’s just like running.

Except…instead of pounding the pavement, you’re spooning delicious ice cream to your lips and savoring the sweet reward. So…yeah…ice cream is just like running.

Analogy made.

After fixing up dinner tonight, which was a simple tomato sandwich with homemade baked squash chips, it was time to cleanse the palate and get that sweet tooth satisfied. I went to the freezer and, after inquiring with my roommate what she might like for dessert…she immediately chimed in with the response of fudge bars. I couldn’t argue with that. It’s hot outside and a nice, cool treat is just what the doctor ordered.

So, I popped open the box of 4 So Delicious Dairy Free Minis Coconut Milk No Sugar Added Fudge Bars and removed two of them. I handed one to Cathy and settled in with my own. Unwrapping it, I took my first taste.

SO GOOD! Seriously. Okay…maybe I should say SO DELICIOUS! Because, they are. They really, really are. These bars are sweet, with the slightest hint of the coconut flavor from the coconut milk base. The chocolate is rich and creamy. And these bars were melt-in-your-mouth amazing. Honestly. The So Delicious Dairy Free Minis Coconut Milk No Sugar Added Fudge Bars are so good, you’d never guess that they are virtually sugar free. Honestly. They are rich and decadent and just icy chocolate goodness. I savored it as much as I could until it was gone. I licked the stick clean, for sure.

Yeah…I’m hooked!

So, let’s discuss the ingredients and nutrition information of the So Delicious Dairy Free Minis Coconut Milk No Sugar Added Fudge Bars.

The So Delicious Dairy Free Minis Coconut Milk No Sugar Added Fudge Bars are made from organic coconut milk, gum arabic, cocoa, vegetable glycerin, chicory root extract, erythritol, vanilla extract, natural flavors, sea salt, locust bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan, and monk fruit extract. These bars are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, kosher and non-GMO certified. They are also cholesterol free.

A serving of the So Delicious Dairy Free Minis Coconut Milk No Sugar Added Fudge Bars is one of the mini bars. This serving provides 80 calories and 6 grams of fat. A lot of those grams of fat are from the coconut milk. So don’t freak out. That is a healthy fat. One of these bars will also give you 55 mg sodium and 1 gram of sugar. You’d never guess that they have only 1 gram of sugar. TRUST ME!! And, finally, these bars provide you with 8 grams of fiber and 1 gram of protein.

Trust me…you’d never even know that these fudge bars have no additional sugar added to them. They are sweet, rich, fudgy, and delicious. And the size is just perfect.

Once again, So Delicious Dairy Free does amazing things for the dessert world. Another delicious product from a company that prides itself on quality…so much that they even call themselves SO DELICIOUS! No lie. It’s the truth.

So Delicious Dairy Free Minis Coconut Milk No Sugar Added Fudge Bar

August 6, 2014

Product Review: Stroopies Gluten-Free Authentic Dutch Stroopwafels

Product: Stroopies Gluten-Free Authentic Dutch Stroopwafels – $2.50

I know what you’re thinking…you’re thinking..

“What the hell is a Stroopwafel?”

Am I right? Am I? Well, up until I received my July Cuisine Cube, I fell into that category too. In fact, I didn’t even know such a thing as a Stroopwafel even existed. Never heard of one. Never would have thought to even look for one to try. But, thanks to the miracle of my Cuisine Cube, I not only am introduced to a new company, but also a new product (and in a sense, a type of food I didn’t even know existed until then).

So, to answer the above question…Stroopwafels are all the rage in Holland. It is a type of Dutch cookie with a rich, flavorful, caramel taste. It is apparently best enjoyed with a warm beverage or as a snack. These cookies are made from two thin layers of baked dough with a thin caramel syrup-ish filling in the middle. They are a popular street food in the Netherlands and, I am assuming, a nice accessory with a good coffee.

Stroopies is based out of Lancaster, Pensylvania, the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country. Dan and Ed, the owners of Stroopies, make these delicious cookies from classic ingredients that are locally sourced and all natural. What Stroopies manage to do with their Stroopwafels is find that perfect balance between the cinnamon and the caramel. And what emerges is this delightful, light, tasty treat.

With my August Cuisine Cube on its way, I began picking through some of the stuff left in my current cube. And, as we used up the dairy-free ice cream in the freezer yesterday, I was giving my roommate the option for dessert. The Dutch cookies from the July cube…the dairy-free chocolate freezer pops, the last pint of dairy-free ice cream, or the gluten-free biscotti we picked up at the grocery store.

As the Stroopies were in my hand at that moment…that’s what she chose.

And so, after our dinner of Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Walnuts, dessert was going to be a synch. All it required was for me to open the little plastic pouch the cookies arrived in. As I wasn’t prepared to brew up a decaf coffee to have these with, I ended up just popping them in the microwave as an nontraditional way to warm these up (instead of over the cup of a hot beverage). So, a quick 20 second hit in the microwave and these were ready. I handed my roommate hers and she immediately dug in while I went to warm up mine and retrieve it.

“It tastes like…a cinnamon roll. A really thin cinnamon roll!” she declared.

