Amy Coccia, What Do I Eat Now? ~ What do you get when you cross a cranberry with a hemp seed? In some cases... it may not be a great combination. In others, it’s magical.

I received a package of the new Gluten-Free Essentials Cranberry-Apple Spice Cookie mix and after reading the ingredients I have to admit I was ... a little perplexed. How could these cookies not taste like straw and sawdust mixed with dried fruit? The shelled hemp seeds and quinoa flakes alone terrified me, much less the dried apples and cranberries. Dried fruit has always been one of the most un-cookie like ingredients in my book. I could picture my grandmother grabbing the package, and saying to my diet-controlled diabetic father, "there's fruit in here and not much sugar!!" (Insert crazy Boston accent with a slight old lady lilt...).

But, with curiosity and a strict gluten-free diet as my guides, I decided to put my fears aside, and make them anyway. It was a basic Gluten-Free Essentials cookie mix, add a stick of butter (or dairy-free margarine in my case) and 2 eggs and I was good to go! The directions said to let the dough chill for at least a half an hour before baking, so I stuck the dough in the fridge but not before sneaking a little bit of it. Quite surprisingly, this sneak preview left me eager to eat the final product. It tasted much like a sugar cookie, but with a little pizzazz - the cranberries!

Never mind that they filled my kitchen with a nice warm Christmas-y smell- in the middle of May, but they looked like fun little teacakes! Unable to wait a minute longer, I forgoed the cooling time, and popped one in my mouth. Despite the fact that it was burning hot, it tasted just how I imagined, like a sweet little sugar & spice cookie. There was a slight nutmeg and cinnamon taste hidden within, and I tasted a little bit of the dried apple, but the real winner in this cookie was the dried cranberries. As they burst in my mouth, it felt as if I was eating FRESH cranberries! This fruity flavor literally carried the whole cookie.

So, did they taste healthy? Nope not at all! I couldn't even tell there was quinoa or shelled hempseeds inside. Amazing! This is one gluten-free cookie that I will definitely share with my dad and my grandmother, who will be astounded that such a little cookie could pack so much punch with a big burst of cranberry!

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