Review: NadaMoo Cookies & Creme

NadaMoo has by far the best texture of any non dairy ice cream I've ever tried. It looks just like traditional ice cream. The texture is both creamy and fluffy, and the scoops have the classic wavy line pattern. 

For the cookies and creme flavor, I was expecting more tiny cookie pieces throughout. Instead there are bigger cookie pieces and lots of vanilla space. 

UPDATE: When I tried this again in August 2020 there were more tiny cookie pieces. Maybe they changed that or it could vary by batch.

I’d like to try some of their other flavors because the texture is so on point. NadaMoo has almost 20 flavors, and they're all vegan and gluten free. 

I bought 3 different pints of ice cream when I got this, and this one was the lightest pint when I picked it up. Maybe there is more air whipped in and that's why the texture is so light and fluffy. 

NadaMoo Cookies & Creme ingredients: 

Organic coconut milk, water, organic agave nectar, chocolate cookies (cane sugar, butter alternative (oil blend [palm fruit, canola, and olive oils], water, salt, natural flavor, sunflower lecithin, lactic acid [non-dairy], annatto extract [color]), sweet brown rice flour, tapioca flour, arrowroot flour, sorghum flour, xanthan gum, cocoa pwder [alakalized], natural flavor, salt), organic inulin, organic tapioca syrup solids, organic guar gum, sea salt, organic locust bean gum, natural flavor. 

Review: NadaMoo Cookies & Creme

First impressions: "Woah it looks just like non-vegan ice cream!"

Taste: Not as rich as some other ice creams. The cookies were more subtle compared to other brands.

Texture: Seems identical to traditional ice cream. Creamy but still light and fluffy.

Can you tell it's vegan? No
Better than other vegan options? Yes, I think this might be the best vegan ice cream brand I've ever had. Although there are a few strong contenders. 

Worth buying again? Yes, I can't wait to try their other flavors!

Overall: 5/5

Review: So Delicious Salted Caramel Cluster

A classic conundrum that many vegan adjacents are familiar with, is craving caramel and chocolate but wanting to choose a vegan option. Luckily, I found a solution. So Delicious Salted Caramel Cluster is on a level of deliciousness I didn't think was possible for vegan ice cream.

If you've had a rough day or just want to treat yourself to something decadent, I highly recommend grabbing a spoon and diving in to the chocolate chips and caramel swirls in this non-dairy ice cream. 

I was blown away by how much the caramel tasted like "real" buttery caramel. It was so rich and satisfying. It's made with tapioca syrup, molasses, and cocoa butter. 

This is the first cashew milk ice cream I've tried. It was creamy and not too dense like some other vegan ice creams can be. The texture was not quite as close to dairy ice cream when compared to NadaMoo (a very high bar), but it's still a delectable vehicle for the caramel and chocolate. I'll have to try other flavors to see how the ice cream itself compares to other plant-based ice creams. 

So Delicious Dairy Free Salted Caramel Cluster Cashewmilk Frozen Dessert ingredients: Cashewmilk (filtered water, cashews), cane sugar, caramel sauce (organic tapioca syrup, water, pea protein, organic molasses, natural flavor, organic cocoa butter, sodium citrate, salt, pectin), chocolate chips (cane sugar, coconut oil, cocoa, chocolate liquor, natural vanilla flavor), organic coconut oil, organic tapioca syrup, roasted cashews (cashews, canola oil), pea protein, sea salt, guar gum, natural flavor, locust bean gum. 

Review: So Delicious Salted Caramel Cluster

First impressions: "Omg." "Wow." "The caramel is delicious."

Taste: Rich, decadent, very sweet

Texture: Not too dense, but maybe a little too soft for my preference

Can you tell it's vegan? Probably not, but the texture might give it away for serious ice cream aficionados

Worth buying again? Definitely!

Overall: 5/5

I'm not the only one who gave this vegan caramel ice cream 5 stars. Read more reviews on their website. 

