Nature's Divine Mini Brownies

As everyone has probably guessed by now - I love brownies. My favorite thing growing up was taking out that big Duncan Hines brownie mix box and making a batch. I loved when the end pieces would get all caramelized and chewy. Pure indulgent decadence. Brownies are just straight up the bomb.

Nowadays I do make a pretty bad ass from scratch gluten free brownie but I just don't always feel like dealing. My recipe is kind of labor intensive though the end result is perfection. So yes, I'm lazy and I'm desperately seeking a tasty short cut. Like you guys are all Betty Crocker, come on!

Anyway. So these brownies were not exactly what I was expecting. They weren't bad at all but the taste wasn't necessarily brownie-esque. I'm not sure if it was the type of vanilla extract but they tasted kind of marshmallow-y. The marshmallow-y taste was kind of good - it just wasn't what I was expecting.

Verdict? I can't in good conscience say yummy - but if you happen to see them and are feeling adventurous try them and let me know what you think.

French Meadow Bite Sized Brownies

I'm just starting to try out all of these French Meadow products. This is a new brand to me and I think that my local Stop n Shop just started carrying it. While I didn't have a stellar experience with their cupcakes I'm never one to resist a brownie.

I've found that typically gluten-free brownies are a fairly safe bet. Most of the time they taste closer to fudge then brownie and who can hate that?

These are definitely closer to the taste of cake-like brownie and it totally works. The GF trying to be dense thing usually results in a rock heavy product and here they managed to make a dense brownie that is totally light and super yummy. The only downside is that they are bite sized which means that you can easily inhale 10 in one sitting.

Verdict? Yummy!

Moondance Brownies

I was so ready to write this amazing, glowing review of these brownies. Something stopped me from writing me review and the last time I was at Whole Foods I grabbed one of these to try again. I was filled with glee since I was confident in their deliciousness and was looking forward to have a small piece with my lunch.

At lunchtime I broke off a piece of the brownie and took a bite.

What. Is. This.

The first time I had a Moondance Brownie it was like a symphony of chocolate covered rainbows had begun a stirring melody in my mouth. This time it was sad....so very, very sad. The delicious decadent flavor and texture that had accompanied my first brownie was not present in this brownie. It almost tasted as if it had gone bad. I checked the wrapper - it should still be fresh plus it was still frozen when I picked it up at Whole Foods.

I was totally disappointed and ended up throwing away the rest of the brownie. This is big time inconsistency. How can one brownie be heaven sent and the next one suck so very badly. Why can't GF food makers get some consistency. When I ate gluten I never remember getting a "bad batch" or any baked good. If you got something once and it was delicious chances were that all subsequent acquisitions would be equally as tasty. Why doesn't this happen in GF world? Presumably the same ingredients are being used and the baking methods haven't changed so why the shift?

Moondance, you got some splaining to do!

Verdict? Confusing