Daiya Vegan Cheese Wedges & Eat Pastry Vegan Cookie Dough

We all know that I cannot walk into a Whole Foods without making out with every unhealthy, vegan option they have. On Wednesday, my LAST class ever finished early so I headed to Whole Foods to celebrate with a tub of ice cream. So naturally, I left with two bags filled with food. This time I found two new goodies in the refigerated section. Daiya Vegan Jack Style Wedge and Eat Pastry Vegan Cookie Dough!

Daiya Vegan Cheese Wedges

Daiya, the best ever vegan cheese, introduced the Daiya Wedges this March. All Daiya products are free of common allergens, including dairy, soy, gluten, egg, peanuts, and tree nuts. Daiya sells their cheese as cheese shreds, so these new wedges are a great addition to the family.There are three flavors to choose from: Cheddar, Jack Style, and Jalapeno Garlic Havarti. My store was out of all but the Jack Style, but I was excited to try it out. Daiya says they can be eaten as is or melted! Most vegan cheese taste like butt when you attempt to eat it cold and some don't even melt well. Daiya shreds became my favorite because they not only tasted delicious, but they melt, and stretch like real cheese. I could have grilled cheese and pizza again! 

So how did I like the Daiya Jack Style Wedge? Well to try it out I made grilled cheese! I cut up the blocks you see below and put them onto my smooshed bagel, added some chili powder, and put it in my handy dandy sandwich maker (best $15 purchase ever!). While my grilled cheese was cooking up I tried a piece of the cheese cold. It was extremely creamy and soft; almost like a goat cheese mixed with string cheese texture (if that makes any sense). It melted in your mouth and had a nice mellow smokey flavor that ended a bit sharp. At first I just thought it was okay, but I've been going back to my fridge over the past few days cutting off slices! This would be great for a cold sandwich, crumbled onto a salad, or eaten with crackers.

Once the timer went off on my grilled cheese maker I opened up to find that the cheese had melted up real nice! It was gooey and oozing out of the grilled cheese. I took a massive bite once it cooled down a bit and was a bit disappointed. To me it was TOO melted, it was halfway to a liquid. For anyone familiar with vegan cheese brands, it reminded me of how Teese melts. But Teese does not taste good cold, at all. I'd definitely say that it didn't live up to it's older sibling Daiya Shreds. For some reason those melt to the exact consistency you'd expect of cheese, but the wedge was way too runny. 

I definitely would buy the wedge again to nibble on and use cold. It has a great flavor and creamy, soft texture that makes me feel like Im indulging in decadence. I'll stick to the Daiya Shreds for all of my quesadilla needs...

...Wait one second. I take it back! I decided to give the wedge a second chance by actually making a quesadilla. I cut up the Daiya wedge into pieces and mixed it with Daiya Cheddar shreds, added a tablespoon of chili powder, and a squirt of sriracha (rooster hot sauce). I cooked the quesadilla on medium heat for probably 5-8 minutes until both sides were browned and both cheeses were melted (the wedge had a lower melting point than the shreds). I let it cool down so I wouldn't burn my mouth on the melted Jack cheese. Holy crap! It reminded me of requeijão, which is a creamy liquid-y cheese product that is very popular in Brazil. I've never found anything similar in America, but when the Daiya cheese wedge melted and cooled a bit the memories of requeijão flooded back! In Brazil requeijão is used on everything, my favorite being pizza. I cannot wait to use the wedge cheese mixed with mozzarella shreds on pizza!

Eat Pastry Vegan Cookie Dough
I always check to see if the Whole Foods cookie doughs or cinnamon rolls have miraculously gone vegan. Unfortunately, the recipe seems to never change! One can hope. But as I was grazing over the cinnamon rolls I noticed this tub of cookie dough. I had a heart attack when I noticed it said Egg and Dairy free! I looked through the ingredient list and was happy to see that it was vegan!! I started smiling like a mad woman and probably caused the people around me some discomfort. Of the three flavors that my Whole Foods sold, I decided to go classic with (gluten-free) chocolate chip (Eat Pastry has 7 flavors!). All of Eat Pastry's products have all natural, 100% vegan ingredients. There is no eggs, dairy, preservatives, any fillers, no GMOs, and no processing.

Seconds after I got home I opened up the tub and started eating it with a spoon. It was yummy, but not as good as my cookie dough (probably because of the use of gluten-free flours). It has that gluten-free, beany after taste that I'm not a fan of. So I decided to try them out how they are meant to be enjoyed, baked. I baked my cookies at 350 F for 12-15 minutes. They got golden really quickly. That may be because of the flours used. So I took them out of the oven at 12 minutes and let them sit for 5 minutes on the hot baking pan.

When I bit into the cookie, it was perfectly crispy on the outside, but moist and chewy on the inside. They were so delicious!  No gluten-free after taste when baked! And the best part is each tablespoon-sized cookie is only 60 calories with 3g of fat. I can indulge without feeling an ounce of guilt. I'll definitely be buying a tub whenever I want to add a little sweetness in my life. I love that the container is easily resealable so I can just bake a few at time. I love making homemade cookies, but if there are 16 cookies sitting on a plate in my home they won't last a day before I somehow eat every single one. And these are such a better deal than buying Whole Food's prepared vegan cookies. Next time I think I'll try their oatmeal raisin or snickerdoodle flavors. yum!

What new food products have you tried recently? Have you tried the Daiya cheese wedges or the Eat Pastry cookie dough? Let me know in the comments below!