Who Doesn't Love Cookies? Fair Trade Cookies, Even Better!

I love to bake. If I'm not packing a parcel of fair trade jewelry for Dunitz & Company, I might be baking. Sometimes it's tough finding new recipes I want to try. Truth is I'm sort of in a rut. I seem to always favor recipes I've been making since I was a young girl. If you've known me for years and years, you're probably familiar with my Chocolate Chip Cookies. Other favs come from my grandmother's Settlement Cookbook. Peanut Butter Cookies. Oatmeal Raisin. Date Squares. The classics! I thought I'd search the internet for some recently published yummy looking cookies that are made using fair trade ingredients. Do you think it's time to try one of these recent recipes? Maybe one of these below will become your new favorite.

 

About a year ago, I attended a beach marshmallow roast with my Fair Trade Los Angeles friends and colleagues. At the time, I'd never eaten Tony's Chocolonely's yummy bars. Tony's had donated some of their "everything" bars for our s'mores and now I'm hooked. I discovered this recipe from New Zealand of all places that uses broken up pieces from Tony's bars. This is definitely on my list for a new baking experiment. And I'm sure you could swap out the type of candy bar you select for your sweet creations. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And from the UK comes another recipe discovery using Tony's chocolate bars. This one calls for two different types of chocolate bars.  Honestly, it never dawned on my to use fair trade chocolate bars for baking. But, honestly, it makes a lot of sense. Note to Nancy. Time to substitute chips from grandma's cookbook with fair trade certified candy bars chopped up! 

And another from the fair trade kitchens of the UK.  These Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies use candy bars from Divine. And I know you can buy Divine in the USA, because I have.  It never dawned on me how to even bake red velvet cookies. Now I know what to do! Shall we give it a go?

Seriously! I'm now all about using candy bars as part of cookie prep. I had no idea Dr. Bronner offered their own brand of candy bars and coconut oil. Evidently they do, because I found this recipe on their website with these as part of the ingredients listed. Did you know that Dr. Bronner is a member of Fair Trade Federation? (Dunitz is also a verified member.) They call their cookies Magic Nut Butter Cookies, probably because they don't use traditional flour.

Here's a call out to Fair & Square Imports of McKinney, TX. Not only do they have a blog which includes a post (and video) of this cookie recipe, but they also sell Dunitz & Company jewelry in their store. You know I love that! OK - so back to recipes.  Sure enough "Arthur's Fair Trade Salted-Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies" also use Divine Chocolate bars. 

 

 

Camino is based in Canada and offers up all sorts of fair trade ingredients - many appropriate for baking. This must be why I discovered a couple of cookie recipes on their website. Their Healthy Snack Cookies might be a fun option because it uses bananas and blueberries. And of course they suggest substituting fair trade chocolate for some of the blueberries. Did I mention that Camino offers a variety of chocolate bars? My guess is if you're not in Canada, you can find the needed ingredients in the USA.

 

Here's another recipe from Camino I know a lot of you will want to try. Double Chocolate Chip Cookies! Many people I know are crazy for chocolate. They'll always go for fudge cake and chocolate ice cream over other choices. Me, I prefer carrot cake and vanilla. Given that, let me know, hahahaha, how you like this recipe. It looks rich and crazy good for you chocolate fiends. 

 

Want to know my take away after discovering these recipes online?  It's time to pull out your grandma's cookbook and start doing some ingredients substitutions. Even if you haven't located fair trade sugar or cocoa powder, I know you can find some amazing chocolate bars. Time to break them up and start substituting them for the chips you might otherwise by at your local supermarket. What do you think? My grandma's cookbook dates from 1945. And I think it's time to do some updates. My updates might just be the way to everyone's heart! -ND

Fair Trade Recipes for the Sweet Tooth

Most of you know I'm passionate about my fair trade jewelry business, Dunitz & Company. Did you know I also love baking? I often scour the internet for recipes that use fair trade ingredients or could use them. Perhaps you've seen Dunitz & Company's Pinterest Fair Trade Recipe board with some of my discoveries? More than anything, I have a sweet tooth. If you share my love of dessert, you might want to try some of these recipes.

 

I adore all things coconut. When I discovered this recipe from This Week for Dinner, I knew it had to go on the to-do list. As long as you have ingredients, you'll only spend about half an hour making a batch. You can easily use fair trade ingredients in the recipe. Chocolate. Cocoa Powder. Sugar. Vanilla. Even Coconut.

Still like things very chocolatey, but without the coconut? This recipe from Alexandra's Kitchen adds espresso. Don't eat these before you go to bed. I haven't baked these yet. And I think they'd be the perfect breakfast food. Fair Trade coffee is really easy to find. If you're reading this post, I'm assuming you already know that.

These fair trade Chocolate Mocha Brownies are a great way to eat something delicious and feel good about what your banking. You can use lots of fair trade ingredients with these. I discovered this recipe at Fair Trade Foundation based in United Kingdom. I'm always impressed by the support for fair trade in UK. Here at home, I still need to explain to many people what fair trade is. I think they're ahead of us here in UK.

 

So you want something sweet and crunchy while you huddle in front of the television? This recipe from Fair Trade Winds for spiced popcorn should do the trick. They even offer up resources for the olive oil (Serrv), spices (Frontier Co-op), sugar (Wholesome Sweeteners) and cocoa powder (Equal Exchange) you might choose to use.

Here's a surprise. I always opt for white chocolate over milk chocolate. That's why this recipe for Banana White Chocolate Brownies really appealed to me. Bananas allow these to be really chewy. And they are definitely for those of you who like things sweeeeeeet! The Glamorous Glutton, based in UK, was my source for these. Have you ever bought fair trade bananas before? Now when you see some in your local grocer, you can consider baking these.

Fair Trade Judaica offers up this Honey Cake recipe, perfect for the holidays. Think fair trade honey for this one.  African Bronze, a member of Fair Trade Federation comes to mind for a resource. I haven't made this recipe before. It is on my list. And I adore that it calls for raisins too. 

Salt in My Coffee, a blogger from Maine has a great recipe for gluten free peanut butter blossoms. She promotes fair trade with these cookies with using fair trade dark chocolate. YES! She also provides ideas for substitutions in the recipe. Prefer honey over sugar. You can do that. This is another recipe I haven't made before. I will try it soon. Want some?

Looking for a fabulous fair trade rug? check out Bunyaad. (They also sell Dunitz & Company jewelry in their retail store.) Since you're reading this blog post, you'll probably be most interested in their rice pudding recipe I recently discovered. This recipe is simple to make. Looking to serve a bit of the exotic from your kitchen? This is a Pakistani favorite.

 

 

 

 Sweets for breakfast? I love that Fair Trade Certified's mixed berry scones are made with.....drum roll....fair trade strawberries and blueberries.  And fairly sourced sugar too. On occasion, I've actually discovered fair trade berries at Costco. When I do, they go into my cart. Let me know if you try this recipe.

And finally, you need something yummy to wash this all down! StyleWise Blog provides a recipe for a fair trade ginger tea hot toddy. You can use fair trade tea and honey to make this one. I'm not entirely sure if you can find fair trade bourbon. If you find some let me know.

Now you have my list of 10 fabulous fair trade recipes to soothe your sweet tooth. Sometimes at Dunitz & Company, it's just fun to talk about something other than jewelry. If you have a favorite dessert where you use fair trade ingredients, I hope you will share it with me. I'm always game to bake something new. And don't forget to follow our Pinterest fair trade food & recipes board to get more ideas from us.-ND