While I’m usually more than happy to dig into anything sweet and delicious, and from time to time, I do enjoy indulging in treats that are also good for the environment.
In recent years I’ve been delighted by an explosion of new plant-based options that manage to taste just like the classics. Maybe I haven’t been looking in the right places, but I hadn’t seen the same emphasis on vegan products for home bakers. That is, until Supernatural reached out to me and asked if I was interested in trying out their new line of holiday sprinkles. They were so cute I couldn’t refuse, and turned out to be even better than I had hoped.
The Product
Supernatural is a company dedicated to recreating plant-based versions of baking essentials that are also free of artificial colors, gluten, soy and palm oils. Their lineup includes organic coconut sugar, plant-based food colors, and the vibrantly colored sprinkles they sent me. The sprinkles are dyed in bright shades using only spices and veggie-derived ingredients. They’re also free of the popular ingredient confectioner’s glaze, which is made out of secretions from insects (which sounds pretty gross, if you ask me).
Their holiday selection includes Christmas Sequins, Ugly Xmas Sweater, Great Big Blizzard and Into the Woods sprinkles, each at fewer than three grams of sugar and 15 calories per serving. Each three-ounce bottle retails for $7.99.
The Experience
Before I could get to decorating with delicious, plant-based sprinkles, I needed to bake something. I settled on a snickerdoodle recipe, and while it wasn’t exactly as clean or plant-based as Supernatural’s sprinkles, I knew they would taste amazing. Once they’d cooled, I applied an egg wash so the sprinkles would stick and started sprinkling away. Though I doubt Supernatural intended them for snickerdoodle decoration, I was really pleased with the results.
The sprinkles passed the taste test, too. They were delicately sweet, had sugary flavor and substantial, crunchy texture—though I’ll have to warn you that the thicker pieces are very hard and crisp. That’s just how I like them (and I wasn’t above snacking on them right out of the containers), but others might dislike the texture. If that’s the case, keeping the cookies stowed away for a day seemed to make the sprinkles soften, in my case.
As for the individual types of sprinkles, each one had something slightly different to offer in terms of colors, shapes and textures. My personal favorite was Great Big Blizzard, consisting of long thin icicles, two white snowballs in different sizes, big snowflake pieces and blue stones for an added bit of color, dyed naturally with spirulina.
Into the Woods was just as adorable. It featured the same white snowballs as Great Big Blizzard, but added more color with long, thin pine needles in a light green and thick pine tree-shaped sprinkles in a darker green. These sprinkles utilize a combination of spirulina and turmeric to get their bold color.
The simplest sprinkle design in the set was definitely the Christmas Sequins, but that didn’t make them pop any less. The entire bottle consists of identical circular buttons in white, red and green, with the strong colors achieved with the help of spirulina, turmeric and paprika.
Lastly, the Ugly Xmas Sweater sprinkles are absolutely the boldest of the bunch. The mix includes orange teddy bears, green Christmas trees, white gingerbread men and yellow bells, plus cute baubles of various sizes in orange, green, red and white. The luscious colors are achieved with the help of beets, turmeric and paprika.
Bottom Line
While Supernatural sprinkles are a little more expensive than your average cookie toppings, there’s a good reason for it. If you’re vegan, or simply care about how the ingredients you use are sourced, it’s an awesome option—and every single one of them looks fabulous, too. While the thicker, crunchier sprinkles won’t necessarily be to everyone’s tastes, I think most people will find that it’s love at first bite.
If you plan on baking something adorable before the end of the year, click HERE for the cutest captions to use for your holiday cookie posts.