Words can’t describe my appreciation for your supportive comments, emails, and tweets in response to Tuesday’s post. It’s hard to open up like that and I still feel pretty vulnerable, but it seemed like each moment of self-consciousness I had over sharing so much was accompanied by yet another kind message of encouragement rolling into my Twitter feed or inbox. I’m so thankful to have this community and will be responding to you all when I have a chance (it’s been a busy work week).
Oo a package!
In the spring I attended the first-ever CT Veg Fest in Hartford, and had the opportunity to meet tons of passionate vendors looking to spread the word about their food offerings. One of those vendors, Mama Micki’s All-Natural Bakery of Scituate, MA, really stuck out to me for a few reasons. Not only are many of Micki’s baked goods vegan, but they are all made with REAL ingredients – and she even uses only non-GMO soy! Micki’s drive to share her love for all foods whole comes from her own personal experience with the healing power of real food; it has aided her for years in a quest to improve her hearing!
Yeah yeah yeah – but do they taste good? The answer to that question is a resounding YES! At Veg Fest I had the privilege of sampling three varieties of vegan cookies – Chocolate Orange Walnut, Molasses, and Oatmeal Raisin Sunflower Seed. I was particularly impressed by the first two! In fact, just thinking about that Molasses cookie is making my mouth water right now, due to the autumn-fever that’s been taking over New England the last couple of weeks.
I’ve liked Mama Micki’s on Facebook and followed her on Twitter since Veg Fest, but we recently re-connected on that Facebook page. I proposed doing a review and GIVEAWAY for you all of these wonderful vegan baked goods, and Micki was all over it! She was kind enough to send me three different flavors of cookies to try, and even let me pick them out.
Hello to you, cookies and kind note!
I did ask for the Chocolate Orange Walnut cookies again, just because at Veg Fest I so admired the complexity of their flavor. The orange is the perfect level of subtlety and the real cocoa flavor shines through in each bite. I love being able to bite into something and say, “Oh yeah, I KNOW that’s made with Ingredient X”. The walnut in these cookies is nice and chunky too!
Enjoyed a cookie crumbled into chocolate Jello pudding after dinner – more than one night I might add!
I wanted to also sample a more “plain” variety of cookie to cover all my bases, and the Sugar cookies were right up that alley (notice I didn’t say MY alley – plain is NOT my alley!) I liked these, but since I prefer a more complex flavor, they were my least favorite of the three.
Still those that prefer way less going on in a cookie will enjoy these – that’s what sugar cookies are for, right?! And how FUN it would be to decorate these around the holidays! The coolest part by far, though, are the red sprinkles dusted on top of each cookie. I noticed beet powder on the ingredient list of these guys, and asked Micki about it. Turns out she won’t even use artificial dyes in her kitchen – the beet powder is what turned the sugar red! At that point I TRULY realized how dedicated Mama Micki’s Bakery is to its principals.
Finally, I had to save the Coconut Almond Bliss cookies for last! They seemed to use the same “foundation” as the Chocolate Orange Walnut, only minus orange and plus a hint of coconut flavor! I do wish the coconut had come through a bit more strongly, but I’m a coconut fiend. For others, it may have been just right! Once again I could so clearly taste the fresh cocoa used in these cookies, and really liked that some of the almonds in them were actually whole!
Accompanied by ever-present hydration!
Overall, another favorite characteristic for me of ALL of Micki’s baked goods is their lower sugar content! Eating processed sugars makes me feel sleepy and kinda crappy (not to say they don’t taste wonderful – I try to save them for after dinner so I can drift off into a sugar sleep :-P) and lowering the amount I consume over the last couple of years has made my taste buds really sensitive to them! Probably why I prefer my drinks strong like an old man’s, hmm? A cookie that tastes less sweet and more hearty and whole is the cookie for me, and that’s what Micki is putting out there.
Another combo of choice? A Mama Micki’s cookie crumbled into my beloved plain Chobani!
I was sure to share the wealth with friends. I brought my co-worker a few cookies to give his daughter, who is a vegan. She must have REALLY loved them because she was so grateful that she made me the below beautiful drawing, which totally brightened my day and is still brightening my cubicle!
I also was sure to share some with my ever-present foodie friend Jeff! He is always benefitting off my blog! I asked him his opinion via text.
I did like how the lack of butter made them so easy to crumble into my pudding or yogurt!
So now that you’ve heard from my friends and I how good these cookies are, let’s get to the part you’re most excited for – the giveaway! Micki has generously agreed to give away two bags of her cookies to each of two winners. This giveaway ends Saturday, 9/22/12 (11:59PM EST) and is open to US readers only (excluding Hawaii and Canada).
To enter, you can do the following and leave a comment for each or multiple entries won’t count!
- Head over to the list of products on Micki’s website and let me know in a comment which creation you’d want to try most. (mandatory)
- Follow @MamaMickis on Twitter and comment saying you did.
- Follow @CaitPlusAte on Twitter and comment saying you did.
- Tweet “I entered to win #vegan cookies from @mamamickis – thanks @CaitPlusAte! http://wp.me/p1SfTW-1uC” and comment with the link to the tweet.
And if you just can’t wait to see if you win the giveaway, or if you don’t want to take your chances, you can head over to the Mama Micki’s website, shop online, and use the coupon code CaitPlusAte to get 20% off your online purchase until October 20th!
Thanks Micki for making this review, giveaway, and coupon code possible. Good luck to all who enter! I received samples to review from Mama Micki’s Bakery free of charge, but all reviews and opinions are my own.
