Cookies

Free Range Cookies!

by Stephanie on March 3, 2011

in American, Cookies, Dessert

Hello friends, and Happy March! Did February just zoom by for anyone else? While I’m a bit sad it’s over (after all, February is my birthday month!), I’m happy that spring starts this month. Bring on the warm weather!

Do you know what else starts this month? If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you already know. For everyone else, let me explain.

I’m kind of in love with a little talk show host named Oprah. You may have heard of her? Smile Last month, Oprah had a show on veganism; she and her staff of 378 went vegan for a week. The Oprah Vegan Challenge, if you will.

Anyway, the show piqued my interest. Don’t get me wrong, I love bacon. But I’m always up for a challenge, especially when it’s food related. I decided then and there that I would emulate Oprah’s Vegan Challenge, but instead of going vegan for just a week, I’d do it for the entire month of March.

We’ll see how it goes. I’m super excited; I think it will be a lot of fun! A lot of my diet is already vegan (or at least vegetarian), so this won’t be a huge jump. Oh, and Andy’s doing it, too. Smile

Want to read more about my vegan challenge? I’m documenting the entire event in my weekly column on Maplewood-Brentwood Patch. Check it out!

Okay, enough rambling. On to the food!

I went to a cute little bakery a few weeks ago. Free Range Cookies. It’s a gluten-free bakeshop in Ferguson, MO. It just so happens they have a lot of vegan goodies as well. Awesome!

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I love the neighborhood of Ferguson. It’s so walkable, with tons of neat little shops all around. I dig that sort of thing. And the shop itself is super cute! Lots of bright colors and tons of cookies, breads, and treats.

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When I walked in, Linda (the baker/owner) was busy at work preparing fresh goodies.

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She was nice enough to let me sample a few items. She let me sample some mint chocolate cookies, fresh out of the oven.

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This is what they looked like before they were dipped in chocolate. They were good. Perfectly crunchy and sweet.

And she gave me some Bacon Lip Balm! Oh yeah. Believe it.

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It’s vegan, yet it smells (and tastes) just like bacon! Amazing.

On to the cookies. All of them are gluten free, and many are vegan. I decided to try a few of the vegan varieties.

First up? Cranberry Oatmeal.

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These were delicious! Soft, chewy, and I loved the bits of cranberries in them. Bursting with flavor. And the cookies themselves? Huge!

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I also tried the Quinoa Cookies. These were my favorite, hands down.

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Again, huge cookies! And I loved how the tops looked like little crop circles. Alien cookies? Smile

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These were soft and nutty, with just the right amount of texture from the quinoa. And don’t let quinoa deter you from trying this masterpiece; you can’t taste it! Trust me on this one.

Finally, I tried the vegan mint chocolate cookies. The finished product was dipped in chocolate!

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These tasted just like Thin Mints (and Thin Mints aren’t vegan, by the way. Sadface!). I nearly cried tears of joy! These babies will change your life.

All in all, Free Range Cookies is amazing. These offerings don’t even scratch the surface; there are cinnamon rolls, cupcakes, bread, brownies, and much much more. I can’t wait to come back!

Score time!

Food: 5 stars (out of five)

Ambiance: 5 stars

Service: 5 stars

Value: 5 stars

The cookies are a bit on the expensive side, but they’re well worth the price for the quality. Until next time, amigos. Smile

So tell me: What’s your favorite kind of cookie?

{ 4 comments }

How sweet it is…

by Stephanie on August 29, 2010

in American, Breakfast, Cake, Cookies, Dessert, Lunch, Vegetarian

Have you ever visited a place that makes you so excited that part of you wants to tell everyone about it, yet at the same time, you want it remain your own little secret?

Well, that’s how I feel about Sweet Art. It’s a cute little bakeshop & art studio in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis, MO.

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I’ve been here before, but this is my first time blogging about it! Thanks to an awesome Groupon, I was able to eat lots of yummy food for next to nothing – and tell you all about it! Double win!

Before I get to the food, let’s talk about atmosphere. This little neighborhood shop is SO cute and inviting. It just feels like home, in a way. I snapped a few photos, but not nearly as many as I wanted to. I just started to feel weird after a while! One thing about food blogging – people tend to think you’re a little crazy when you start snapping photos willy-nilly!

 

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One little thing – I forgot to mention that Sweet Art is a vegetarian/vegan restaurant! As a former vegetarian, this didn’t bother me in the least; I may be a meat-eater now, but I’m not afraid of fake meat products! Food is food, right?

Honestly, though…Sweet Art does such a good job of preparing their food that you don’t even think about the fact that they’re meat free. Everything is THAT tasty!

Okay, enough of the blabber…let’s get on to the food, shall we?

I started with the ‘39th’. (Sweet Art names most of their sandwiches after St. Louis street names…cool, huh?) It is their BLT w/smart bacon (soy), organic mixed greens, tomatoes, and vegan house spread. I added avocado for an extra buck. It came with the choice of chips or organic fruit. Want to guess which one I went with?

