Choosing All Kinds of Cookies

We have to be honest. We only got to know All Kinds of Cookies because of their offer to send us a "gift" for our fourth anniversary celebration. We didn't find them in Facebook or in Twitter or any social media site before. Which is quite odd, really, because after we tasted their cookies, All Kinds of Cookies should be known Riyadh-wide! Or Kingdom-wide if they open branches! ;) 

All Kinds of Cookies is a home-based business that makes a variety of cookies that cannot be easily found in local coffee shops and bake shops. It is owned by Sarah Shuwaier and Amber Rasz, two American women who married Saudis and now consider Riyadh as their home. Sarah is the baker and Amber is the one in-charge of their online sites. 

Sarah started baking out of boredom and eventually, it became a passion. She started making them for family and friends until she was bugged endless by these loved ones, who can't get enough of her cookies, to finally sell them. She uses the freshest and finest ingredients available locally to bake these goodies (hooray for no preservatives!). With the help of Amber, Sarah started selling online. Their Facebook page features their menu and prices and customers can just message them or comment for inquiries. Customers then can either pick up their orders from well-known landmarks or can have their orders delivered within the greater Riyadh area. So far, their cookies are a hit!

What better way to celebrate our fourth anniversary online.

And we couldn't blame them. We're hooked with their cookies too! The huge cookie cake they gave us for our anniversary was a thing of beauty. It was huuuge and covered in white icing with pink icing laced to form The Pink Tarha words in the middle. It was heavy too, a good sign that it is full of yummy goodness.

Will you look at that!

Yes, please!

Even though sinking a knife into the middle of the cookie broke our hearts, we had to do it to get to the depth of the cookie. The edges crumbled with a soft nudge while the middle remained firm; the knife slicing its way effortlessly within the smooth, moist layer. The buttery dough hid a generous cache of chocolate chips. Each bite from our cookie slices ala pizza was rewarded with a couple of chocolate chips. We were amazed on how the middle remained moist despite of the sheer size and despite sitting in our pantry for a few days (it's so huge for the four of us we needed family and friends to help us devour it in a matter of days).

Molasses | Oatmeal&Raisins | Chewy Brownies

Yummy!

After the huge cookie, we also got to try the smaller ones in different flavors.

Chewy Brownies: my fave!

Keep calm my heart.

Being a fan of chewy cookies, I couldn't help but pine for the chewy brownie cookies. What more can be chewier than a cookie named chewy, right?! ;) It made me weak in the knees. The crispy outer layer gave way to a melting center. It was a tad bit too sweet but if served fresh from the oven, is definitely comforting. More of these, please!

Eyecandy's choice: oatmeal and raisin cookie

Mmmmmmm.

The famous oatmeal and raisin cookie is also present. It's pleasantly gritty; the texture alternating from crispy to smooth to course to dry to chewy. This is Eyecandy's favorite of the bunch.

Molasses cookie, Shoegarfreeruby's pick

My sugar coated cookie (and fingers)

I was hesitant to try the molasses cookie. As a kid, my grand aunts would bring these packed cookies from the States during the holidays and their rich, spicy flavor of cinnamon, ginger, and molasses didn't exactly sit well with my palate. The All Kinds of Cookies version of molasses cookies though is now one of my favorite kind of cookie! (And Shoegarfreeruby's too!) The moist cookie, simple as it seem with its dark color and sugar coated top, is deeply fragrant. The flavor is subtle; the spiciness is barely there. It's quite addicting! 

There are more flavors of cookies to choose from. The choices are myriad you'd need an hour to choose. So we asked Sarah and Amber what their favorites are to help you choose. Sarah's personal favorite is the soft, chewy chocolate chip with walnuts while Amber, who had a hard time picking (because really, how can one possibly pick a favorite cookie?), settled with molasses, chocolate chip, and Snickers. I'm dying to try the mocha chocolate chip, Oreo truffles, s'mores, and chocolate mint flavors. Ahhhh, the perils of wanting too many!



They also have quick breads, biscotti, and gourmet popcorn! 

All Kinds of Cookies deliver to the greater Riyadh area with a small fee for orders under SR150. They have a weekly offer so better LIKE their Facebook page and stay tuned. For this week, they're offering a 9-inch cookie cake for 50 riyals only! Whatta TREAT! Go get 'em now! 

