Product Review: Cocomama Mixes (and a Strawberry Frosting recipe at the bottom!!!)

Cocomama Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix, LORGE Cookie Method

Full disclosure for some of you who may have arrived here from a certain Vegan on a Budget group - I got both of these mixes from Grocery Outlet. Grocery Outlet is my main jimmyjam when it comes to shopping. It's the closest to my house, the cheapest, and our particular location is a freaking vegan mecca.

Today, we are talking about the Cocomama Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix and the Cocomama Chocolate Layer Cake Mix, and the ups and downs of each.

Cocomama Baking Mixes

Starting with the cookies:

First of all, freaking YUM. They have a VERY intense, almost brownie like flavor, and it is a dark chocolate presence. They also have a salt component that I really enjoyed, but if you're not a salt fan, you may find it a bit heavy handed. I have now made these three times, with varying results. My favorite result is shown above, and I will tell you EXACTLY how I arrived there, down to the final humiliating detail.

Every ingredient in the box is vegan, fair trade, peanut free, and Kosher which is so awesome. The directions on the box call for butter and an egg, but they direct you to their site for vegan modifications.

They suggest replacing the 6 TBSP of butter with coconut oil, and using egg replacer for the egg. At my first attempt, I used 6 TBSP of vegan margarine (Earth Balance), and 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce to replace the egg. This mixture is thick AF, and kind of hard to blend, so if you've got one, I'd just a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.

I used a small cookie scoop, and ended up with 17 cookies. I left them in their original scooped shapes (little half balls), and they baked up just fine, at around 11-12 minutes, but they did not flatten out. At all. Little cookie molehills.

Texture - yum. Almost brownie like. Highly recommend this combo, but...

Second attempt, which you see above, used the same ingredients, but used a LARGE cookie scoop, and got 6 cookies, and...... I'm not sure if I could have gotten quite a 7th large cookie out of the deal, but... I ate it. I just freaking ate the rest of that batter with no shame, and no regrets. Vegan baking is bomb cause you're not using a possibly dangerous egg. I have heard that it's still not great to eat raw flour, but #yolo.

So I knew that these cookies were not going to flatten out, so I used a fork dipped in granulated sugar and smashed them, just like you would do to a classic peanut butter cookie. I baked them for the normal amount of time (I started checking for doneness at around 11 minutes, and again they took between 11 - 12 minutes), and the experience of eating that big old chewy dark chocolaty cookie was incredible. This was my favorite method, and the one I'll stick to from now on.

My third attempt was experimental at this point. I did the same 6 TBSP of vegan margarine, and then I added 3 TBSP of whisked aquafaba to replace my egg. Meh. The cool thing about this method was the cookies flattened out on their own, naturally. They didn't get too flat, and they stayed soft and chewy but they were less... oomphy. That's not a word. (Now it is.) Like... an "al dente" cookie, versus a fluffy cookie.

Big or small, I recommend:

• 6 TBSP vegan margarine, at room temperature or beaten soft in a stand mixer

• 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce

Tips and tricks:

• Use a stand mixer so you don't wear your arm out, and for even distribution. This stuff is THICK.

• Whip margarine and applesauce together beforehand for more even combining. It will be lumpy and nasty looking and that is fine.

Cocomama Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix Score:

Value: 5/5 from Grocery outlet (found for $1.99); on Amazon these are $6.99... I'd give them a 3/5 at that price, because it does not make a very large batch. You could probably find a similar recipe at that point, but if ease is important to you, these are great.

Taste: 5/5

Would buy again: Definitely, for the right price

And now the cake.

Cocomama Dark Chocolate Layer Cake Mix as cupcakes with homemade Strawberry "Buttercream" frosting

I am very sorry that I made the frosting on these look like pink poop emojis.

I have REALLY mixed feelings on this cake, but I think it deserves another attempt, simply because I feel I messed it up, partially.

I only made this cake one time, and I am 100% sure I messed it up. So... if I want to make it again, which is debatable for reasons to follow, I will surely make one change.

