Gluten Free Cookies: Alive and Radiant Foods Thumbalina Cookie

PRODUCT NAME:                       Thumbalina Cookie

COMPANY NAME:                       Alive and Radiant Foods

COST:                                         $3.00

SIZE:                                           1.5 oz

COST PER OZ:                            $2.00                      

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:          NO

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:           NA

ORGANIC:                                   YES

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:           Unknown

VEGAN:                                       YES

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:             NO

LOCATION OF FACILITY:             Emeryville, CA           

SHELF LIFE:                                 2 months

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging.  We cannot verify the accuracy of this information.  For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.               

REVIEW:

Taste: 

Upon being presented with this item I could only think one thing: To call this product a cookie is quite a stretch. Although Alive and Radiant foods really does give it their all in trying to recreate the relative shape of your standard thumbprint style cookie, that is about the only comparison I can comfortably make. The appearance of this cookie is odd, to say the least. The outer cookie part is the shocking green that, in my time as a health foodie, I can only recognize as being the result of a Spirulina injection. Spirulina, a nutrient rich additive that popular juice companies use to make their green smoothies green, has always had an off-putting texture and taste to me. Perhaps it is the knowledge that it is derived from sea weed but it just plainly reminds me of sludge each time I partake . I believe that a powder form was used for this cookie, as a distinctly chalk like overtone enveloped my mouth as I took my first bite. No matter what the advocates say, Spirulina will never be indiscirnable to me. Its just a fact.

Aside from Spirulina, the “cookie boasts simple ingredients that are full of natural health properties. Almonds, coconut butter, agave, and Goji berries join our slimy seaweedy friend and meld together to create this snack. While almonds, coconut, and agave have all made fairly large health claims, nothing has walloped us over the head quite like the Goji berry. It has the illustrious title of “super food” and many claim that it is the most nutrient dense food on the planet. This little berry has more protein then whole wheat, more vitamin C and beta carotene then oranges and carrots, tons of B and E vitamins, as well as amino acids galore. Basically, the Goji berry is really freaking good for you, and I was excited to partake. With enthusiasm I chomped down and again, my tongue recoiled. Goji berries are sour and they are bitter. There is no real tinge of sweetness to balance the intensity and lord knows the outer cookie wasn’t doing the Goji center any favors. I was shocked at how the almond and coconut (two huge fat sources known to add excellent flavor to most anything) could be totally overpowered. 

 As with Alive and Radiant’s Contrast cookie (which I reviewed earlier this week) there was a texture that was strongly reminiscent of Play-Doh in this product.  All in all, the experience of eating this cookie couldn’t be passed off as remotely pleasurable, even to this vegan, gluten free, sugar free, lover of all things vegetable. My distaste surprised even me.

Labeling

I found labeling of this product to be insufficient. There was no nutrition information and it took poking around the Alive and Radiant website to find out that the product was even organic. Wouldn’t they want to advertise all those health benefits?

Packaging:

Packaging of this product was a thick plastic sealed bag. It seemed sufficient for upholding the freshness of the product.

Reader’s Reviews:

Please share with us your review of this company’s other products + where you purchased the product + how long you have been using this product. Please no review from the family + friends of the company producing the product…

RATING:

Texture:           1

Taste:               1         

Value:              2

OVERALL:        1.3

Reviewed by Lacy D. 

Gluten Free Cookie: Alive & Radiant Foods Vanilla Contrast Cookie with Cacao Cream

PRODUCT NAME:                  Vanilla Contrast Cookie w/Cacao

COMPANY NAME:                 Alive and Radiant Foods

COST:                                    $3.00

SIZE:                                     1.5 oz

COST PER OZ:                       $2.00

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:     NO

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:      N/A

ORGANIC:                              YES

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:      Unknown

VEGAN:                                  YES

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:        NO

LOCATION OF FACILITY:        Emeryville, CA

SHELF LIFE:                            2 months

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging.  We cannot verify the accuracy of this information.  For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.     