To me, this can only be a good thing…because I absolutely love cinnamon rolls, as you all very well know. So, as I settled in to try it myself, I was already anticipating that first hit on my tongue. I broke off a piece of the cookie, the two thin waffle layers breaking apart slowly with the now warm caramel layer in the center coming with it. I popped the little bit into my mouth and…magic. Pure cookie magic. This is probably one of the most unique and best cookies I have tried that is nothing like anything I have ever had before.

Stroopies actually do find that perfect balance between the cinnamon and the caramel. In fact, the thin caramel layer perfectly matches the waffle cookie shells that sandwich it inside. It’s the perfect layering…very even…so nothing outshines anything else. This was one unique and fantastic dessert, for sure. Honestly, it does taste like a cookie version of a cinnamon roll. I can see why these are so popular in Holland. I was hooked at the first bite and found myself wishing that we had more than the two cookies that came in the pack inside my Cuisine Cube. Each bite brought more flavor and more of that soft and amazing texture. I was more than enamored with this cookie. And if you can…I highly recommend these.

As these are one of those local-ish products, I don’t have any nutritional information, however I can go over the ingredients with you. The Stroopies Gluten-Free Authentic Dutch Stroopwafels are made from brown rice flour, white rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, soy flour, corn syrup, sugar, brown sugar, butter, margarine, eggs, salt, spices and flavorings.

I will note that these cookies are made on dedicated equipment, however they are produced in a factory that contains wheat, soy and peanut products.

Another fantastic product that came to me via my Cuisine Cube. Subscribing to my monthly Cuisine Cube has been one of the best things I have done in a long time. I’m really enjoying getting introduced to smaller gluten-free companies out there that I would otherwise know nothing about. And if you are interested in trying Stroopies Gluten-Free Authentic Dutch Stroopwafels…head on over to their Web site and place an order. Trust me…these are worth ordering without trying. I am about to go order more myself.

August 4, 2014

Product Review: So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Vanilla Bean Coconut Milk Dairy Free Frozen Dessert

Product Review: So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Vanilla Bean Coconut Milk Dairy Free Frozen Dessert – $6.99+

I scream. You scream. We all scream for…

NON-DAIRY COCONUT MILK ICE CREAM!

Or…at least I do. Especially when it’s from So Delicious. And…even more so…especially when it’s Vanilla Bean.

Why Vanilla Bean?

Because when you have vanilla as your base flavor…you can do whatever you want to it and make it your own. Or, if you’re traditional…you can eat it strait and it has a flavor that is uniquely…vanilla. I love vanilla. It’s like the blank canvas of ice cream flavors. Seriously. Which is why, tonight, after a disappointing attempt at squash chips (they burned…dammit!), and after polishing up a delicious gluten-free yellow tomato sandwich with some homemade guacamole on the side (and served with gluten-free tortilla chips I had on reserve)…I was ready for my dessert. I earned it. After all, it’s Monday…and we should always have dessert on Monday especially! (Garfield logic!)

I actually wasn’t prepared for ice cream dessert, so when we decided that was the way we would go…I pulled the pint out of the freezer and let it sit on the counter top for about 10 minutes. My roommate and I amused ourselves by watching Chopped All Stars until my timer beeped and I got up to start dishing up dessert. While I was scooping, I got some caramel sauce working in the microwave to top off the flavor. WOOHOO!! I also figured…why not go all out…and pulled down some chopped walnuts as well. Gotta have those omegas, yes? YES!

So, with each serving size scoop in our ice cream bowls, I drizzled each scoop with caramel, topped it with nuts…and it was time to dig in. I settled in and started up Chopped again, and took my first bite…which was just the vanilla on its own. Purist here…gotta taste it without the accessories first.

Holy Vanilla Bean, Batman! First of all, I think this is the first time in coconut milk dessert history where I can call it…CREAMY!! It was silky smooth, packed with flavor, and just…light and fluffy and delicious. This was just like eating freshly churned ice cream. This is a lactose intolerant ice cream lover’s dream here. The vanilla flavor is amazing, not too much…but not too subtle either. The coconut milk creates this solid, yet creamy base, flecked with the insides of the vanilla bean. It is just delicious. Topping it off with caramel and nuts was the icing on the cake, but I could have grabbed a spoon and dug into the pint and been just as happy without playing dress up with dessert. Seriously. Fantastic. So Delicious definitely knew what it was doing. And…you would never in a million years be able to tell that has no added sugar. Seriously, it is just as sweet and just as perfect as any ice cream or ice cream like dessert should be.

So Delicious…YOU ROCK THE VANILLA WORLD!!

With all that high praise and excitement, you know we have to hit on the scientific stuff. Because nutrition and ingredients are all part of what makes a food great. And this wasn’t just great. This was…life changing.

The So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Vanilla Bean Coconut Milk Dairy Free Frozen Dessert is made from organic coconut milk, gum arabic, vegetable glycerin, chicory root extract, erythritol, vanilla extract, natural flavors, sea salt, locust bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan, monk fruit extract, and vanilla bean specks. This frozen treat is gluten-free, cholesterol-free, dairy-free, vegan, kosher, and non-GMO! No Sugar Added Vanilla Bean So Delicious Dairy Free Frozen Dessert is…AWESOME!!