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Mmm mmm MMM! The sandwich was delicious and HUGE! The ‘bacon’ was deliciously chewy, the organic greens were fresh, and the creamy avocado mixed with the vegan spread made my mouth SO happy. This was very tasty, and super filling – I could only eat half! Well, okay… maybe I was saving room for this…

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Why, hello there, yummy red velvet cupcake! You sure are looking mighty tasty there…

This was GOOD. I will say it once: Sweet Art has THE BEST cupcakes in St. Louis. Period. The cake was moist and light. The cream cheese frosting was rich and creamy. Red velvet is my fave cupcake flavor, and this one certainly didn’t let me down! Oh, it was so good!

Of course I couldn’t just stop there, now could I? I was stuffed, but I ordered a few goodies to go; a girl’s gotta eat dinner, right?

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The name of this spectacular wrap escapes me. I checked Sweet Art’s website, and it wasn’t on there, either! All I know is that is contains organic mixed greens, a wonderfully delicious spread, and faux chicken. Maybe a few more goodies. I don’t know. I’m useless! This was DELICIOUS, though!

And now, for the grand poobah of the event. The most exquisite, fantastic, rich, gooey, chocolate-y thing that will ever cross your lips…

 

*drumroll*

 

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Three words. Homemade. Vegan. BROWNIE. You can stick a fork in me, because I’m done, folks! How they managed to make this decadent brownie with no eggs, milk, or traditional chocolate will forever be a mystery to me. Dare I say that this is better than any brownie that I’ve ever tasted in my life?!!? Yep, I just went there. And for the naysayers, honestly, this tastes JUST like the real thing. It will blow your mind!

Okay, so now that I’m done waxing poetic about this wonderfulness that is Sweet Art (and I PROMISE you, the owners didn’t pay me to write this glowing review!) I can give you guys some scores (just in case you’re still confused about how I feel about this place).

Food: 5 stars (out of five)

Ambiance: 5 stars

Service: 5 stars

Value: 5 stars

Yep, this received the nearly impossible-to-get straight 5 stars from me! If you’re in St. Louis and you haven’t been to Sweet Art yet, what are you waiting for!?!? Hightail it here, NOW (and take me with you, please!). You can thank me later.

{ 11 comments }

Bittersweet Bakery

by Stephanie on March 6, 2010

in American, Bread Pudding, Breakfast, brunch, Cake, Cookies, Dessert, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt, Lunch

Bittersweet Bakery. Ahhh.

It is located in the lovely Benton Park neighborhood in St. Louis, MO, which is a rapidly changing, growing, and soon to be AMAZING neighborhood. Hell, some might say it’s amazing already! It is definitely unique. And filled with little gems like this place.

Before I even get to the food, let’s talk about the space. It’s in a HUGE building. The inside almost looks like a loft, with exposed bricks and ductwork. It’s very very cool. I wish I could have captured that on film.

When I walked in, I noticed something that I’ve never seen in a bakery before. All of the pastries and goodies were out on display. No sneeze guard, nothing to keep you from getting up close and personal with everything on the menu. Of course when you actually order, they give you something fresh that ISN’T sitting out! What a nice way to get a look at everything.

look at all of those treats!

I had to take some close ups of the pastries out on display.

three different types of quiche!

Okay, on to the food. I started with the sauteed wild mushroom and gruyere quiche.

It was topped with a citrus herbed salad (not pictured) that amounted to a few leaves of spinach and a couple of dried cranberries; it was quite forgettable. The quiche itself was creamy, and there were plenty of mushrooms spread throughout. The crust was my favorite. It was rich and buttery. Although tasty, the quiche was honestly too rich for me, and I could only eat half. But it was still pretty to look at.

super close up of the quiche!

this is what it looked like inside. Look at all of those mushrooms...

Next up was the bacon and cheese savory pastry.  It was probably the highlight of my meal. It had a nice flaky crust, and the warm gooey cheese went along nicely with the thick, chewy bacon. It was probably the tastiest thing I had at the bakery. I could have eaten two! Or three! Mmm.

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A view of what's inside...

I saved what I thought would be the best for last. The sticky bun bread pudding. I am a bread pudding FANATIC. I love the stuff. Even when it’s bad, it’s usually pretty good.

Well…this wasn’t BAD, per se…but it wasn’t quite as good as it looked. It was topped with caramel and candied pecans, which were pretty yummy, but it didn’t have that ooomph I’m looking for. Even though the girl working the counter popped it in the microwave, it could have stood to be a little warmer.

sticky bun bread pudding

Even though I was too full to eat the whole thing, I made sure I ate every last one of those candied pecans!

So…would I come back? I’m not itching to come back, but if a friend wanted to go, she wouldn’t have to drag me. Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll be back. I can’t resist a good pastry. Hell, I can’t resist a mediocre pastry either! Yeah…I’ll be back.

{ 17 comments }