Happea for Green Pea Cookie

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Growing up and living in the Bay Area, there are so many healthy options that cater to so many different diets. Even desserts and snacks have stepped up their game with being natural, vegan, and/or gluten-free. Cookies have elevated themselves to the next level, like these Green Pea Cookies I was fortunate enough to get to try! It’s a delicious cookie that is made up of five ingredients. Yes, you read that right: five. And it comes in the cutest little box, ever!

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Green Pea Cookie
http://www.greenpeacookie.com/

The Green Pea Cookie is based on a cookie that was originally made in Singapore, and according to them, was founded by “two food-loving Singaporeans and an imaginative American.” Together, they fine-tuned the recipe with simple, all natural ingredients and then debuted the cookies in Dolores Park! With everyone loving all of these little green guys, they set out to make it a brand that is proud to be a more natural cookie to snack on – that happens to be made with green peas!

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When I opened my box, I will admit, I was a little skeptical. I mean, a cookie with its primary ingredient as green peas? That sounded so strange. I have had sweet peas and salty peas, but those were still considered savory sides instead of a sweet snack. But when I saw these little nuggets stacked together, waiting to be eaten, I was intrigued.

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On their website (where you can shop for all of their Green Pea products), they have the Peater: The Original Green Pea Cookie, the Penelopea: The Cranberry Green Pea Cookie, and Dimpea: The Chocolate Covered Green Pea Cookie. I had a box of Peaters, and I was ready to indulge!

The Peater’s ingredients were: unbleached wheat flour, salted green peas, organic sunflower oil, organic powdered sugar, and sea salt. While their “pea flour” looks very green, they’re actually moving towards using a more organic pea that doesn’t have any dyes in it, so that they can get rid of the artificial dye ingredients. I think it’s awesome that they’re so committed to keeping the ingredients real and all-natural.

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When I bit into them, I found them crunchy and subtly sweet. They reminded me a lot of South Asian cookies that have a kind of crunchy texture though it crumbles easily. When you start to eat more of the cookie, it has a lovely combination of sweetness from the sugar to the saltiness of the peas. They struck the perfect balance of those two contrasting flavors. The box recommends five cookies a day, but honestly, once you try one, you want to eat another one. And another one. And then another one. The cookies disappear quickly.

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From someone who had a mostly pea-free childhood (I hated them for some reason), I think these are an excellent snack! It feels like you’re indulging in sweets, but you feel better since you know it’s all natural without compromising flavor. The nutrition info isn’t outrageous either: it doesn’t go overboard with carbs or sugar. I’ve had them for a pre-dinner snack, and I don’t feel like I substituted the cookies for dinner, which I have with some other snacks. I would love to try the Dimpea some time – chocolate and pea cookies sounds like a fascinating combination!

Iman

I’m Bay Area born and bred, and hella proud of it. I grew up in the middle of the Bay Area near the Peninsula, spent the first half of my college years in the South Bay, and the latter in the East Bay. Living in the Bay Area has given me the opportunities to meet people from all backgrounds, and try their amazing and unique foods, too. Growing up in a Pakistani family, food is an essential part of our culture. Whether it’s making sure to have a fresh pot of Chai ready to serve guests or ensuring that they have had seconds so they eat thirds, food is central to our family and social lives. With immigrant parents, that extended to trying out new and unknown cuisines that simply aren’t in Pakistan. While I remember trying to copy my mom as a kid, trying to make my own perfectly round little rotis, I never became interested in cooking. I was more interested in reading, graphic design, and making my own websites. I originally started Bay Food in 2010 simply as a way for me to dump all of my food photos during my first year in college. This was before Instagram became a thing and everyone would constantly share what they’re eating on Facebook. It evolved into writing reviews, showcasing other people’s photos, and my own food experiments and recipes while still exploring what the vast Bay Area has to offer. Three weeks before I was set to graduate from college, I went into cardiac arrest in April 2013, which sped up my process to putting myself onto the heart transplant list. I’ve dealt with a heart condition for my whole life, after going into heart failure at seven months old. As a result of that incident, I had a pacemaker for a year while I waited to improve my physical condition to be the strongest I could be for the transplant process. This also meant lifestyle changes, including my diet. This is reflected in how I focus on home cooking more than I used to. I try to make lower sodium and heart healthy foods that still maintain bold and bright flavors that I’m used to from my Pakistani upbringing. Thankfully, I received a heart in April 2014 at the age of 23, just a short four and a half months after being placed on the list. Onward to becoming a functioning adult that can stay healthy and enjoy a lifetime of burritos! When I’m not eating delicious food, I watch far too much TV for my own good, spend too many hours on the internet looking at clothes and Wikipedia, laugh a little too hard at celebrity gossip, and sleep at the worst times possible. I’m looking forward to showcasing the wide array of food the whole Bay Area has to offer, and some of my own creations too!

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