A fun candy find

Close your eyes and imagine you are eating ice cream....

Chocolate Strawberry Fudge

Fudge isn't often thought of as a summer treat, but it doesn't require turning on the oven, so I tried out a new recipe with some free strawberry flavored marshmallow creme. I decided to make chocolate strawberry fudge. Both chocolate and strawberry marshmallow creme and white and milk chocolate chips went into this batch.

It didn't turn out having as strong of a strawberry flavor as I hoped for, but it's sweet, smooth, and satisfying. I've been treating myself to a square with strawberries for dessert the last couple nights, as if having real fruit on the plate makes it better for me.

Kinnikinnick Cookies

The company with the funny name produces some seriously good cookies! Find out which ones are the best, and which ones we throw tomatoes at.

Pistachio Pudding Fudge

My train of thought last week. "No bake desserts, no bake desserts. No bake pie, rice krispy treats, popcorn cake, fudge...I like pistachio pudding cookies, pistachio cake was pretty good....hmmm....what about pistachio pudding fudge...that should be good...mmmm, sweet...I bet that be really good....marshmallow fluff, no marshmallow fluff...recipe research time."

Thus I decided to make pistachio pudding fudge. I followed a recipe straight off the Kraft Foods website. butter, water, pudding, 3 cups powdered sugar, and semi sweet chocolate chips. Well.... it ended up being more like really thick frosting; it never got firm like fudge, but it tasted great.  Needless to say I didn't let it go to waste.  Guess I didn't succeed with this little kitchen adventure, but it was fun, and I'll be trying again.

Dairy Free Caramels Anyone?

On a random adventure I found a gluten free, dairy free caramel that were reasonably priced: JJ's Cocomels. Man oh man I need to go to Colorado, because there sure are a good amount of tasty gluten free products coming out of that state.

These were like the Kraft caramel squares you can buy at almost any grocery store- amazing! Plus they're corn and soy free too! I really wish I had bought more.

Candy Find!

I scored these jelly straws in Portland- they are awesome! Softer than a gummi bear, sort of like soft jello, and oh so fun to eat.

Oreo Truffles

Since the holidays I have been wanting to make oreo truffles.  Three simple ingredients- oreos, cream cheese, and chocolate- plus time, and patience. I finally got around to making them- 5 months later.  I used kinnikinnick gluten free oreos, but you could use which ever cookies you want.  Crush up your package of cookies super fine in a food processor or blender and mix them with one package of cream cheese. I used my favorite mellow baller to scoop balls out and put on parchment paper.  I let the truffles firm up in the fridge for about an hour, but until they got covered they looked like little turds.

The Frosting Queens

If you're not a chef, or don't have the time to whip some up, the premade frostings from a local Sacramento company, The Frosting Queens are the way to go. This stuff is better than the creamy butter creme frosting you would make from scratch at home; it's much more like the fancy frosting you'd get from a bakery or on a gourmet cake- creamy chocolate, rich vanilla, and their current seasonal flavor- Luscious Lemon. The chocolate is good, the vanilla is uber sweet, but the lemon, the lemon is sweet, a tad tart, and refreshing. One bag of this would cover a layer cake or a big sheet cake, but is it worth $8 to you? For me It would depend just how much of a hurry I was in. Overall, a fan, however for now all their frostings contain butter, but if they had a dairy free option I think they were have much more of a unique product.

Shortbread Cookies

I recently wrote about one of Simply Shari's pasta meal kits and wasn't a fan, and yet their cookies and brownie bites were a big hit in my house. Check out this episode of GFreeTV for all our commentary:

Microwavable Brownie

Recently Pamela's Products introduced mini brownie packets: a single serving brownie packet that you mix up in a bowl and pop in the microwave. I normally have some sort of sweet snack on the ready: cake, cookie, or chocolate bars, but with still being in recovery mood, I haven't been as active in the kitchen.  I made a cake last week, but I'm all out, so I was eating candy, but that disappeared, so I finally pulled the brownie pack out of the cupboard.  You add some oil and some water, mix it up, and put in the microwave for about a minute.

For a single serving it was kind of large, it really is more like two servings, but for a super quick option, and great for kids, it was decent. In terms of consistency it turned out somewhere between a cakey brownie and a fudgey brownie, although I imagine you can control that a little bit more the amount of time you put it in the microwave. Not sure how much these single packets retail for because mine was a sample pack, but certainly a cool, quick option.

Inherently Good? I Don't Think So

I was given a sample of Jovial Cookies to try and the packaging and prospect excited me.  I set a goal of finishing a project before I would eat one, and man was that a let down.  The company offers both gluten free and not gluten free lines, and within those categories pasta and cookies.  Their motto is "inherently good," but oh were they bad.  They have "filled" (creme or fruit) cookies, and I tried one of the vanilla cremes.

Prepackaged Sugar Cookies

I know sugar cookies are much more of a labor intense dessert to make from scratch, but that's part of the appeal of sugar cookies; it's more of an all inclusive fun experience. And then of course there are two schools of sugar cookies: those who like them crunchy and those who like them soft and moist, like me.

