OU kosher-certified companies have released a slew of new breakfast-type products. These products cover a wide gamut in terms of taste and choice. For instance, General Mills has unveiled a new keto-friendly cereal, Nestle and Aldi have come out with new creative tastes for their coffee creamers, Skinny Mix introduced sugar free coffee syrups, Trade Joe’s released a dairy-free whip cream, Chobani has introduced dairy-free milks and yogurts and Stonyfield offers options for non-dairy smoothies. If desired, with these products you can remain pareve with the right combinations. You can now have a keto-friendly cereal (with milk), a coffee with creamer, syrup and whip cream along with yogurt on the side with a smoothie and still not be dairy. Trader Joes and Chobani have two creative recipes in relation to these categories that have been included at the end.
General Mills is unveiling a whole new line of cereals. In a noteworthy move, they are using their Larabar brand to showcase new cereals that are modeled after their Larabar bars. Larabar was acquired by General Mills in 2008. Larabar was founded by Lara Merriken who had a dream to make in impact within the natural food arena. She began with a line of bars with five flavors that has since generated more than 30 flavors. Originally, she tested them on friends and family and worked out of the kitchen. Eventually she was confident enough to move to stores soon moving to a facility. Her brand took off and General Mills had interest. In 2008, for $55 million they acquired the larabar brand. Lara has stayed on with General Mills and remains active in innovating with new products and flavors. The larabar cereals come in three flavors: apple pie, peanut butter chocolate chip and cashew cookie. They are dairy-free and use oats, nuts, spices, fruit and chocolate chips as base ingredients.
General Mills has also unveiled a keto-friendly cereal under their Wonderworks brand. It’s available in three flavors: cinnamon, chocolate and peanut butter.
Companies have been very active in introducing flavorful coffee creamers. Nestle is introducing two new Coffee-Mate flavors, Oatmeal Creme Pie and Glazed Donuts. For those looking for a plant-based options, Coffee-Mate’s Natural Bliss brand is unveiling Almond Sweet Crème. Chobani is introducing a trendy, limited edition coffee creamer, Peppermint Mocha. Look out also for their Original and Vanilla Oat coffee creamers that are plant based and dairy free, a good option for those who are lactose intolerant. Aldi has been very innovative in this category as well. They introduced French Vanilla, Fat Free French Vanilla or Sugar Free French Vanilla creamers.
In the area of coffee syrups, you can now enjoy great flavor while still remaining sugar-free. Jordan’s Skinny Mixes launched limited edition coffee syrups. These syrups, The Sugar Free Peppermint Bark Syrup and Sugar Free White Chocolate Mocha, are very trendy.
If you like whip cream in your coffee, but want to remain dairy-free, Trader Joes can accommodate that. They introduced Coconut Whipped Topping, a dairy-free whipped cream.
If you’re lactose intolerant and need an oat-based milk, Chobani has introduced Probiotic plant-based beverages. Their Non-Dairy Oat Beverage allows you to use milk for your cereal and coffee while remaining dairy-free. A good choice from Trader Joe’s in this category would be their Non-Dairy Maple Oat Beverage.
On the yogurt side, Chobani has innovated with Non-Dairy Chobani Coconut. It’s all natural made from non-GMO ingredients and remains gluten free. They also offer Chobani Oat Strawberry Vanilla that is dairy and lactose-free. In this area, Trader Joe’s has introduced Coconut Dairy-Free and Cashew Dairy-Free yogurts.
On the smoothie side, Stonyfield offers many creative flavors. They have a Dairy-Free Berry Cherry Blast Smoothie, Dairy-Free Strawberry Smash Smoothie and Dairy-Free Tropical Twist Smoothie.
The following are two recipes, one by Trader Joe’s for Oat Beverage Matcha Latte and one from Chobani for Maman’s Double Chocolate Cookie with Chobani Oat Vanilla Ganache.
Trader Joe’s Oat Beverage Matcha Latte
INGREDIENTS
¼ cup hot water
1 package TJ’s Matcha Green Tea Single-Serve Packages
¾ cup TJ’s Non-Dairy Oat Beverage
DIRECTIONS
Empty matcha powder package in hot water and whisk until dissolved.
Add oat beverage and whisk until combined. Serve and enjoy immediately.
Chobani’s Maman’s Double Chocolate Cookie with Chobani Oat Vanilla Ganache
INGREDIENTS
For Ganache
¾ cup Chobani® Oat Vanilla
2 ¼ cups white chocolate baking chips
½ vanilla bean
6 tablespoons softened, unsalted butter
For cookies
1 2/3 cups softened, unsalted butter
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
7 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa powder
1 tablespoon + ½ teaspoon sea salt
1 ¾ cups baking white chocolate chips
1 ¾ cups baking dark chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS
Over a double broiler, melt the white chocolate.
In a separate small pot, add Chobani® Oat. Slice the vanilla bean down the center and scrape out the seeds inside the bean. Then add the seeds and the pod to the pot.
Slowly bring the Chobani® Oat and vanilla to a boil. Remove from heat and discard pod.
Pour the boiling oat mixture over the white chocolate, mixing thoroughly.
Add the softened butter and mix until everything is combined.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Cover ganache and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
For Double-Chocolate Cookies
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar and mix on low speed until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, and sea salt. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix until combined.
Add the white chocolate and dark chocolate chips and mix on medium-low for 1 minute, being careful not to overmix the dough.
Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop and roll ¼ cup-sized dough balls and place 2 inches apart. Reserve ½ cup of cookie dough and set aside.
Using your thumb, press into the middle of each dough ball making a hole approximately ½” deep in the center.
Chill the prepared dough pans in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Once the ganache has chilled for at least 2 hours, preheat oven to 350ºF.
Remove cookies and granache from refrigerator and transfer the ganache to a piping bag (or a Ziploc bag with a bottom corner cut off).
Pipe the ganache into the thumbprint indentations, leaving a little bit of space at the top so they do not overflow.
Break off small pieces from the reserved dough, creating “lids” to place over the ganache. Lightly press the lids over the ganache to create a seal, to avoid ganache melting outside of cookie during baking.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the edges look firm and the centers are still a little gooey.
Let cool on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes, then enjoy with a glass of Chobani® Oat or transfer to a wire rack to let cool completely.
Chef’s Note
If you do not have a stand mixer, you can also use a hand mixer. Just remember to add ingredients slowly.
If the dough is slightly sticky when making your thumbprint, dip your finger in flour first.
If the ganache is too hard after removing from the refrigerator, let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes to soften.
You can store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days—but they’ll probably be gone by then, anyway!