Crave Conscious cookies are yummy and easy to make. (Stephen Hui)
As far as taste and texture go, there are healthy cookies and there are fun cookies.
In January, we tried Wise Bites’ triple ginger quinoa cookies, which are vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, and soy-free and manufactured in Richmond. Those are healthy cookies.
Crave Conscious chocolate chip quinoa flake cookies, however, are of the fun variety. But there’s nothing unhealthy about them. Made with organic ingredients, they’re vegan, gluten-free, peanut-free, and soy-free.
Based in North Vancouver, Crave Conscious also manufactures almond yogurt, fruit-flavoured yogurt drinks (I like blueberry), and granola. (I interviewed owner Stephanie Jackson last month.) Its cookies are available in four flavours (chocolate chip, double chocolate, Dutch spice, and triple seed) and in ready-to-eat and bake mix forms.
I used sunflower oil. (Stephen Hui)
We picked up a 400-gram package of the chocolate chip bake mix for $5.59 at MarketPlace IGA (909 Burrard Street) in downtown Vancouver. The mix is based on organic quinoa flakes, organic brown rice, organic sorghum flour, and tapioca flour, and calls for the addition of a light oil and unsweetened apple sauce.
It’s better to just use your hands. (Stephen Hui)
Using the mix is super easy. First, I dumped the mix into a bowl and added 1/4 cup of organic sweetened apple sauce and 1/3 cup of sunflower oil. Then I mashed it all together and stuck the mixture in the fridge for a half hour.
This dough’s ready for chilling. (Stephen Hui)
After preheating the oven to 350 ºF, I formed the chilled dough into balls and placed them on a lined baking sheet. Following the instructions, I baked the cookies for between 15 and 20 minutes, and let them cool on a rack.
The first of two pans. (Stephen Hui)
The results: 14 sizable cookies with just the right flavour, crunchiness, and chewiness. If we didn’t already know, we would have been hard-pressed to identify them as quinoa cookies.
Time for a taste test. (Stephen Hui)
I’m looking forward to trying the Dutch spice mix next. Crave Conscious products are available at Karmavore in New Westminster and other local retailers, and can also be ordered online via the manufacturer’s website.
Filed under: Cooking, Gluten-Free, Products Tagged: baking, cookies, Crave Conscious, food, Karmavore, MarketPlace IGA, North Vancouver, quinoa, Vancouver, vegan, Wise Bites