But how awesome are the nutritionals? Well…a serving size of the So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Vanilla Bean Coconut Milk Dairy Free Frozen Dessert is 1/2 cup. This 1/2 cup portion will provide you with only 100 calories and 8 grams of fat. I know you’re thinking that the fat seems high, but it’s the healthy fats found in coconut…so don’t freak out over that…it will be okay. In addition, you will be taking in only 70 mg sodium and 1 gram of sugar. LOVING IT! And, finally, you will be consuming 10 grams of filling fiber and 1 gram of protein.

Oh, So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Vanilla Bean Coconut Milk Dairy Free Frozen Dessert…I would devour you every day of the week if I could. I can’t be happier with this flavor and all that it represents. Thank you, So Delicious, for sending me a pint of goodness which came on a day where I just needed something simple, elegant, and yet…amazing. That’s this flavor for sure!

I can’t help falling in love with So Delicious over and over again. Their products really are tops!

A serving of So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Vanilla Bean Coconut Milk Dairy-Free Frozen Dessert

August 1, 2014

Product Review: Thumbs Cookies Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

Product: Thumbs Cookies Gluten Free Sugar Cookies – $20.00+

Who says good things don’t come in small packages? Certainly not me. I often find some of the best things in life come in smaller packages. Heck, I’m a 5’3″ runner…so I’m a small person as it is. The smaller…the more likely I am to take a second glance at it or even…purchase it.

I never would have even known about the existence of Thumbs Cookies if not for my monthly delivery from Cuisine Cube. These little cookies (seriously….the size of your thumbprint) were inside my June box as the dessert treat. And, for you regular readers…we all know how I feel about cookies. If I were blue and furry with googly eyes, I really would be cookie monster.

GIVE ME ALL THE GLUTEN FREE COOKIES!

And all the cookies is possible this time, as Thumbs Cookies are tiny. Teeny-tiny, pop-in-your-mouth morsels of cookie goodness. Cuisine Cube included the original Sugar Cookies in the June cube…which is fine by me. I love a good sugar cookie. And, since creator Robyn Frank, has immortalized her family recipe that her mother used, these cookies are close to as good as it gets without being fresh from your own oven. Seriously…Frank, in fact, hand rolls each and every cookie in the palm of her hand and finishes them with her thumbprint. She used to bake these alongside her mother whenever she made them for special occasions.

I love a good cookie story…especially when family and family history are involved.

The evening was shaping up to be a busy one. Work was finally over and I had been intending to do the last of the BlueMile Brew Miles (a local running store’s mile runs at different pubs in the Louisville area), but an almost stress fracture sidelined my plans to run. My roomie said that we could still go and walk it…if we took it slow and steady. But this meant a quick bite at home and then off to the races, as it were. I was reheating homemade soup, serving it with gluten-free crackers, and then having these cookies for dessert. Simple. Quick. Efficient. Especially on a busy night.

So, after downing our soup, we cleaned our dishes and I snagged the little box of these teeny-tiny cookies for dessert. I figured they were small…so we’d just split the entire package. Why not? We were off to walk a mile anyway. So, I doled them out and we settled in to pop them, one-by-one…

First of all…we probably could have split these between two nights, but they were so fantastic, I didn’t care. I really didn’t. I put the first one in my mouth…and it was just this soft little butter cookie with a hint of cinnamon and a bit of sugar sprinkled on top. Like…mini snickerdoodles. Little sugar cookie morsels of amazing goodness. I was in love. In fact, I believe I looked up at my roommate and said, “Well that’s a fantastic little bite!” And I wasn’t joking. These won’t melt in your mouth, but they aren’t brittle or hard. They are just these nice little poppers of cookie yumminess. Seriously, if I had just opened the pack for me, I probably would have eaten them all without a second thought. So, eating half the container didn’t leave me berating myself either for indugling so much. These really are itty-bitty cookies…and I enjoyed each and every bite.

As far as ingredients go…you can tell these are homemade. The Thumbs Cookies Gluten Free Sugar Cookies are made from shortening, sugar, cinnamon, more sugar, and Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour. These are homemade, to order, and no nutritional information is available on them. Just rest assured, they are small but mighty and it is so easy to just keep popping them like candy.

I’m always told that I am small, but fierce. That is definitely these cookies. They are small…but they pack a mighty flavor punch. Cookie perfection in little bites. And for that…Thumbs Cookies hits all the right notes. Fantastic flavor, great texture, and…well…when it’s a cookie…and when it’s a delicious cookie…you have me sold. I can’t wait to dig up some more of these. I might not share this time. HA!

Once again…thank you, my dear Cuisine Cube…without you, I’d have no idea these even existed.

July 29, 2014

Product Review: So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Butter Pecan Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert

Product: So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Butter Pecan Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert – $6.99+

There is a short list of treats that I forever want in my life. Seriously. This ranges from my local gluten-free bakery (Annie May’s Sweet Café) vegan chocolate chip cookies to my gluten free lemon chiffon cake…to ICE CREAM!

The thing with ice cream is…as much as I love ice cream, being lactose intolerant means that sometimes…the ice cream doesn’t love me back. This means that it’s better for me to skip it all together…or find something that is equally as delicious…and just like that rich, creamy, amazing dairy-filled treat that I grew up eating…year round!