           

REVIEW:

Taste: 

Alive and Radiant Foods is a bay area raw foods company straight out of Emeryville, California. The company is most famous for their Dehydrated Kale Chips and has an almost cult-like following as a result. Although this savory treat is their most famous, they also have a fairly broad smattering of raw treats that fall on the dessert side of the spectrum. Today we have the “contrast cookie” to review.

The ingredient list is very short, which is something I greatly appreciate about the product. It consists solely of almonds, coconut butter, agave, cacao, cashews, coconut milk, and vanilla. That’s right folks! No gluten, sugar, soy, dairy, or sugar. This cookie’s ingredients are extremely health conscious and particularly chosen. Additionally, every single component listed is recognizable to me as a delicious food that I personally enjoy. I was really looking forward to indulging.

The cookie itself is on the larger side and has a vanilla outer edge and a cacao cream center. It seems the outside is supposed to be the “cookie” while the inside is supposed to be the “cream” but there was no discernible difference in texture between the two and so that is kind of a hard sell. The outside has an immediate almond flavor but none of the mealy almond texture that could add nuance or complexity to the flavor. Four out of six ingredients listed were direct fat sources and it seems that all of these were thrown together in a food processor to make a paste and then formed into a cookie. All the textural delight of cashew, coconut, and almond was completely nullified by this blending and left me with a wave of disappointment. Truth be told, the cookie had the texture of Play-Doh.

Onto the center. As the cookie itself seemed to be a flop, I could only press forward and onto the redeeming qualities of the cream. I broke the cookie in half and took a bite that was 100% cream center. As I mentioned before, same texture. The addition of cocoa gave the flavor of the cream more than the single taste note of the cookie, but all in all, I wasn’t anywhere close to impressed.

Labeling:

Labeling on this product was not sufficient. There was no nutrition information whatsoever. As I determined that many of the ingredients listed were fats, I assume the calorie content is fairly high, and it seems sneaky to market something as “healthy” but not also include the fact that it also may be very caloric. Also, it took some poking around on the company’s website to find that the product was organic. As organic seems to be a huge selling point these days, wouldn’t they want to make this information immediately known?

Packaging:

The packaging of this product was a sealed plastic sheeth. It seemed appropriate for the freshness of the product.

Reader’s Reviews:

Please share with us your review of this company’s other products + where you purchased the product + how long you have been using this product. Please no review from the family + friends of the company producing the product…

RATING:

Texture:           2

Taste:               2         

Value:              2         

OVERALL:        2

Reviewed by Lacy D.

Gluten Free Cookies: Blessing's Alive & Radiant Foods Luscious Lemon Swirl Cookies

PRODUCT NAME:                   Luscious Lemon Swirl Cookies

BRAND:                                  Blessings Alive & Radiant Foods

COST:                                     $6.00

SIZE:                                       4 oz. (7-8 cookies)

COST PER OZ:                        $0.66/oz

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:      NO

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:       NA

ORGANIC:                               YES

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:       UNKNOWN

VEGAN:                                   NO

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:        YES

LOCATION OF FACILITY:        Emeryville, CA

SHELF LIFE:                           1 month, longer if frozen

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging. We cannot verify the accuracy of this information. For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.

REVIEW:
These lemon cookies are certainly luscious. Their name does not lie. On first bite you get the rich, chewy and satisfying texture we all hope for (but rarely get) out of a raw cookie. The ingredients are cashews, lemon, raw honey, and coconut, all organic in this case, and each of the flavors blend together extremely well. The coconut is finely grated so it’s not overwhelming, the cashews provide a wonderful nutty balance, the honey is present but blends nicely with the coconut and the lemon is the element that ties everything together. It’s a strong and bold lemon cookie, but it definitely holds up with coffee or as an afternoon snack.

