I have an awesome e-mail pal, Jamaica. When I was looking into going to baking, I e-mailed a bunch of people and she was BY FAR the MOST helpful and gave me the MOST insight and most insight out of all the tens of people I contacted. Ashamedly, I took this long to review a cookie of hers!!

I grabbed the LAST vegan chocolate chip cookie (non-vegan to be reviewed in a couple of weeks!). It was wrapped up in plastic wrap and let me tell you: when I unwrapped this cookie the smell was SO inviting. I’ll be honest — I bought this one day and ate it the next, and the strong smell of freshly baked cookie was still there! The smell was comparable to a cookie I baked in the oven myself. First impression was looking GREAT.

Oh, minus the one thing that made me hesitant; it was a pretty flat cookie:

I got over it really quickly, though, thanks to the smell and taste. This cookie was delicious. There was something “different” about the taste of this cookie that I could not put my finger on, though. It was evident in the first few bites but I suppose I got used to it after that. Other than that one different taste, this cookie tasted like any other cookie! And I cannot get over the texture: it was super moist and very soft. This is a blurry picture, but it shows the middle of the cookie + the chocolate chunk distribution:

…okay, not a great picture of the texture, but you can make out some of the round pieces that make up the entire cookie, rather than cookie crumbs that stick together and make the cookie tough and hard. This piece is a section of the cookie that had a LOT of chocolate chunks in it, but as you can see the chunks are layered, so you’re sure to get at least a couple of pieces of chocolate in every bite.

• Taste: Loved it, and despite that odd flavor, I would still give this a 9
• Crust and center moistness: VERY moist, even the next day. 10
• Value: $1.75 for a large cookie. Quite pricey for a cookie, but it is vegan, and in West LA. 7
• Overall: Definitely a must-try. 9!!

Jamaica’s Cakes
11511 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310.478.1971

Baking for Good is an online bakery that gives part of its profits to good causes that you choose. Among the variety of nonprofits and community fundraisers is The Gulf Coast Fund. They helped out after Hurricane Katrina and they’re back again to help with this oil spill. From the website directly:

The Gulf Coast Fund is working to identify and galvanize resources and support for coastal communities affected by the BP Oil Drilling Disaster. Its goal is to raise $100,000 in the next 30 days for support of community-led first response initiatives, and to establish a fund of up to $1,000,000 to address the long-term effects of this disaster. It has already distributed a portion of its own emergency grant reserves. The goals of the first round of emergency grants are: (1) to coordinate and enhance the work on the ground being led by coastal communities; (2) to reduce the duplication of efforts; and (3) to encourage joint collaboration across the region.

If you choose to support this cause, 15% of your total (minus taxes and shipping) goes to the Gulf Coast Fund. They have lots of baked goods, but their cookies are diverse, including gluten-free and vegan kinds. If you want to help this oil cleanup process while eating yummies at the same time, this would definitely be a great way to do it.

They’re from this place called Le Pain Quotidien. I looked them up and they’re an international chain restaurant + bakery. It was 10:00 when TJ strolled in and dropped off the cookies, but who cares? I ripped the bag open and grabbed one anyway (patience is not one of my strong points..):

Good sized cookie, but how about the taste? Well let me tell you right now that this is the cookie for you crispy cookie lovers. It’s crunchy inside and out, and the inside structure holds up well (you can see the granules of the cookie and even the space in between the leavened parts). It’s not too sweet and the chocolate chip factor was DEFINITELy not a scarce resource.

• Taste: 7
• Crust and center moistness: crunchy crunchy!
• Value: <3 TJ
• Overall: You gotta get this cookie if you love crunchy. If you’re one of the many who love soft cookies, stay away. This was gone from my desk in about.. half a day or so (including people who came back for seconds). Overall, a good cookie, a  must try if you like crunchy. Personally I like a little softness in my cookies, so I’m gonna give this one a 7.