The answer, my friends, is no further than your grocery store freezer.

The amazing and wonderful people at So Delicious Dairy Free sent me a few pints of their new Gluten Free and No Sugar Added frozen dessert offerings. Yes…their coconut milk ice cream, if you will. And me, being the ice cream lover that I am…am thrilled to try these flavors out. I’ve already reviewed the Gluten-Free Cookie Dough Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert and the Gluten-Free Cookies ‘N Cream Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert.

Tonight…it was on to the No Sugar Added (and still gluten-free) flavors. I asked my roomie to choose a flavor from the ones that are in the freezer. Without any hesitation she immediately chose…

…the So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Butter Pecan Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert.

Butter Pecan just happens to be her mom’s favorite ice cream flavor. Fact. Now you know.

After a very long, and somewhat stressful day…I made dinner upon getting home and after we devoured that….dessert was up. As usual, I tend to pull the pint out of the freezer while we eat dinner to allow it to soften up. Because it is made without the dairy, it sometimes gets a little more frozen than regular ice cream, so the time sitting on the counter while we dine means that it’s ready to scoop when dessert time rolls around. I was pretty stoked myself, having always enjoyed a great butter pecan ice cream. It’s one of those oddball flavors that I so rarely get, that I only remember how much I love it when I actually get it.

I dished up two bowls of ice cream, with the proper serving all measured out. I served it up and we dug in while watching Food Network (because…we love our Food Network!). One bite. That was all I needed to fall in love with this frozen treat. Honestly. WOW! First of all, the texture is perfect. Creamy, light, not gritty. Pure ice cream perfection. You’d never guess this was made with coconut milk. It is that perfectly balanced. But, my rave doesn’t stop there. FLAVOR! Holy cow. The flavors incorporated into the So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Butter Pecan Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert stand up and just dance with your taste buds. Dance. Maybe a tango. Maybe the conga. vanilla with butter and pecans…oh…it’s so good. You can really catch all those rich and amazing flavors. And the pecans bring this great crunch and texture to the creamy ice cream. And all of this…without any added sugar. You can’t argue with that. My roommate actually licked her bowl clean. I think this is her new favorite so far!

So, what all goes into the So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Butter Pecan Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert? Well, it all comes together using organic coconut milk, pecans, gum arabic, vegetable glycerin, chicory root extract, erythritol, natural flavors, sea salt, locust bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan, and monk fruit extract. This dessert is organic, dairy-free, gluten-free, kosher, and vegan. It is also cholesterol free.

And with that, you know we have to take a peek at the nutritional information. A serving of the So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Butter Pecan Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert is 1/2 cup. In this serving you will be taking in 140 calories and 13 grams of fat. Don’t panic over that fat content. It’s derived from coconut milk, which means that’s the healthy fats. A serving dishes up 65 mg sodium and only 1 gram of sugar. LOVE THAT! And finally, you will be taking in 10 grams of filling fiber and 1 gram of protein.

LOVE! That’s what this ice cream is all about. A dairy-free twist on a classic flavor! The So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Butter Pecan Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert is truly a pint of love. The flavors and texture are fantastic and amazing. And I am totally in love with it. It will take all my (currently non-existent) self-control not to devour the entire pint right out of the carton. It would be worth it though…

So Delicious…keep on making these amazing treats…because you certainly got my attention. No sugar added just proves that sugar free doesn’t mean flavor free. I am totally in love with you, my So Delicious people. Thank you!

A serving of So Delicious Dairy Free No Sugar Added Butter Pecan Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert

July 28, 2014

Recipe: Gluten Free Lemon Bread Pudding

It’s become a sort of tradition whenever Weekend at Jenn’s happens…Sunday morning means creating one of our, now legendary, breakfast treats to feast on. No more eating out…no more eating day old goodies from the local gluten-free bakery (although, I’m okay with that…just sayin’.) We usually plan it out the week of the visit…and I sprung this one on her sort of as an afterthought a day or two before my drive up that way. She, thankfully, had everything but the bread…which I had in my freezer, leftover from our last bread pudding adventure. Seriously, if you ever want a sturdy bread…order the Katz Gluten Free Braided Challah loaf…the big one…and you will have at least 6 uses out of it. I know I got my money’s worth, that’s for sure.

Anyway…I don’t know why…but I was feeling lemon this week. And it just so happens that my two partners in crime, Jenn and Cathy, are both lovers of lemon and lemon flavored things as well. This recipe was going to be a match made in heaven. Jenn and I took a recipe, originally posted by Bijouxs, and put our own little touches on it to make it easier as well as change it to gluten free. We also made ours dairy free…because I’m sort of lactose intolerant and every little bit helps!

This bread pudding smelled SO amazing as it was baking up on Saturday morning. It does take an hour to do. And Jenn and I prepped the dish the night before and let everything soak up and sit in the fridge until we were getting ready for breakfast. I recommend doing this. The original recipe called for homemade lemon curd. We weren’t feeling that. Jenn had a 12 ounce jar…so we just used every bit of that jar in our version of this dish. Just make sure that the lemon curd is gluten-free (not all of them are!).

