shortbread

Peanut Butter Shortbread

admin — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 23:18:00 +0000

Can something that’s made without wheat or gluten, is egg and dairy free, and has no refined sugar or cholesterol taste good? It absolutely can if it’s Sun Flour Baking Co.’s Peanut Butter Shortbread.

These tasty cookies are hard to resist. They are light, but filling, although I did have to resist easting the entire box in one sitting. The Peanut Butter Shortbread combines the rich flavor of peanut butter with the flaky, buttery, vanilla essence of traditional shortbread.

Don’t just try these cookies because of the taste, try them because they are made with all natural products and are 44% organic. Even the packaging is 100% recycled. Sun Flour Baking Co. strives to produce treats that not only taste good, but are also good for you. Their cookies never contain trans fat, cholesterol, refined sugar or hydrogenated oil. With obesity on the rise in America, it’s nice to know there’s a company looking out for our bottom lines and everything in between.

Written by: Blythe Alpern, July 21st 2007

Premium Cinnamon Cookies

admin — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 01:46:00 +0000

By Sun Flour Baking Co.

Vegans, those who cannot have gluten, and other health-conscious consumers will be happy to hear about Sun Flour Baking Company (based in Sacramento, California), which offers a variety of products that, like these cinnamon cookies, are wheat and gluten-free, contain no cholesterol or refined sugar, and are egg and dairy free. In addition, this particular variety has no trans fat or hydrogenated oil, and twenty-two percent of the ingredients used are organic. Rice and pinto bean flour substitute for the wheat flour traditionally used in baking, and sweetness is provided by organic evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup and grape juice concentrate.

While I applaud Sun Flour Baking Company for making a healthier treat that can be enjoyed by many people with dietary restrictions, I found them a tad dry and quite dense compared to traditional cookies, which makes them a bit heavy. On the other hand, they fill you up quicker than the average cookie, which could mean eating fewer cookies per serving. My co-worker Brian (who cannot have gluten) complained that they were a bit sugary, but I didn’t think so. Ample cinnamon provides plenty of flavor, and Brian described the dessert as a “doughy cinnamon delivery system.”

While I would welcome a moister cookie, overall I was impressed with this relatively healthy snack, which includes, according to the list of ingredients, “lots of love.”

Written by: Karen Duda, June 19th 2007

Premium Chocolate Chip Cookies & Brownie Babies

admin — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 21:04:00 +0000

By Sun Flour Baking Co.

Like pizza or sex, chocolate chip cookies are good no matter how bad they are. Considering these cookies are devoid of most everything that makes cookies so delicious, they’re not too bad at all. These are wheat, gluten, cholesterol and dairy free, as well as twenty-one percent organic. All of this translates into a snack that is both healthy and vegan. This box contains ten soft little cookies. Each one is about 1.5 times as wide as a Famous Amos cookie and twice as thick. There is a definite chocolate chip taste, but they’re a little lacking on flavor when compared to the “real” thing.

Another shortcoming is the consistency. Though they’re soft and chewy, the cookies also taste a bit chalky. If you can’t eat wheat or gluten for dietary reasons or if you live a 100% cruelty free life, these could be a sweet blessing.

Sun Flour Baking Co. has also put together a clever recipe for soft, vegan brownies that are wheat, gluten, cholesterol and dairy-free. Unfortunately, they are also flavor-free. Like the chocolate chip cookies, these come ten to a box. They are soft and chewy and about the size of four or five poker chips stacked one on top of another. They might make a fine supplement if your diet or conscience keeps you from the “real” thing, but biting into one after eating a traditional brownie is like drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth. It’s not that they’re gross, but rather bland. They just don’t have that rich brownie flavor, and if you’re not allergic or vegan, I wouldn’t recommend these as a snack.

Though they’re soft baked, these cookies are a bit crumbly upon the first bite. They also left me and two friends quite parched afterward. I do think it’s worth mentioning though that this company is making a difference by using soy inks and packaging their products in boxes made of recycled material.

Written by: Patricia Valery, June 8th 2007

Lemon Shortbread

admin — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 13:34:00 +0000

By Sun Flour Baking Co.

When I saw there were cookies available to be reviewed—COOKIES—I jumped at the opportunity! I didn't do extensive research on the Sun Flour Baking Co. that makes the cookies. I just saw the words "Lemon Shortbread" and then went a little nuts.

When the box of cookies came in the mail, I did read it more closely. Since I had no background information on the baking company, it came as a surprise to read such phrases as "No refined sugar," "Egg & Dairy Free" and "40% organic." I noticed that the Sun Flour Baking Co. pride themselves on manufacturing the "Feel Good Cookie."

As a former vegetarian, I know all about the importance of eating organic foods and avoiding certain things in your diet. Usually, however, one can only accomplish this through a drastic reduction in taste.

My beloved cookies were... gulp ...HEALTHY.

And yet as I opened the package and popped one into my mouth: sheer bliss. How can cookies that contain no butter have such a buttery yet lemony quality? I guess I wasn't giving that pressed organic palm oil enough credit.

The cookies are delish! I will definitely buy them in the future, and who knows: perhaps alleviate some of my cookie-eating guilt in the process?

Written by: April D. Boland, June 3rd 2007

Vanilla Shortbread

admin — Sun, 27 May 2007 13:05:00 +0000

By Sun Flour Baking Co.

The Sun Flour Baking Company has been making vegan cookies since 1993. The founder continued to experiment with the ingredients until he believe he’d found the best combination of natural, egg- and dairy-free ingredients needed to make stellar vegan cookies. I generally don’t mind vegan products, and I absolutely love shortbread, so I was excited to try Sun Flour’s Vanilla Shortbread cookies. However, the cookies were a disappointment. I opened the box hoping for solid pieces of shortbread and instead found small jagged pieces of cookie jumbled together in a box. The cookies’ texture was dry and crumbly—which probably contributed to their lack of solid shape. On the upside, the cookies tasted like shortbread, but they left a bizarre, dry aftertaste that left me disinclined to eat another. Instead of sampling this Vanilla Shortbread, I’d petition the Girl Scouts to make a vegan version of their Trefoils. I think they’d turn out infinitely better.

Written by: Mavis Linnemann, May 27th 2007