Cheesecake and ice cream have a lot in common. Decadent, creamy, high fat, versatile, celebratory, dairy-heavy, and downright delicious; most people can’t deny how stellar the two desserts are. That being said, I can’t say I would really want to eat the two at the same time, as combining them side by side on a plate might send me deep into dairy depths that my stomach may not be able to recover from. I am, however, a big fan of when the two worlds collide into a successful flavor of ice cream, which is unfortunately much easier said than done. With their latest batch of pints Coolhaus takes on the challenge with Farmer’s Market Strawberry Cheesecake, which combines mascarpone and cream cheese ice cream with a fresh strawberry swirl and graham cheesecake bites.
food reviews
REVIEW: Allie’s Peanut Butter Protein Balls
Allie’s Peanut Butter Protein balls are an up and coming company serving up gluten free, raw, peanut butter loaded balls for on-the-go noshing and nutrition. Although the product is brand new and the full website won’t launch until February, Allie and Co. wanted to give this peanut butter lover an advanced taste. I’m ranking the three different flavors against each other on a healthy snack scale.
Allie’s Original Protein Energy Ball:
A very nice combination of peanut butter, cranberries, sunflower, and flax seeds that really get the job done. There’s a nice smooth vanilla undertone from the use of protein powder that ties the more aggressive fatty PB and tart cranberry notes together wonderfully. The sunflower seeds stand out as a distinct flavor and texture and make the bites interesting for my teeth AND my tongue. A great clean pick me up with no weird aftertaste or weird additive ingredients that you might find in other supplement-based products.
Rating: 8/10
Nutrition (1.2 oz ball): 135 cal – 8g fat – 59mg sodium – 12g carb – 2g fiber – 5g sugar – 5g protein
Allie’s Apple Cinnamon Protein Balls:
As a bonafide cinnaslut this is the ball that I was the most excited for and it undoubtedly let me down the most. I got no apple flavor, no cinnamon flavor, and the overall experience was very dry and bland. Looking on the company’s website it says there should be a fritter taste from being rolled in cinnamon and I don’t think my balls got that step. They still have a nutty taste to them but have no discernible apple or other flavors that make me want to eat them again.
Rating: 6/10
Nutrition (1.2 oz ball): 140 cal – 8g fat – 7mg sodium – 13g carb – 2g fiber – 4g sugar – 5g protein
Allie’s Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter Protein Ball:
The can’t-miss combination of peanut butter and chocolate gets an added boost from flaky coconut and guess what? It doesn’t miss! This one has all the rich decadent fatty mouthfeel of peanut butter rolled into a ball with little glimmers of crunchy chocolate, oats, and hemp protein. The peanut butter is definitely the star of the show, and as a dude who loves to take a spoon straight to the source I love the flavor. Compared to the others this ball is simply more of everything. More salty, more sweet, more delicious, and despite its smaller size, more calories and fat. It’s as close as you’re gonna get to having true, intense, peanut butter taste with you wherever you go sans the spoon, and will absolutely squash a fatty or even sweet craving in a pinch.
Rating: 9/10
Nutrition (.9 oz ball): 154 cal – 10g fat – 71mg sodium – 13g carb – 3g fiber – 4g sugar – 5g protein
Overall I’m pretty happy with the flavors presented by Allie’s Protein Peanut Butter Balls, and they’re executed very well, but I’m not sure that I would personally order them. I love the idea behind the brand but things like this seem like they could be made at home pretty easily with some nut butter, powder, oats, and a little bit of time. For the cost of $20 shipped for a pack of 12, they’re either a great value for someone with little culinary skills and little time, or a bit of a stretch for someone that likes to make their own snacks. I would, however, absolutely buy a couple of these in a four pack if I saw them at a local store, and hopefully Allie can work her way into the hearts of a place like Whole Foods to give these balls the home they deserve.
REVIEW: Baskin Robbins Bobsled Brownie
January is a pretty down month. After the swirling excitement and chaos of the holidays it feels like everyone is universally broke, bloated, and burnt out. The weather is cold without any Christmas carols to make it seem cute, and most of us are just sitting tight waiting for warm weather and a tax return to get the new year actually in motion. That being said, I will take anything I can get to hold onto some of that winter whimsy I’m secretly missing, and to kick off 2018 Baskin Robbins are giving me just that. Bobsled Brownie combines milk chocolate mousse and butter caramel ice creams with a fudge crackle ribbon and pieces of blonde brownies.