And now…you can make it yourself and see what I mean!

Recipe: Lemon Bread Pudding

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

1 French bread baguette, cut into 1 inch slices (I used Katz Gluten Free Braided Challah (of [delicious] DOOM!))
1 12 ounce jar of lemon curd
2 cups cold whole milk (I used coconut milk)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs, cold
3-4 lemons, juiced (around 1/3 cup juice)
zest of 2 lemons (about 2 tablespoons)
pinch of kosher salt

Directions:

Place the bread slices cut sides down in a lightly buttered 10 x 8 inch oval ovenproof baking dish. Fit the bread slices together in a single layer to completely cover the bottom of the pan.

Spread the top of the bread slices with all of the lemon curd.

Whisk together the milk, sugar, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest and pinch of salt, mixing well and pour over the bread.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours (or overnight like we did!), to allow the bread to absorb the milk mixture. Remove from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes prior to baking.

Preheat the over to 325° F.

Cover the bread pudding with foil and bake on top of a sheet pan for 30 minutes.

Remove cover and bake for an additional 30 minutes until puffy and golden brown.

Dust with confectioner’s sugar and serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if desired.

~*~*~

OMG…amazing. Bright, zesty, tangy…it was a citrus flavored treat all rolled into one amazing little bread pudding. This makes a day brightening breakfast or a light, palate cleansing dessert. No matter how you slice it, all of us were digging into this delicious treat. I brought some home and reheated it for breakfast this morning. This reheats beautifully. Seriously. Nothing got soggy or gross in the fridge and it didn’t get destroyed when nuked in the microwave for about 2 and a half minutes. Still amazing. Still tangy. Still…OH so good!

July 28, 2014

Product Review: Russo’s Gluten Free Gourmet Tiramisu

Product Review: Russo’s Gluten Free Gourmet Tiramisu – $5.99+

Oh, great and wonderful and powerful (because you keep drawing me in) Raisin Rack natural food store in Columbus, Ohio. I love you. I love you in so many ways I can’t even begin to count them. And one of the many reasons I love you is that your extensive gluten-free section offers me A LOT of options I can’t get here in Louisville, Kentucky…or anywhere else for that matter. Seriously…there are some items I have never even heard of…and then I head up to Columbus to visit my friend Jenn…and BAM…I am educated on products that are out on the market that I didn’t even know existed.

After making about 10 laps of the gluten-free aisles and filling up my basket (actually, I behaved and didn’t fill it up…no need to Tetris anything this time)…I made one final decision before checking out. And that was for dessert. After all, Cathy, Jenn and I were cooking Italian that night (gluten-free pasta with gluten-free foccacia), so I figured…despite having made a delicious homemade buttermint ice cream…we might as well keep with the Italian theme. So…I went back to the freezer section and pulled the Russo’s Gluten Free Gourmet Tiramisu from the shelf. Into the basket. Up to the register. Into a bag. Back to Jenn’s. I put it in the fridge to let it thaw…and dinner time came and went and I was so ready to dive into dessert. I mean…I don’t get to have tiramisu that often. In fact…I never get to. So this was indeed a nice treat and one I was looking forward to.

I had pulled the box out of the refrigerator to let it thaw the rest of the way while we ate dinner. And when dinner was appropriately devoured…it was time to work on dessert. And I was super excited about the Russo’s Gluten Free Gourmet Tiramisu, which was suddenly on the menu. And I was not alone. Jenn is Italian…and she knows good tiramisu. And I couldn’t wait to get her thoughts on this. Cathy doesn’t do tiramisu too often, so she’s sort of a non-entity in this review…because Jenn is an expert and I’m a fan. So…after clearing the table…I opened up the box, removed the container with the tiramisu…and eagerly and carefully popped the lid.

And…the entire top layer stayed on the lid. Well…crap.

Oh well…I went to Jenn’s silverware drawer and pulled out a knife to see if I could salvage that layer of dusted cocoa. I gave it my best shot, so, the top of the tiramisu isn’t as pretty as it should be…however…as Jenn always says…it still tastes the same. So…I just sort of incorporated the cocoa dusted layer over the fluffy mascarpone cheese layer as best I could…then split the delicate dessert into thirds. This dessert is actually meant for two people, but there were three of us…so we had ice cream with it. HA!

Anyway…the layers were soft and light as my butter knife sliced through it. The dessert itself was easy to lift out of the little plastic container it had been frozen in. A little messy…but workable. Desserts are good to be messy. It’s just means more opportunities to lick the plate clean. We all settled in with our forks and plates with the layered dessert of ladyfingers dipped in coffee, mascarpone cheese and cocoa…and took our first bites.

Cathy, as I said, is excluded from this review of the Russo’s Gluten Free Gourmet Tiramisu as she isn’t a tiramisu person. That being said, she loved the fluffy layer of mascarpone cheese. She said she could take or leave the ladyfingers. EH. Whatever. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Jenn, however, is a tiramisu expert. And both she and I hoovered this slice of gluten-free Italian dessert heaven without so much as a breath, I think. We both agreed that the ladyfingers were moist and soft and good. The mascarpone layer was so light and fluffy, whipped up to perfection. The espresso flavor was sort of lost…we both said that we were sort of looking for that coffee flavor, but overall, Jenn said she never would have guessed it was gluten-free if she hadn’t found it for me in the freezer. HA!

