Enjoy Life Foods: Crunchy Cookies

Enjoy Life Foods is still one of my most favorite brands. Their products are so good, you would never know you were eating something completely gluten and allergen free. I also love that they keep coming out with new items to try. I once thought my days of enjoying delicious treats was over… now it’s hard to decide between all the yummy choices that Enjoy Life Foods offers.

I was overjoyed when Enjoy Life Foods contacted me again to try out some more of their brand new products… crunchy cookies! I had seen them talking about their new cookies on their Facebook page and seen them on their website, but they hadn’t shown up in my local nutrition store yet. They sent me all four of the fantastic new flavors: sugar crisp, vanilla honey graham, chocolate chip, and double chocolate!

Cookies

Before trying them for the first time, I examined the ingredients label carefully (as I always do now) and found a few ingredients and flavorings that I was unsure about because I hadn’t tried them before. One flavoring I was initially concerned about was the vanilla since it’s difficult to find it without added corn syrup. However, I found a very helpful ingredients page on the Enjoy Life Foods website that confirmed that their vanilla and other flavorings were corn free and safe for me.

As you can imagine, I had a rather difficult time picking which box to open first. I finally landed on the sugar crisp first, mostly because many of the products I usually choose are chocolate-y and I wanted something different. I brought them to game night at my parents’ house to test them out on my family. We all thought they were great! They have the perfect sugary-sweet taste without being too much.

Sugar crisp cookies

Next I tried the chocolate chip. Who doesn’t love a chocolate chip cookie? These did not disappoint! I could have eaten the entire box if I wanted to.

Chocolate chip cookies

Then I went for the vanilla honey graham. What can I say? Also great! They really reminded me of graham crackers. As kids we would use leftover frosting between two graham crackers to make frosting sandwiches. I decided I’d try the same thing here. It was so yummy, I couldn’t resist making myself a second one. You have to try these this way.

Vanilla honey grahamFrosting sandwich

Last, but certainly not least, I dove into the double chocolate. When the entire cookie is chocolate with more chocolate in inside, it’s hard not to love it. I really expected these to be my favorite, but I have to say I’m not sure I can choose a favorite. They were all so good!

Double chocolate cookiesMe eating cookies

These cookies are so similar to cookies I would have eaten before food allergies. I really like the soft baked cookies that Enjoy Life Foods makes, but honestly these even more yummy. Just writing this post makes me think I should go give some of these cookies another taste. I will definitely buy these again in the future. Many thanks to Enjoy Life Foods for all of their fabulous products for people with food allergies… especially the great, new crunchy cookies!!

Namaste Foods: Chocolate Cake and Frosting

Before last night, the last time I had cake was in October. I remember because I had just finished my month of food challenge testing after my allergy testing revealed several food allergies. Someone had brought some leftover cake into work and I took a piece. I took all of about five minutes for me to feel terrible. I remember that I was so upset that I wasn’t going to be able to go back to my normal diet again. It just wasn’t worth it to feel so bad for so long just for a couple mouthfuls of yummy-ness.

I’ve had my eye on the Namaste chocolate cake and chocolate fudge frosting for quite a while now. I had seen it on their website, but never in any stores and I couldn’t bring myself to pay more for shipping than the cost of the product. Then last week it was on the shelf at my Nutrition S’Mart!

Namaste mixes

I was more than pleased with the cake mix. It tasted very chocolate-y and came out very moist. I even cut out one of the three eggs the recipe on the package suggested (since too much egg bothers my stomach) and it still turned out fluffy enough. The cake was great!

The frosting… not so much. I’m sad to say there is now a Namaste product that I am not head over heels about. It was very difficult to make. It just would not mix! I found myself beating it with my electric mixer forever and it kept getting stuck as a big clump in the beaters. By the end I had added way more water than the package called for to make it come out at all, I almost gave up on it. Since I’ve loved every other Namaste product I’ve bought, I didn’t think to check any reviews on it. After having problems with it I went online and found that I was not the only one. I didn’t really care for the taste too much either… can you believe I didn’t even lick the beaters clean?! It was really hard to spread it on the cake too because it was drying out faster than I could use it. Such a shame since this is the ONLY frosting I’ve seen that is corn free.

Leftover frosting

My cake still did turn out great though. I added some Enjoy Life chocolate chips to disguise my bad frosting job. Luckily, it didn’t scare anyone away from trying it.

Finished cake

Oh… the cake was great! The frosting tasted much better on the cake than it did plain. My chocolate-loving family even approved. I like to get others’ opinions because sometimes I think I can’t have as honest of a review anymore now that I really don’t have many options to compare it with. They agreed that it was as yummy as I thought it was. I can’t wait to finish off the rest of the cake!

Cake!

In the end, I guess I would still buy it again when I really “need” cake again. However, the Namaste brownies are just as good and a LOT easier to make.

Enjoy Life Foods: New Chocolate Products

Enjoy Life Foods is one of my favorite brands. All of their products are allergy friendly, free from top eight allergens… and other common allergens as well. They use only dedicated gluten-free and nut-free facilities and maintain strict standards to ensure that their products are safe for people with food allergies. The company was founded in 2001 with the goal of making “delicious products that just about everyone can EAT FREELY!” I believe they have done just that.

When Enjoy Life Foods contacted me and asked me to taste test a couple of their new products I jumped at the opportunity. I’m sure I would have enjoyed any of their products, but I was super excited that these were both new chocolate products. How could anyone turn down chocolate? Ever since my food allergy diagnosis (wheat, soy, and corn) Enjoy Life is the only chocolate I ever buy. I know it’s safe and it doesn’t taste any different from “normal” chocolate.

The two NEW products they sent me were Double Chocolate Crunch Granola and Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mega Chunks. Typing that makes me feel like I might need another chocolate snack!

Package arrival

First I tried the granola. Honestly, I was a little worried that all that chocolate in a breakfast would be too sweet, but it really wasn’t. It was definitely super chocolaty without being over-powering. They granola is crunchy enough that it didn’t get all soggy as soon as I poured the milk on it. It was a filling and satisfying snack… just yummy!

GranolaGranola with milk

Then I tried the chocolate chunks. I had a hard time deciding what to use them in first, so in the end I went with the the picture on the package as my inspiration, blondies. I mixed a handful of chocolate chunks into my gluten-free batter, added another handful on top, and into the oven they went.

Baking blondies

We tasted some of the chocolate chunks plain while we waited. My non-allergic family said they tasted great. My chocolate-loving mom tried a few extra just to make sure they were really good. These were mother approved!

Mom testing chocolate

I have no complaints, the blondies were very yummy. I would love to use this chocolate again in future baking.

BlondiesBlondieDessert timeMe eating dessert

Thanks for the treats Enjoy Life Foods! And thanks for making so many great, safe products that I can enjoy! I can’t wait to see what else you come up with in the future.