Review: Gardein Seven-Grain Crispy Tenders

Gardein has a ton of vegan products, so I tried these seven-grain crispy tenders next. Similar to the Gardein fishless filets, I probably would have liked these more if I was blindfolded. They tasted good, but the seeing the squishy texture of faux meat was too distracting for me. 

These were much smaller than I expected, about half the size of their fishless filets. But this is a good thing in my opinion, because it helps the texture. I prefer most faux meat to be small and thin in order to have a higher breading to meat ratio and keep the texture as crispy as possible. I think that's why the Boca chick'n patties are still my favorite plant-based chicken alternative.

Speaking of the breading, I didn't realize these where seven grain when I bought them. It surprised me at first, and you can see some oats and seeds in the breading. It reminded me of seven-grain bread with the seeds pressed into the top. But it still tasted like regular breading, and I didn't notice a difference in the breading texture. It was still crispy and crunchy. 

Gardein Seven-Grain Crispy Tenders ingredients: Water, Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid). Soy Protein Isolate, Canola Oil, Vital Wheat Gluten, Rice Flour, Ancient Grain Flour (Khorasan Wheat, Amaranth, Millet, Quinoa), Methylcellulose, Oat Bran, Oats, Yeast Extract, Salt, Organic Yeast Extract, Sea Salt, Potato Starch, Organic Distilled Vinegar, Organic Cane Sugar, Sugar, Natural Flavors, Soybean Oil, Spices, Yeast, Color Added. Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream Of Tartar). Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Organic Soy Sauce Powder, Extractive of Paprika (Color). Pea Protein, Turmeric Extractives

Review: Gardein Seven Grain Crispy Tenders
Taste: These tasted pretty good. I would give them a 5 for flavor but 3 for texture. 
Texture: The outside is crunchy but the inside is a little too mushy for me. It helps that they're smaller pieces though, compared to the Gardein fishless filets which were too big in my opinion. 
Can you tell it's vegan? Yes, like most faux meat, the texture gives it away. 
Better than other vegan versions? I liked the Boca chick'n nuggets more. 
Worth buying again? I would eat them again if someone else was serving them, but probably wouldn't buy them again on my own.
Overall: 4 out of 5

Review: Melt Organic Rich & Creamy Plant-Based Butter

I've been using Earth Balance buttery spread as a vegan butter replacement for years. I thought it might be time to give one of their competitors a chance, so I tried some Melt Organic Rich & Creamy Butter Made From Plants. 

I was off to a rough start from the beginning because I found their packaging to be difficult to open. This doesn't affect the product, but it might have prevented me from buying it more often if I had liked it. 

When it comes to taste, I thought this was ok. It wasn't as buttery tasting to me compared to Earth Balance, and has a more mild flavor overall. Some friends have told me they don't like Earth Balance, so those people might like the more subtle flavor of Melt Organic. 

One major difference is the texture. It was much creamier than Earth Balance and spread very easily, even when cold. It was almost too creamy for butter and reminded me of cream cheese. 

Something unusual happened when I used it to make garlic bread. I put the butter on first and then toasted it, and the butter got bubbly. There were a bunch of tiny bubbles on my toast and it looked like soap. You can kind of see them in the picture below. I don't remember butter doing this.

It tasted fine, but the bubbles threw me off a bit and made me not want to keep eating it. 

Melt Organic Rich & Creamy Ingredients: Expeller-pressed Organic oil blend (Coconut, Sustainable Ethical Palm Fruit, Canola, Hi-Oleic Sunflower, Flaxseed), Water, Sea Salt, Sunflower Lecithin, Natural Flavor, Tocopherols, Organic Annatto Extract Color. 

Review: Melt Organic Rich & Creamy Plant-Based Butter
First impressions: The packaging was hard to open. 
Taste: This has a very mild taste, but some people might notice a hint of a synthetic aftertaste. 
Texture: The texture was very smooth and creamy, almost closer to cream cheese than butter.
Can you tell it's vegan? You can tell something is different. 
Worth buying again? I probably won't finish the container I have. 
Overall: 3/5