There you go. I’m a huge fan. And now I want to try more and more from Russo’s Gluten-Free Gourmet. And it seems like they have quite a few items I might consider next time I’m at Raisin Rack.

Let’s talk about what goes into Russo’s Gluten Free Gourmet Tiramisu, shall we? The ingredients are gluten-free lady fingers (made from rice flour, corn starch, rice extracts, tapioca dextrin, and xanthan gum) mascarpone cheese, whole eggs, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso, and cognac. Simple ingredients for sure. And I recognize each and every one of them. That’s a plus. Interestingly enough, this is a family owned and operated company that dedicates itself to gluten-free products with exceptional quality. They are certainly doing their job right. This was fantastic.

A serving size of the Russo’s Gluten Free Gourmet Tiramisu is 1/2 of the container (or 4 ounces). A proper serving will provide you with 160 calories and 11 grams of fat. Yeah…it’s worth every gram. You will also be taking in 85 mg cholesterol, 30 mg sodium, and 9 grams of sugar. I’m impressed by the sugar count, as I thought it would be higher for such a decadent dessert. But…it’s actually in a decent range. Finally, you will be consuming 1 gram of fiber and 4 grams of protein.

Honestly, this was one very rich, moist, light, amazing dessert. I am beyond impressed with my introduction into the lineup of products from Russo’s Gluten Free Gourmet. This more than solidifies the fact that I will pick up other items by their company and try them out next time. I’m already thinking dinner will be gluten-free mozzerella sticks. And pizza bites. Yep. Both. Because…why the hell not? Beyond enthusiastic. Beyond surprised. Just…totally blown away by this dessert. Add a bit more of that coffee flavor and it would be absolute tiramisu perfection.

Well done, Russo’s Gluten Free Gourmet. Well done!

July 27, 2014

Product Review: My Dad’s Cookies Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Product: My Dad’s Cookies Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies – $7.99+

Did someone say cookies?

Yes…cookie monster is back with a vengeance. A vengeance, I tell you!

After a couple weeks of feasting off of brownies and ice cream, I needed some cookies in my life. And it just so happened that my roomie and I decided to splurge at Lucky’s again last week and picked up another type of cookie from My Dad’s Cookies. It was actually a tough decision. I had promised her the Lemon Drop cookies…but they didn’t have those in stock this time around. So after a lot of thought and a lot of circling the table…I finally chose…

Chocolate Chip.

Iconic. And a personal favorite of mine. I mean, who doesn’t love a chocolate chip cookie, right?

Well, with the brownies and the ice cream polished off…cookies were dessert this week. After dinner, as always, after cleaning up the dishes and the kitchen, I got ready to serve dessert. This time…it was easy. The cookies were on my counter and I just simply popped open the plastic container and fished out a serving for each of us. These cookies are little bite-size morsels that I hoped would be as good as they looked. I walked Cathy’s serving out to her, then returned to the kitchen for mine.

Settling in…it was the moment of absolute truth…

One bite of the My Dad’s Cookies Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies…and I was more than happy with this classic choice. No one would even fathom that these little cookies were gluten-free unless you told them. They had just the slightest bit of crunch on the edges and this soft, chewy center. Each cookie was about two to three bites, and each bite guaranteed a hit of chocolate chips and sweet vanilla flavor. There was the right amount of flavor throughout these cookies. The vanilla essence and the chocolate chips gave it that classic, homemade, chocolate chip cookie feel. I meant to warm the next night’s up in the microwave to give them that “fresh out of the oven” appeal, but didn’t. Nevertheless, I was beyond amazed by the quality and taste of these. They weren’t super moist, but they weren’t dry either. They hit that perfect midpoint that gave you both the crunch and the soft center. And…come on…CHOCOLATE CHIPS!

Classic cookies with not-so-classic ingredients. Gluten-free, after all, takes some special flour blends and some TLC. But that’s what makes these cookies even more extraordinary! Let’s take a look at the science and nutrition behind My Dad’s Cookies Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The My Dad’s Cookies Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies are made from a gluten-free flour blend (brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, xanthan gum), palm oil, chocolate chips, sugar, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda, agave syrup, cream of tartar, baking powder, and salt. These cookies are gluten-free, dairy free, nut free, and kosher.

A serving of the My Dad’s Cookies Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies is three of the bite-size cookies. There are six servings per container. These three cookies will provide you with 150 calories and 7 grams of fat. In addition, you will be taking in 15 mg cholesterol, 60 mg sodium, and 13 grams of sugar. Cookies have sugar…so, while that seems high…it’s a dessert…a treat…COOKIES! Also, these three cookies will give you less than 1 gram of fiber and 1 gram of protein. This is not a filling dessert, but it is…oh, so sweet!

Once again, My Dad’s Cookies proves that it is definitely a brand to be reckoned with on the gluten free dessert market. While I have just discovered these amazing little treats at the newest grocery store in the area, I am glad to have been brave enough to shell out the $7.99 price for each container so far. None have really let me down, and all have been great to eat after a long day and a light meal.

