I happily spent some time with my oven this weekend to test out some of the new products from Purely Elizabeth. The mixes, which range from Chocolate Chip Cookie to Pancake and Apple Spice Muffin, are dairy- and gluten-free. Elizabeth, the owner and master behind the mixes, developed them after she went to work as a holistic nutrition counselor and wanted to create baked goods that both she and her clients could enjoy. Hence these blends loaded with interesting and nutritious ingredients such as millet flour, chia seeds, and almond meal. After a long week at work, I was pysched to get to bake with minimal fuss—only applesauce, oil, and vanilla required.

I decided to make the Chocolate Chip Cookies because I've eaten my share of them in all forms over the years (including the crazy good vegan cookies at Real Food Daily in LA where I spent many hours during college). I figured all of that cookie knowledge would help me share the results in a somewhat helpful way.

Baking: I mixed up the ingredients, using canola oil in place of the specified olive oil because I was worried what my less than top of the line olive oil might do to the flavor, and baked the cookies on parchment paper on two cookie sheets. I baked them for two minutes longer than the longest range of time (they seemed too soft before that), and let them cool on the sheet pans as directed. They were definitely delicate at that point, so letting them sit tight and cool down was a good move.

Taste: I was worried about the taste of the non-dairy chocolate chips, but I was pleasantly surprised—they were chocolatey with no weird after taste, and the slight crunch from the chia seeds was a big plus. The texture was appropriately cookie-like, and my fiance said "Whoa" when I told him that they were vegan. And then he proceeded to declare that he could eat as many as he wanted since they were "healthy" which I think is a stellar endorsement. In fact, the nutrition profile reads similarly to a granola bar—80 calories, 2.5 g of fat, 2 g fiber, 2 g protein and 7 g sugar. (Those are assuming you get 24 cookies out of the mix. I got about 20.) They make a fantastic afternoon snack.

Verdict: These mixes drastically simplify gluten-free, vegan baking. Which is really nice, especially if you needed to make a treat on short notice and can't seem to find garbanzo bean flour or xyanthm gum. And they are a nice change from cookies that taste like you're biting into a stick of butter (which yes, have their place!), even if you aren't on a restricted diet.

So score one for our vegan and gluten free friends!

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