While store bought gluten free treats are convenient, there is nothing like a gluten free cookie fresh from a bakery!  Today in Friday Finds, I want to introduce you to a real gem: Sensible Edibles, a gluten free, vegan bakery totally rockin’ it in New York City!

Sensible Edibles

Sensible Edibles is an amazing bakery.  They sent me a generous box of goodies to sample and photograph for this post. Everything that my family tasted was amazing. We all had our specific favorites, but every single item was top-notch baking excellence at it finest.

First and foremost, I appreciate the care taken to produce safe treats.  Check out the extensive allergy statement on their website.  I also really love how they explain and spell everything out so clearly.  You can get a very clear picture as to how the bakery is run by reading through their site! I also love that everything is clearly labeled on their packaging as well.  I also loved their simple and cute wrappers.  They really let you see the product – it’s the star. Also, each item that you get is full sized.  Sometimes gluten free items tend to be small.  Not these.

One thing to be mindful of when ordering is that while all of the items are gluten free, not all are vegan.  Read descriptions and ingredient lists to make sure you’re ordering exactly the right item.  The good news is that they ship nationwide.  Just about everything traveled well.  Some items like the frosted bundt cake had frosting drippage issues (but the cake is so delicious it didn’t matter). Also, the wrapper caused some of the toppings to stick a bit on some of the muffin and cheesecake bars.  Again, minor and not affecting the amazing deliciousness of each treat.  The cookies, brownies, brookies, granola, nut mix, and oatmeal cream pies were pristine and survived well throughout the shipping process.

Let’s take a peek at some of the amazing things I tried.  At the end, I’ll name some of my favorites and even identify one item that I felt fell a bit short of amazing.  Let go!

Gluten Free & Vegan Cookies

Hands down the absolute best gluten free cookie that I have ever had.  No contest. It’s the best from any bakery, store, or even any that I have made myself.  That is a pretty bold statement. The bakery offers three different varieties of oatmeal cookies:  oatmeal raisin, apple oatmeal, and oatmeal chocolate.  If I had to choose one that was the best, I’d go with the apple oatmeal.  It was so flavorful and the perfect combination of crispiness on the outside and chewiness on the inside.  And they are huge – literally bigger than my hand.  They are also vegan. There are other varieties of cookies available as well that I did not try.

Gluten Free & Vegan Muffins

I am a muffin kind of girl.  I make a batch of muffins weekly for my family. There is a great variety of muffins available.  Be careful here because all of the muffins are gluten free but some of them are vegan – not all are vegan.  Let’s start with their gluten free non-vegan muffin. These are amazing.  They are light and fluffy and really look like sheer muffin perfection. The taste and texture are spot on.  They are also sizable! I personally did not try these because of my egg allergy, but my family members raved about them!

The gluten free vegan muffins had amazing taste – I mean really amazing flavor.  They were a bit stickier and not as light as the other muffins but this is understandable because they are egg free.  My favorite muffin was the Vanilla Berry Bliss Muffin. It was so good I wiped the inside of wrapper clean – no joke.  I am not one to eat entire muffins or treats myself, but I devoured this. 

Also amazing were the Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins, Corn Muffins, and the amazing Cocoa Bean Muffins. The cocoa bean muffin is like eating a devil’s foodcake cupcake but not as sweet. Friends, every muffin was incredible and they shipped well. There are 11 different muffins available.   One thing to keep in mind is that you must order a minimum of three of the same variety of muffin.  It doesn’t appear that single orders are available on most single serving items.

Brownies and Bars

Brownies are my sweet treat of choice.  I am a self proclaimed brownie snob.  The brownies from Sensible Edibles were perfection. They strike the perfect balance of soft and fudgy.  They are not sickeningly sweet.  They are rich, decadent, and just amazing. Frankly, these are dangerous to have around the house and the ultimate self control test.

They also make Oatmeal Brookies – a combination of a brownie and a cookie.  These were also so good. They are more brownie than cookie.  They had chunks of their oatmeal cookies scattered throughout.

Next we tried the Cheesecake Brownie.  There is a thin layer of marbled cheesecake on top of a classic brownie. These were good; not my favorite, but still quite good.  The cheesecake did tend to stick to the plastic wrapper.

The last bar that we tried was the Super Lemon Bar.  I was super excited to try these because I don’t make these at home and have not really seen them available.  In all honesty, this was my least favorite item.  I was wanting and expecting a bit of a gooey lemon center, but was greeted with a really firm center. I didn’t like the texture at all. The lemon and coconut flavor was good, the crust was also good, but the filling just didn’t work for me (but it may be a winner for you.).

There are other bars available.  Check them out.

Miscellaneous Treats

One of the items that I was also really excited to try were the mini bundt cakes.  They did not disappoint.  I tried the Mini Lemon Almond Bundt Cake. The taste was amazing.  The cake had the perfect crumb and texture.  The lemon flavor was not overwhelming.  The icing did not hold up well during shipping, but none of us cared.  I tried to put some of the icing back on for the picture.  Overall, this was a real treat! There are other bundt cake available as well.

I loved that the bakery also made homemade granola and had jars of salted nuts available.  Both of these would make great additions to a gift box.  Both were really good.

 

Last but not least are these amazing little Oatmeal Cream Whoopie.  These kind of sent me back to my childhood.  I really loved these because they were not overwhelmingly sweet.  The sweetness was perfect.  The oatmeal cookies were soft and cakey and matched perfectly with the cream filling.  I think you’ll really like these, too.

Final Thoughts

Now for my favorites. This is hard, but if I had to pick one item that just really bowled me over, it would be the Vanilla Berry Bliss Muffin – if I literally cleaned the wrapper with my finger, it had to be amazing.  My least favorite was the Super Lemon Bar.  I just felt like the filling fell flat.

I’ve had the opportunity to review several gluten free bakeries during my years of blogging.  Some bakeries were wonderful, some were just fine, and there were even a few that were disasters. If I had to rank Sensible Edibles, they would be at the top of the list – no doubt about it. This bakery is putting out top notch products using allergy friendly ingredients and keeping out the junk. Support them.  I am a big supporter of small businesses who are doing the hard work of making delicious and safe treats for our community. Most of those retail brands are owned by big food conglomerates who don’t need your financial support.  Put your money where it counts; support real people.

As always, do your homework before ordering any items. Ingredients can change over time.  Call the bakery.  Ask questions.  Read ingredient labels.  Check out the website.  Everyone’s food restrictions are different.  Be safe.  Always verify before you buy.

In full disclosure, Sensible Edibles sent me products for review.  I did not receive monetary compensation.  My opinions are my own and have not been paid for.