ScharChocolate Dipped Cookies

Chocolate dipped cookies, ah, three magical words when placed in sequence.  I love chocolate and I love cookies and was so impressed with the other Schär varieties I had tried, I knew these would not disappoint – and they did not.

I was a longtime fan of LU’s Petit Ecolier biscuits but since going gluten free years ago, I have  only been able to glance at the little school boy sitting on the grocery shelf, longing to taste their buttery saltiness coupled with the rich deep dark chocolate.  Schär is THE closest I have come to replicating the LU experience.  The cookies are wonderfully crisp and buttery.  Each cookie has a generous portion of dark chocolate that is smooth and provides just the right amount of sweetness coupled with a cacao bite.  If you happen to stumble across these in your shopping travels, do yourself a favor and pick them up. 

Chocolate Hazelnut Bars

When I find a brand I like, I stick to it.  Since my recent discovery of Schär I have been steadily working my way through their products.  Their chocolate hazelnut bars are really excellent.  It is akin to eating a giant chocolate covered wafer filled with hazelnut goodness.  They are crisp with a delectable smooth cream layered on the inside.  The chocolate coating is not to thick, not too thin, but just the right amount to add a fair amount of sweetness to the bar.  Perhaps the best thing about the bars is that a single bar is only 200 calories so while not exactly a diet food, one bar will certainly not ruin your waistline.  One tip: refrigerate the bars as, particularly in the summer, their chocolate coating tends to melt rather quickly.

Shortbread Cookies 

Continuing with my Schär shopping trip I picked up these shortbread cookies.  I am a big cookie fan and cannot remember the last time I was able to eat a shortbread cookie.  My grandmother, who was a phenomenal baker had THE best shortbread recipe.  Alas, she also NEVER wrote anything down so her recipe (along with many others) left this world when she did.  So, taken by the promise of being able to recreate a childhood taste sensation that was also gluten free sold me on these cookies. 

They did not disappoint.  They were buttery and had a really nice texture – not too grainy as is sometimes the case.  But here is where it gets good.  While chewing away, suddenly, through the sweet, was the bite of saltiness that instantly took me back 20 years to my grandmother’s cookies.  The contradiction of sweet with the slight touch of savory IS what makes a good shortbread, so my compliments to Schär.