My Dad’s Cookies took on the classic chocolate chip cookie and made it into one delicious, bite-size, gluten-free treat. I will definitely buy these again.

July 20, 2014

Product Review: Grab the Gold Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Snack Bar

Product: Grab the Gold Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Snack Bar – $2.49

As you know, I am always on the lookout for more and different protein bars, as I am an athlete on the go! I usually consume a protein bar on weekends away, or perhaps before a race (with time to digest, of course), and sometimes after I hit up the gym for my weights sessions.

I have my go-to brands…Lärabar, thinkThin, and KIND to name a few. All of them are certified gluten-free and carry a good portion of protein to help rejuvenate me after or before a hard workout. When I’m traveling, they also make fantastic snacks and/or food options when nothing else is available.

So, imagine my surprise and my joy when my June Cuisine Cube showed up in the mail and it included an energy bar as a mid-day pick-me-up snack option. Not just any energy bar…one that was two of my favorite things…Chocolate Peanut Butter flavored! The Cuisine Cube, as I explained before, tends to include products for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and a snack. And every now and again…a bonus. In June, the bonus was the energy bar. And it sounded amazing.

I had never heard of Grab the Gold before, and was quite curious as to what their version of an energy bar would be like. I’ve had some good ones in my time and some really, really bad ones. But, I have come to trust my Cuisine Cube and the choices of products that go inside. I had a run and some weights to do this morning, and my breakfast beforehand was simply cereal. Delicious cereal, but by the time I finished up at the gym, I was ready for something to eat.

I packed my roommate and I each a protein bar. She had her favorite Lärabar (ALT Lemon Pound Cake…in case you were wondering!). I decided to give the one I received in my Cuisine Cube a try. So, that was what emerged from my bag in the car to eat on the way to her family’s house to sort out some (who am I kidding…TONS) of items in the garage. I was going to need reinforcements. So, I unwrapped the gorgeous golden foil wrapper and unveiled an unassuming round bar. Little flecks of oats and chocolate chips were visible. I broke off a piece for my roomie to try and then I took a bite.

You know those amazing no-bake cookies? Yeah…that’s what this bar tasted like. A fantastic no-bake cookie. Talk about a treat! Great texture and taste too. It was chocolatey without being too candy-like. It had that nice hit of peanut butter. The oats gave it that cookie-like texture. The chocolate chips were that little burst of flavor in each bite. And the round shape made for a nice change of pace from other bars on the market.

A little bit of history…the Grab the Gold Protein Snack Bars were created by 16 year old Danielle Ontiveros, who didn’t like typical breakfast food growing up and preferred something lighter in the mornings, since she was never hungry. This was the end of the 80s and there weren’t a lot of choices for protein bars. Most were expensive and didn’t taste good, so Ontiveros told her mother she wanted to make her own bars. She pulled out items from the cupboards and began measuring, mixing, and recording what she was doing. She began to market the bars to friends, family and neighbors and soon her business was born. The reason these bars are round is that Ontiveros was concerned with fairness and equality and wanted to be sure everyone got the same size bars. Cutting them into squares never yielded uniform bars in size and thickness. Then she got the idea to weight the batter into equal parts and put them into a muffin tin. The perfect, uniform, and round bar was born.

So, now that we know how these were made and why they are so good…let’s look at the nitty-gritty stuff. Yep…nutrition and ingredients.

The Grab the Gold Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Snack Bar is made from organic oats, peanut butter, soy nuggets (soy flour), glucose syrup, cane sugar, semisweet chocolate chips, fruit juice, brown rice dextrins, canola oil, soy lecithin, natural cocoa powder, and vanilla. This bar is gluten-free, cholesterol free, dairy free, vegan, contains no high fructose corn syrup, contains no preservatives, contains no trans fats, and is a sort of high fiber.

As fur nutrition, the Grab the Gold Chocolate Peanut Butter Snack Bar is right on par, if not better, than other bars on the market. One serving is one bar. This bar contains 193 calories and 5 grams of fat. One bar also provides73 mg sodium 345 mg potassium, and 12 grams of sugar. I admit, it is high in sugar…higher than I normally like. Might be why it tastes like a cookie. But DAMN…it’s worth it. Yum! One bar also gives you 7 grams of filling fiber and 11 grams of protein. You actually will feel full after eating this bar. Trust me!

So, Cuisine Cube sent me another winner! I hope to order some of the Grab the Gold Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Snack Bars in the near future, if I can’t find any in local stores. As I have never seen or heard of these before now, it’s more likely I’ll be ordering online or from Cuisine Cube’s store. But…I am now completely and forever hooked on these. Like having dessert for breakfast…but one that will last you for a couple of hours.

Well done!

Grab the Gold Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Snack Bar (unwrapped)

July 17, 2014

Product Review: So Delicious Dairy Free Gluten-Free Cookies ‘N Cream Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert

Product: So Delicious Dairy Free Gluten-Free Cookies ‘N Cream Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert – $6.99+

I have a lot to give thanks for when it comes to delicious things in my life. When most people hear that I’m a lactose intolerant and gluten-free vegetarian, I often wonder if they think I eat grass. I don’t…for the record. Although I do eat a lot of veggies that are green…but not grass. Never grass.

