Free Snacking: Cybele's Free to Eat

GI bug beaten (and hopefully never to return again), we are back into free snacking. Next up? Cybele’s Free to Eat. I had never heard of Cybele, but she is a big deal in the food allergy world. She has written 3 top allergen free cookbooks, she has been on Martha Stewart a number of times, AND she is also the food editor for Allergic Living Magazine. This is the magazine that crosses my twitter timeline and tells me all of these horrible stories including children dying from anaphylaxis when they weren’t given epinephrine quickly enough, passengers on airplanes bullying people with food allergies, and teenagers throwing peanuts at their “friend” with allergies. Needless to say, I have been banned from reading said publication. NONETHELESS, she has clearly made a name for herself. She became invested in food allergies when her kid was diagnosed with multiple severe food allergies (isn’t it always? There’s nothing like having your kid in danger that drives moms [don’t @ me, it’s always moms] to make complete career changes).

SO, ARE THESE COOKIES GOOD?

Yes! Though, they don’t exactly taste like cookies. They are soft, they have a good texture, but what they really taste like is cake batter. We got Red Velvet (which definitely tasted like cake batter) and Chocolate Chip Cookie (which tasted like a chocolate chip… cake batter). They are definitely cooked, which is why it’s weird to taste like uncooked cake. Maybe it's like cake batter ice cream had a baby with a cookie. You know how cake batter ice cream’s predominant flavor is sugar? That’s how these taste. Sugar may not be the first ingredient, but they do have 11-12 grams of sugar per serving, which is way more than the other brands (6-8 grams) we've tried. 

Ummm, I believe we were promised a red cookie? Don't put them down on the table, you'll have an unfortunate camouflage situation.

The red velvet was surprisingly better than the classic, which has led me to a new theory. Because everyone has an expectation of how chocolate chip cookies should taste, nothing that’s processed, out of box, and made without the top 9 allergens, will ever meet those expectations. BUT red velvet, on the other hand, is a bit of a mystery. Sure, I’ve had the occasional red velvet cupcake, but have I had a red velvet cookie? I don’t have a clear idea of what it should taste like. No childhood nostalgia. No sad let down. It was delicious! It tasted like cake! Not a sad imitation of the timeless standard.

They also sell pasta, which seems like a weird addition to cookies, but Cybele’s original job was a pasta maker. So that checks out. Doesn’t really fall into the Free Snacking category, though, so we didn’t taste test it. (Yet.)

My oldest has said multiple times that these are his favorite cookie, but I stand by the fact that whatever cookie is currently in his hand is his favorite of all time. More sugar definitely didn’t hurt their prospects though.