I decided to make this cake into cupcakes, which it says on the box is "great." Remembering, of course, that these box mixes are based around animal products to begin with, it is fair to say that the composition of the product changes greatly when substitutions are made.

This cake calls for 3 eggs, 3/4 cup of cooking oil, and 1 cup of milk of choice. To be honest, that seems like a LOT of liquid for how much mix is in this box, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I subbed regular milk for soy milk, due to how the fat content in soy milk tends to be favorable for baking, and I subbed whipped aquafaba for the eggs. That required 9 tablespoons of aquafaba. I beat the snot out of that bean juice in my stand mixer, then beat in the oil and milk, and finally switched to the paddle attachment and mixed in the cake mix.

I scooped the mixture into 18 greased cupcake wells; I did not use paper. This is what's up:

• The aquafaba made these WAY too delicate for cupcakes. I could not get a single cupcake out of the pan without it breaking, and that was well after the normal 10 minute cool down in the pan. I strategically took that photo above to make these cakes appear more aesthetic than they really were... they were a crumbly mess.

• Cupcake liners would have made removing them from the tins easy-peasy, but then it's likely that the cakes would have stuck to those instead.

I MIGHT be willing to try this again with either apple sauce or mashed banana for an egg stand in, and perhaps reduce milk by 1/8 cup, but the biggest reason I personally wouldn't be that thrilled to try this again is that the mix has espresso powder in it. I never would have thought to check for that, but boom, there it was. The flavor of the espresso was not really pronounced in the final product, but when I tried some of the raw batter, I straight up tasted coffee. For some this could be a huge DRAW, but I am sensitive to coffee (my body HATES it), so for me, I'm not sure I was impressed enough with this mix to overlook that and make it again.

Chocolate flavor-wise, it was on point. If you like a rich, dark chocolate cake, Cocomama will not let you down here.

Cocomama Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix Score:

Value: Sames as above 5/5 for $1.99, 3/5 for $6.99. Much larger yield than the cookies, though.

Taste: 4/5

Would buy again: Probably not, due to the coffee sensetivity

And finally: the Strawberry "Buttercream" Frosting recipe, looking much, much prettier:

Some gorgeous strawberry frosting, on some lemon cupcakes I made this one time

I based my recipe off one from Minimalist Baker: Peach Vegan Cupcakes + Vegan Honey Buttercream Frosting. I have changed one ingredient, added one, and removed another (no milk).

Strawberry "Buttercream" Frosting

Prep Time: 5-10 Minutes

Cook Time: 0 Minutes

Total Time: 5-10 Minutes

Difficulty: Extremely Easy

Dietary Needs: Vegan, Gluten Free, Wheat Free

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup non-dairy butter, room temperature (I used vegan margarine, and to be honest, a stick format may "hold up" better than mine but usually cupcakes disappear fast enough that I don't worry much)

• 4 Tbsp Strawberry Fruit Spread (I like this one from Costco, OMG do not buy it on Amazon for $20, are they freaking kidding?! It's like $6.99... Linking here for demonstration purposes)

• 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

• Optional: 1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Beat your non-dairy butter, or margarine, til it begins to become fluffy.

2. Cream the butter together with your strawberry spread. Because of the acid content in the spread, it is likely the two ingredients will not combine smoothly and attractively. This is okay, the powdered sugar is the great equalizer. If using, add in your vanilla at this point.

3. Add about 1 cup of powdered sugar to your mixture, and beat until creamy and thick.

4. Continue to add powdered sugar, about .5 cup at a time, until you're pleased with the consistency.

5. Remember to taste your frosting. While you want a thick frosting that will stand up to the pressures of gravity, if you go too far, your frosting will lose the yummy butter/strawberry flavor and start to taste a little like paste. If you've ever had bland, chalky frosting, you know what's up.

6. Pipe your frosting onto COMPLETELY cooled baked goods and chow down! The strawberry flavor is delightful.

Try the frosting on a vegan LEMON cupcake: you got strawberry lemonade cupcakes. BOMB! I will share a lemon cupcake recipe in the future! For now... I should probably lay off all this baking!