Product Review & Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Shortbread

Raspberries have always been one of my favorite fruits and flavors. They are so bright, vibrant, and pretty. They're delicious. How can you go wrong? I even love the seeds!

Raspberries always make me think of Graeter's black raspberry chip ice cream. For those unaware of what Graeters is, it's a Cincinnati based ice cream store. Oprah loves it so much she has the ice cream mailed to her. I admit, I'll give in and have a bite or two on occasion, is someone else buys it. It's just that good. 

Rich in raspberry flavor with large dark chocolate chunk pieces. I have a lot of memories attached to Graeters. I still go there a lot with friends - although now I'll get sorbet, of course. Raspberry sorbet! There is nothing better than eating some raspberry sorbet with chocolate sprinkles and enjoying the company of friends.

I also think white chocolate and raspberries go well together, but vegan white chocolate can be hard to find. When Pangea (Vegan Store) agreed to send me a bag of their white chocolate chips to review, I was EXTREMELY excited.

First, I tried them by themselves. DELICIOUS. I immediately thought it tasted like the real deal. You could fool people into thinking its regular white chocolate with these little babies (and actually, I have...I fed it to multiple friends and they still don't know!) I won't lie... I ate a couple handfuls before I got around to using them in my shortbread recipe!!

Next, I wanted to try melting the chips to see how well they would melt. The verdict? They are okay at melting. It took some stirring and a good minute or minute and a half in the microwave, but it melted. Then I added some almond milk, gave it a stir, and used it as a covering to dip my cookies in.

Overall? I think this is a great product and a great alternative to regular white chocolate. However, at nearly five dollars a bag, I would order two at a time. Otherwise you'll be paying more to have it shipped to you than for the product itself!

The Daisy Rating: 

4/5 daisies

Here are the cookies I whipped up using these white chocolate chips - enjoy!

Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Shortbread
Makes approximately 30 cookies


Ingredients:
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. Earth Balance
1/4 t. salt
2 t. lemon juice
1 pint (6 oz) fresh raspberries, washed
1/2 c. Pangea white chocolate chips
1 c. Pangea white chocolate chips for dipping cookies in
1 T. unsweetened almond milk

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, beat sugar and Earth Balance until light and fluffy.
2. Add oil, salt, lemon juice, and raspberries. Beat until combined.
3. Add flour and mix until the dough just comes together.
4. Add white chocolate chips and stir by hand until the chips has just been incorporated.
5. Place tablespoon size balls of dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for approximately 20 minutes at 350 degrees, until light golden brown
6. Dip cookies in melted white chocolate and place on foil to cool until chocolate has hardened.

What's your favorite fruit to bake with?
Much love,

The Raw Revolution

Today i hopped back on the raw bandwagon (mostly). I ate a granny smith apple, a sliced red pepper with salsa, an orange, a half of a Raw Revolution apple cinnamon bar, a half of a Raw Revolution banana bar, and a pomegranate limeade by Odwalla (like I said, mostly raw!). I'm feeling great!

I will admit, when my mom and I bought some Raw Revolution bars at Whole Foods to try out, I was a little skeptical. However, they are deceptively delicious!! I have two flavors left to try, although I can't remember which flavors they are. I'm excited to try them out!

I also did some research today and discovered that, SURPRISE!, to food coloring Red #40 is actually NOT made from insects, but rather coal/petroleum (still gross)! The only colorings I could find that were are cochineal/carmine, which I already knew about. Does anyone else know of other artificial colorings made from insects?

I watched the move 127 Hours today with some friends in their dorm. It was a really good movie, aside from watching James Franco cut his own arm off. Super gross. But hey, it's better to deal with the pain and lose an arm than die, right? I don't know if I would be able to cut my own arm off, even if I WAS in that situation. It'd be so hard!!!

Finally....an apology from VegNews for using non-vegan photography in their magazine!! Read the full letter here!! It's great to hear that they will now be using 100% vegan photos in their magazine. Still, I honestly wasn't THAT upset with the whole fiasco. I know, I know, I should have been. But in my mind, the magazine was still educating others about veganism and inspiring them to cook delicious vegan food. Which is a win in my book, no matter what the photography is. That being said, I'm really glad that VegNews is being more honest now, and that people can actually see what the food looks like that they are about to prepare!