The serving size for these on the nutritional info is 2 cookies, weighing in at 150 calories. Not bad really, and taking into account you are eating nuts and other tasty-but-good-for-you ingredients, you can feel good about eating them. They even have a decent amount of vitamins and minerals so, in a sense, I like to look at these as decadent health food (ie. You don’t want to live on them, but if you’re having a cookie or two, you don’t really have to feel bad about it). Blessings Alive and Radiant Foods, who were so kind as to give us these tasty samples, has a wonderful website. They go into great detail about the care and thought that goes into making their foods, as well as the high quality ingredients they use. Bravo.

For more information about this product and other Blessings Alive and Radiant: http://www.blessingsaliveandradiantfoods.com

Taste: Zesty, bold, chewy, nutty and not too sweet. These cookies are extremely delicious.

Labeling: The label is somewhat hard to read because it is small, but it does say “gluten free” and lists out the ingredients.

Packaging: Somewhat re-sealable plastic bag has all 7-8 cookies

Reader’s Reviews: Please share with us your review of this company’s other products + where you purchased the product + how long you have been using this product. Please no review from the family + friends of the company producing the product…

RATING:
Texture:          5
Taste:              5
Value:             3
OVERALL:       4.3

Reviewed by Krisztina L

Gluten Free Cookies: Blessing's Alive & Radiant Foods Mega Chai Raweo

PRODUCT NAME:                 Mega Chai Raweo

BRAND:                                Blessing's Alive & Radiant Foods

COST:                                   $3.50

SIZE:                                     3OZ

COST PER OZ:                      $1.17/oz

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:    NO

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:     N/A

ORGANIC:                             YES

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:     N/A

VEGAN:                                 NO

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:      YES

LOCATION OF FACILITY:      EMERYVILLE, CA

SHELF LIFE:                          6-8 MONTHS

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging. We cannot verify the accuracy of this information. For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.

REVIEW:

Blessing’s Alive & Radiant Foods sent us another great flavor of their Raweo cookies. Like the a classic sandwich cookie, The Mega Chai Raweo featured two cookies made of dehydrated cashews sandwiched with a creamy, soaked almond filling in the middle. Infused with Chai Essence and made with all organic ingredients like coconut and honey, these large cookies would be suitable as a small meal on the go. 

Soft and flavorful, the Mega Chai Raweo is packed with 3 grams of protein, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium, making these tasty cookies an incredibly healthy alternative to an Oreo cookie. If you are on a low-calorie diet, watch out! This cookie has a whopping 360 calories. According to the nutrition facts, which are available on their website, a serving size is a third of a cookie. However, I found it difficult to stop eating the cookie until it was fully consumed because it was so sweet and delicious. It also made me feel really good and full of energy after snacking, even though I ate beyond the recommended serving size.

While, the name Raweo is a cute, and clever pun (and boy do I love puns!), the name Raweo may be a misnomer, because the consistency and moistness reminded me more of a coconut macaroon than an Oreo cookie. A really healthy, power packed coconut macaroon. Alive and Radiant Foods is a really nice business and the products they create meet every check on my list of ideal companies which I am proud to support: they are strictly gluten free, vegetarian, organic, and local to the bay area.

For more information about Blessing’s Alive and Radiant Foods’ unique products, visit their website at http://www.blessingsaliveandradiantfoods.com/

Taste: Aromatic and fresh, these cookies tasted delicious and had a similar consistency to a macaroon cookie.

Labeling: The label did not have as much information as I would have liked. While they stated their ingredients and an allergy warning, they did not provide Nutrition Facts. However all of this information was available on their website.

Packaging: The single cookie was packaged inside of a plastic bag.

Reader’s Reviews: Please share with us your review of this company’s other products + where you purchased the product + how long you have been using this product. Please no review from the family + friends of the company producing the product…

RATING:

Texture:           4

Taste:               4

Value:              3

OVERALL:        3.7

Reviewed by: Jennie L.