That being said, sometimes I also get the chance to try out some products that fit into my diet. And recently, my friends over at So Delicious Dairy-Free gave me the chance to try out some of their latest products to hit the market. One of these included the previous blogged about So Delicious Dairy Free Gluten-Free Cookie Dough Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert…and now…another bit of excitement…

DAIRY-FREE AND GLUTEN-FREE COOKIES ‘N CREAM COCONUT MILK FROZEN DESSERT.

*FLAIL*

Pardon the unnecessary, but highly needed caps lock abuse.

First of all, as a Celiac do you realize that I never…NEVER…get to eat anything that in any way, shape, or form resembles ice cream that has the words “cookie,” or “dough” in it? It’s true. Those have become relics of my past. Ice cream that I used to know. Favorites of mine, left to melt away in my memory…of their flavors and their deliciousness.

Or…so I thought.

Thanks to the good people at So Delicious Dairy Free…that is no longer the case.

*DOUBLE FLAIL*

Ahem.

Oh, you better believe the first pint I dove into was the Gluten-Free Cookie Dough. Growing up, whenever we got ice cream from the store or went to our local ice cream parlor (The Dairy Barn!), I was a cookie dough ice cream girl. That was what I wanted. Oddly enough, I never ate raw cookie dough…but put it in ice cream and…oh…yeah. Magic. We all know I about died when I got to eat the So Delicious variety, having gone YEARS now since having a taste of one of my favorite flavors. And if you are just tuning in, click on the link above and read all about that moment!

But…we come back to the present now…and tonight…tonight it was time to give the other childhood favorite a shot. Another flavor of ice cream I always have to just stare at and dream about eating. But not now…not again. Not when So Delicious comes through and delivers their So Delicious Dairy Free Gluten-Free Cookies ‘N Cream Coconut Milk Ice Cream.

*KERMIT FLAIL*

So, while my roomie and I were feasting on dinner, I set the pint out to thaw a little. I find that non-dairy frozen desserts often need about 5-10 minutes of sitting on the counter to make scooping easier. Trust me. Do it. It means you won’t have to go to battle with your pint of delicious goodness. The last thing you want to do is go to battle with dessert. That’s just not…human.

After we finished dinner and doing the dishes, I went to get out the ice cream scooper and serve up the latest flavor of non-dairy frozen goodness from a company that prides itself on their products that they call themselves So Delicious! That’s bold. And I love them for that!

I scooped us each up a serving and settled in to finish watching a Food Network show of our choosing tonight. I was practically on the edge of my seat…anticipating that first taste. I dipped my spoon into my bowl, scooped up a bit of the ice cream…and BAM…everything I missed about Cookies ‘N Cream ice cream came flooding back to me. I might have teared up a little. Amazing.

First of all, So Delicious does not skimp on the fillings. You are getting chunks of gluten-free sandwich cookies in this ice cream. You are getting this rich and luxurious base made form coconut milk that doesn’t overpower. The vanilla is a nice compliment to all the flavors. And those cookies…OH MY GOD…those cookies…they are the things that dreams are made of. Especially for someone like me…who has had to ignore anything with the word “cookie” in it for so long. Dreams do come true and So Delicious truly makes it…delicious. Each bite had that rich sweetness to it…plus the chunkiness of the cookies. You get that crunch with the creamy texture of the dessert itself. Oh…yes. If heaven were a pint of ice cream…I was devouring it at that very moment. A new favorite.

It’s also really good over a warm gluten-free brownie with hot fudge drizzled over it. I’m just throwing that out there. I might have done that too.

So, what exactly goes into a pint of the So Delicious Dairy Free Gluten-Free Cookies ‘N Cream Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert? I’m about to tell you! This ice cream is made from organic coconut milk, organic dried cane syrup, gluten-free creme cookies, chicory root extract, natural flavor, carob bean gum, and guar gum. Not only is this free of dairy and gluten, but it is also cholesterol free, vegan, non-GMO, and kosher.

And…I know it’s a treat…it’s dessert…but I always hit up those nutrition facts. A serving of the So Delicious Dairy Free Gluten-Free Cookies ‘N Cream Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert is 1/2 cup. In this serving, you will be consuming 160 calories and 7 grams of fat. Keep in mind, some of that fat count comes from that nutritious coconut milk! You will also be taking in 50 mg sodium and 16 grams of sugar. Yep…it’s high in sugar…but it’s an ice cream treat. You sort of expect that. And, finally, you will be provided with 7 grams of filling fiber and 1 gram of protein.

Not too shabby for a frozen dessert, right? RIGHT!

Yeah…my love for So Delicious continues to grow every time I get to try one of their products. Stay tuned…because there are more frozen treats from So Delicious in my freezer just waiting for me to pick them next to try. It’s a good thing that ice cream is one of my most favorite things in life. And, now, here’s one I can safely consume!

Oh, So Delicious…how I love you and your magical pints of frozen goodness.

A serving of So Delicious Dairy Free Gluten-Free Cookies 'N Cream Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert — A serving of So Delicious Dairy Free Gluten-Free Cookies ‘N Cream Coconut Milk Frozen Dessert