Grandma LuLu's Sugar Cookies are part of the crunchy sugar cookie family, dusted with crystallized sugar and shaped like sand dollars.  I think it's a great gimmick; makes it a little bit more unique than some products. Overall, I'd say...

Ice Chips

Is it a candy or a mint? I'm not sure. This a strange one I've stumbled upon. These Ice Chips are strictly xylitol and organic flavor- that's it. The box I have is wild berry, but they come in mint, citrus, lemon, and some other fun options.

Sulpice Chocolate

I LOVE chocolate. What girl doesn't?. Recently I tried a new brand: Sulpice. It's not sold many places near me, but you can purchase it off their website. Let's start with cost shall we...well at $7.50 a bar (3.25 OZ) it's not the most expensive chocolate bar I've come across, but it's certainly not something I'd buy on a regular basis. And it's not exactly allergen-friendly. It's gluten free, but it does contain dairy, and can contain soy, and nuts, plus food coloring.

Crepes!

My husband was a chef in another life, I swear. When we wants to cook/bake he can! We used up the end of a box of Gluten Free Pantry (GFP) Pancake/All Purpose mix and he made crepes with it. The GFP, in my opinion, just does not make good pancakes (separate review here), they come out thin, and limp, even after adding in more flour, but using the mix for crepes is the best idea ever!
He used this recipe as a spring board, focusing on the filling portion-AMAZING! For once a non-chocolate related dessert hit the spot and was completely satisfactory. Sometimes even after eating a cookie I still feel an urge, a yearning for a chocolaty end, but these strawberry crepes were heavenly.

If you haven't had gluten free crepes yet, or haven't found the right mix, look no further, this is it.

Homemade Almond Joys

Would the average person attempt to make their own almond joys when they could just buy one? Probably not, but then I'm a little not and making your own eliminates cross contamination issues for those of us with food allergies- and depending on what type of chocolate you choose to use, it's dairy free too!

Now mine ended up being way larger than anticipated, not bite size, but more the size of a giant peanut butter cup. Next time, and there will be a next time, I'm going to use my mini muffin tin pan, but this time I used a regular muffin pan lined with cupcake liners. Super simple! I snagged the recipe off a paleo-diet website I was referred to by a friend.

Now for taste- AMAZING! I wish I could have captured the eye-popping, food-pleasure noises my husband made when he first tried this.

Say Goodbye to Strawberry Wafers

When I wasn't gluten free, years and years ago now, I loved buying the mixed flavor pack of wafer cookies for like $1.99 or something ridiculously cheap. You'd get chocolate, strawberry, orange, and vanilla, and I'd rotate between the orange and strawberry ones first- they were my favorite.

When I started eating gluten free one of the first products I bought were the glutino wafers: lemon and strawberry. Over time the wafers became a special treat because they would never last very long, and because they were $5.00 a box. Recently I went to buy the strawberry wafers, and everyone seemed to be out of them, so I contacted the company. I noticed they had redesigned their website and the strawberry wafers weren't listed in the cookie section. What? Did they get rid of them? Indeed!!!!

I asked...
"I've been buying the strawberry wafers for a long time, on a regular basis, and recently I noticed all my local stores have been out of them. Now that I've browsed your website I see the flavor is no longer listed. Is it true, have you discontinued the strawberry wafer? Why, why, would you discontinue my beloved cookie?"

Their response...
"Thank you for contacting Glutino Food group. Unfortunately the Strawberry Wafers have been discontinued and are no longer available. Sorry for the news. This was a marketing decision."

Just like that. I really enjoy a lot of the Glutino products, but that decision was stupid on their part. I know a lot of people really enjoyed those.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Fudge

If you're an avid reader, you know I'm not dairy free, quite the contrary, I love cheese, yet I feel a responsibility to try out dairy free recipes and options. Frankly I am in love with dairy free mac 'n cheese made from scratch (butternut squash soup and Daiya cheese) more so than any dairy-containing comparison that's gluten free.

Similarly, I recently discovered a premade gluten free, dairy free fudge that is absolutely delicious. I can make tasty fudge better than the average bear, but dairy free fudge, that's something I haven't had great success with. Then I found a dairy free option on the market; it had walnuts in it, and it was good, but I think I'd like one without nuts. In any case, this product blew my socks off. Super creamy, sweet, but not overly sweet. The product is available throughout California and a few other states.

Enchanted Mushroom

I have tried multiple gourmet chocolate options and one of my favorites is the salty dog but I also really enjoy the Vosges brand. I've tried multiple bars that they offer and I have loved them all until now. I tried mushroom ice cream awhile back and liked it; tasted like maple syrup, so I had to try mushroom chocolate. This is the first time I felt like their flavor was a gimmick. Their bacon bar really tastes like bacon, and they have one with green tea, that has that mellow hint of tea, but this bar was a slight disappointment. It's excellent dark chocolate but I didn't taste anything special about it.

Three Senses Gourmet: Chocolate Souffle Bites

If you saw Episode 24 of GFree TV, you saw the big brother of these Souffle Bites. Let's just say that these little guys pack a seriously gourmet chocolatey goodness PUNCH! Right in the nose. Okay, not in the nose, but certainly to your taste buds. If you love chocolate, this episode's for you.