Visit their other page too. Titled Camel Couture, this page is Sarah's and Amber's way of giving back to the community. They offer different kinds of classes that plans to bring people together for the love of "creating." I love this idea. I have a belief that 2013 is the year of the "creatives"! Let's go, ladies! ;) ~ Sundrenched

What's Your Kukuruza (Popcorn) Flavor?

"Of course life is bizarre, the more bizarre it gets, the more interesting it is. The only way to approach it is to make yourself some popcorn and enjoy the show." 

There's no quote more appropriate in describing how we're living in Riyadh, or how we should live it. Grab yourself a popcorn and enjoy the show. I know it isn't that simple but look at it this way... there are things that are beyond our control and worrying about them doesn't do us any good. Why can't we all just take a back seat and enjoy Riyadh more often? It shouldn't be all work. All work and no play? That's depressing! So, what do you say to grabbing some popcorn and watching the world go by? And when I do say popcorn, let's not go for the normal buttered ones. We can all get them in the grocery aisles. Let's go for gourmet! (Because we hardworking people all deserve it!) 

You might have visited Hayat Mall lately and saw their latest dining section, named Al Liwan, on the second floor where Applebees is. They've re-designed and spruced up the place to accommodate more restaurants like Maya Chocolaterie and Crepe World. There's a froyo booth (Fresh n' Tangy), a juice shack (Farghali) and a gourmet popcorn booth. The latter perked up my senses with its sweet sugary scent tickling my penchant for all things dessert-y.. And its name piqued my curiosity. What in the world is Kukuruza?! That is the popping question! 

Enter the Kukuruza world...

Kukuruza Gourmet Popcorn is a family business that started in Seattle. The ordinary popcorn is bathed with creative, unique flavors that make it extraordinary. They have over 30 flavors ranging from the usual cheese, caramel, and coffee to the intriguing jalapeno, lemonade lavender, maple bacon, and buffalo blue cheese. The sheer variety is interesting and unusual. I wanted to taste everything and make my head spin over the countless possibilities. However, the branch here in Riyadh does not have every flavor after all. 

Caramel and Kettle Corn

Guess which fruits are in there.

For their first few weeks, the Kukuruza franchise in Saudi Arabia offered most of the flavors but when I got there two weeks ago, there were only a few flavors available. According to the salesman, they are having a hard time getting all flavors through customs. They only offer what they can manage to obtain. Oh what unpredictability! 

Free taste,  yummy!

Sweet or savory?

Sweeeeet!

Although the around ten flavors available that time seemed enough for me. The taste test went on for about ten minutes before I settled on four flavors: rainbow fruit, jalapeno white cheese, dark chocolate kettle corn, and coffee. If the cheese flavor would've been available, I'll order the Chicago Mix because that's what I've always been waiting for to land in the sand dunes of Saudi Arabia. 

Salt+Vinegar | Coffee | Fancy Nut Caramel

The popcorn is crunchy and a little chewy at the same time. The flavors burst in the mouth without too much resistance. The rainbow fruit is very interesting; I didn't know what fruit I was tasting. Haha! I just know it's fruit-flavored. The jalapeno white cheese was mildly spicy but I couldn't taste the white cheese. The kettle corn drizzled with chocolate was a revelation. They were a perfect pair. However, I'm used to kettle corn that has a very pronounced flavor in the Philippines. I couldn't get that in this version. The coffee was a lot crunchy because of the hardened glaze. There were little bits that are hard and not-so chewable I had to spit them out but those are quite rare in the bag. These popcorn are quite addicting, especially when you find the right flavor for you.

Tin cans in various sizes.

Perfect for gatherings and events.

You know it's actually easy to taste everything in Kukuruza. Apart from the glasses filled with popcorn for free tasting, a small resealable bag is only SR 9! They also have tins for larger gatherings and they can prepare a gift box for any occasion. I am hopelessly waiting for the other flavors to come. Please customs people, let go of Kukuruza's other popcorn flavors (esp. the Chicago Mix and Buffalo Bleu Cheese)! Thank you! 

I can't wait to enjoy Riyadh more with all of Kukuruza's flavors! ;) Now, if only there's a cinema in here... (whew!) ~ Sundrenched

Kukuruza Gourmet Popcorn 
Al Liwan Dining Area 
Second Floor, Hayat Mall 
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

PS. Kukuruza, the word, is Russian for corn.