REVIEW: Quest Protein Cookies (Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Raisin)
For as many protein bars, cereal bars, powders, chips, peanut butter cups, and other snacky supplements Quest have released it’s pretty hard to believe it took them this long to get into the trendy protein cookie game. I generally find protein cookies to be pretty whack. Less desirable macro nutrients than a standard bar and inferior taste to an actual cookie, so who’s really winning here? There are a couple flavors of Lenny & Larry’s that are actually pretty tasty (Snickerdoodle and Lemon Poppyseed), and conversely the recent release by No Cow was so bad I couldn’t even bring myself to finish them. So how does the king of the protein world’s take stack up to the competition? With more grams of fat than a scoop of super premium ice cream, Erythritol, and soluble corn fiber I’m not feeling too optimistic, but let’s find out.
REVIEW: Marlo’s Bake Shop Soft Baked Biscotti (Original and Brown Sugar Coffee Cake)
Although they aren’t as sexy as an oozing cream filled doughnut or as exciting as the latest wild Oreo flavor, I love me a good biscotti. As an avid coffee drinker how could I not get down with a cookie that’s usually baked twice to be extra hard and not only go along with but NEEDS a strong cup to reach its full potential? One year for Christmas I even replaced my usual batch of whimsy-and-butter laced goodies with three different types of biscotti. While I don’t tend to buy any particular type of biscotti and usually will just grab whatever the cafe I’m at has to go along with some espresso, I’ve found a great San Francisco based company putting a unique spin on the crunchy cookie. Marlo’s Bakeshop are a woman-owned bakery specializing in soft-baked biscotti that are free of preservatives and artificial flavors, with some inventive concoctions to boot. Continue reading
REVIEW: Limited Edition Hot & Spicy Cinnamon Oreo
Last year Nabisco gave us the foreplay heavy and aphrodisiac-laden Chocolate Covered Strawberry to kick off the romantic snacking season. This year, they’re cuttin’ straight to the hot shit. Valentine’s Day 2018 isn’t about sweet smooches and love letters, it’s about the super sexy heavy intensity of Hot & Spicy Cinnamon Oreo.
REVIEW: Limited Edition Chocolate Hazelnut Oreo
I imagine somewhere at the Nabisco headquarters there’s a plush office for the head of the Oreo flavor think tank. He has arguably one of the best jobs ever, and a filing cabinet full of bold and bright ideas to satisfy our junk food taste buds. Buried deep within one of those cabinets is a folder titled “Why the Hell Haven’t These Been Made Yet?”, brimming with combinations so absurdly obvious they don’t leave the room. Last year this file was dusted off to release the solid Dunkin’ Donuts Mocha Oreo, and while they couldn’t quite land the Nutella brand name for the ultimate team up, 2018 finally see’s the release of Chocolate Hazelnut Oreo.
REVIEW: Oreo Thins Fudge Dipped (Original, Mint, Coconut)
In 1989 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids became the highest grossing live action Disney film of all time, a title it held for over five years. Although I was just spawning my first memory, being shook by the big Bay Area earthquake, the movie later became a favorite of mine on VHS, and entertained a mini-Sean all throughout the mid-90’s. Later, in 1998, the Disneyland 4D ride/movie Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, became one of the first times I realized a screen could truly scare the shit out of me. Much like in the ‘89 film, small things became giant, only this time they jumped out of the picture and into my face. Fast forward to 2018, and I’m no longer scared, but delighted, as Nabisco proudly announced, Honey, I shrunk the Oreo’s.
REVIEW: Kalz Paleo Breakfast Muffins (Banana Chocolate and Tropical Blueberry)
In September of last year I reviewed a new natural protein bar company called Low Kalz. The brand expanded from small snack-size bars to big paleo breakfast muffins available through Etsy, and they sent me a pack of each flavor to sample. The two flavors they turned into muffins just so happened to be my favorites – Banana Chocolate and Tropical Blueberry. As with the bars the muffins are preservative free and made with few ingredients, most notably almond flour, bananas, and eggs.
REVIEW: The Lion’s Pack Edible Cookie Dough (Chocolate Chip, Monster Cookie, Snickerdoodle, Teddy Dough, Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart, Oreo Cake Batter, Snickers Candy Bar)
As big of a consumer as I am of protein bars and powders, I’m a bit wary of the massive smattering of novelty protein items hitting the shelves these days. Cookies, cakes, and candies don’t tend to work as well, both in terms of nutrition and taste, and the macro-to-taste enjoyment ratio is usually off. I first got wind of The Lion’s Pack last year and ordered a couple of their protein peanut butter spreads, which I thought were fine tasting but texturally pretty off. At the time they also offered a number of protein cookie dough’s, but they looked odd and didn’t seem very appealing at all. In the last six or so months the company have been aggressively promoting the reformulating of their dough recipe, and from what I’ve seen it looks solid. The dough’s are all vegan, gluten free, and made-to-order, with over 20 flavors to choose from.
Sean's Skillet 