TASTE TEST: Ciao for Now Double Chocolate Espresso Cookie

Ciao for Now Double Chocolate Espresso Cookie

RATING:

Oh manna. When I used to live in the East Village, I actually lived next door to this cafe called Ciao for Now. They only have a few vegan offerings but their Double Chocolate Espresso Cookie is by far my favorite. This was my daily breakfast throughout my junior year of college (and the other vegan who lived in the building next to me, we often spotted each other with said cookie on the L train). This cookie is ridiculously good. But since it is baked fresh daily, it's best in the morning. I would not advise getting it at night because it gets hard/stale. In the morning though, its super soft and chewy and quite an overload of chocolate. It's not super sweet because of the espresso. It has more of a dark chocolate/bitter flavor which I love. And for $2.00 it's a fairly large cookie!

TASTE TEST: Alternative Baking Company Cookies

Alternative Baking Company Luscious Lemon Poppy Seed Cookie

RATING: YYYY(4 out of 5 hearts!)

Alternative Baking Company cookies are amazing. The flavors are deep, rich and not overly sugary. The consistency is perfect – soft and chewy. It is near impossible to find packaged vegan cookies of this nature. In addition, many that I have tried have a weird taste or leave a strange aftertaste but these do not. I have tried the luscious lemon poppy seed – had little seeds in it! Full lemon flavor, the explosive espresso chip – heaven and the phenomenal pumpkin spice – great pumpkin taste with little cinnamon spice sprinkled in. Though most of the cookies are not wheat free they do offer two of this nature that are made with barley flour – Snickerdoole and Mac the Chip.

I see these cookies at gourmet stores in the city as well as health food stores. They can also be ordered directly off their site.

What are you favorite packaged vegan cookies? Have you tried Alternative Baking Company cookies? What do you think? Post in the comments!

TASTE TEST: Missionary Smooth Espresso Square Chocolate Truffle

Smooth Espresso Square Truffle from Missionary Chocolates (Credit: Missionary Chocolates)

RATING:YYYYY(5 out of 5 hearts!)

Missionary Chocolates makes vegan truffles out of Portland, Oregon. I picked up their Smooth Espresso Square Truffle at Stogo in NYC. Oh manna. This truffle is ridiculous. I love espresso/coffee so of course if I were to try one truffle by this brand it would be the espresso one. The filling is so creamy and smooth. I hate when I buy a truffle and the inside is hard and sticks to my teeth. This was perfect. The outside was a perfect thin shell of dark chocolate. And the top had ground cacao nips which added a little crunch. So delicious. Oh and hello, how many times must I say this - turns out the center is so creamy because it is made with coconut milk, seriously coconut milk is where it's at!

I really have to say I am very impressed with their ability to skip over the whole "this is good for a vegan chocolate" level to the "this is a really good truffle" level. Simply amazing.

Some other truffles they have are spicy cinnamon chipotle, glorious ginger, peanut butter passion and peppermint perfection. Yum, must try them all.

Poison soymilk in the work fridge

One of my many new years resolutions was to give up using starbucks as my morning mantra. Not only are they a terrible company to support, the strain on one's wallet is quite significant, especially given the current economic climate.

So why is it so hard for a vegan to get a sweet & cheap cup of coffee in the morning?

If ya bring Soymilk/Ricemilk into work, it mysteriously disappears

Coffee Carts/Dunkin' Donuts typically do not carry Soymilk/Ricemilk

Homemade coffee tastes like garbage and is hard to make

So what to do! How the hell can we save some dough and have awesome caffeinated goodness in the AM?

Here are my solutions!

Pour your soymilk/ricemilk into an unmarked container, put a sticker on it and write your name on it & "Do Not Throw Away". Make sure that the container is not transparent/translucent in any way. None of your co-workers are going to venture to see what mystery liquid you are keeping in there.

and ask them to carry soymilk. Include the location closest your work. Though this may not work, some have begun to include soymilk. In addition, talk to your coffee cart guy! The one outside my work now carries soymilk so you would be surprised.

Make awesome, quick coffee at home! It's easy. Get a coffee tumbler. Here's what I do: two tablespoons of Hazelnut Syrup in the tumbler, make a cup of espresso using Illy fine ground espresso, and shake up my soymilk and pour on top of the espresso in the tumbler and stir with a spoon/stirrer. It's sooo yummy!
NOTE: If you don't have a fancy espresso maker like me, go to Ikea, get a french press (its $12.99) and this is how you use it: Add about 5 tablespoons of medium ground espresso and boil 6 cups of water on the stove top and add (you can adjust these measurements to taste). Wait a few minutes (about 4) for the coffee to brew. Then press down the filter/plunger and pour! SUCCESS!!

Any other suggestions to avoid Stealbucks? Please post in the comments!!