RawSpiceBar Review + Whole Wheat Gingerbread Cookies

Whole Wheat Gingerbread Cookies

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. While I received compensation for my fair review of RawSpiceBar, all opinions expressed are my own. I only review products which I believe will benefit my readers and align with the niche of my blog.)

Spices add flavor to your food without adding an excessive amount of fat or calories and can liven up your healthy staples (such as chicken and rice) into a meal full of tantalizing flavors. Trying new spices offers an elements of fun and variety to cooking from home. If done right, trying new spices can actually make your cooking more budget-friendly, as a well-furnished spice cabinet means you can whip up your own curry at home, rather than going out to eat or ordering in. Additionally, spices elevate the taste profile of budget-friendly foods such as rice, chicken, potatoes, and vegetables.

However, furnishing a full spice cabinet can be expensive, especially as you branch out into more exotic spices such as saffron (which costs upwards of $2000 per pound). Other times, you don’t want to purchase an entire container of garam masala just to try it in a single recipe (or just leaving that essential herb out of the recipe, as I often do!).

RawSpiceBar: Freshly Ground Spices Delivered to Your Door Each Month

The solution? RawSpiceBar is a subscription service that lets you small samples spices from across the globe. They are a reputable and thriving business and has been featured on numerous cooking website, including my personal favorite The Kitchn.  Each month they send you three spice blends, all from the same region, along with sample recipes for how to use the spices. One month, you may receive Turkish spices to introduce you to Middle Eastern cuisine (yum!), the next month you’ll get to sample popular Ethiopian spices. RawSpiceBar allows you to travel through the tastes of the world without ever leaving your own home, as the monthly spice box is delivered directly to your front door. Best of all, their spices are friendly to any sort of diet: vegan, Paleo, and gluten-free.

RawSpiceBar Review

The people at RawSpiceBar kindly reached out to me and offered a sample of their spices. The company’s emphasis on high quality and freshly ground spices, perfectly sized portions, and global flavors attracted me to their product, as did my natural love of cooking. For $6 per month, you receive 3 freshly ground flavor kits with a regional theme, 3 corresponding tested recipes that will serve 4-6 people, culinary history for the represented region (which you know I loved!), and surprise bonuses such as bonus spices or discounts to other services. You can subscribe on a monthly, 6 month, or yearly and cancel your subscription at anytime.  

For my sample month, I received three Scandinavian spice blends: winter herbs, gingerbread spices, and gravlax spices. These three blends are ideal for holiday baking and cooking. Each spice blend arrived neatly packaged and clearly labeled with both the ingredients and instructions on how to use it. Additionally, the recipes come with clear instructions and the spices are measured out exactly so that a single recipe uses the whole packet. In addition to the spices, I also receive a discount code for three free meals if I signed up for a partner meal subscription service.

The RawSpiceBar package arrived in a slim, fuss-free envelope in my mailbox. As an environmentalist, I genuinely appreciated how efficiently the spices were packaged—there was no wasted material or space.

RawSpiceBar Review

As a healthy eater who prefers whole foods with minimal ingredients, the high quality of the Raw Spice Bar blends pleased me. The spices are fair-trade and organic and the blends contain no fillers, MSG, salt, or sugar. Considering these spices cost $6 a month and were delivered at my door, RawSpiceBar genuinely offers an affordable deal for all adventurous home cooks.

[Tweet “Add international flavors to your cooking with @rawspicebar monthly subscription via @thisrunrecipes #cooking #review”]

Whole Wheat Gingerbread Cookies

We all know how much I love gingerbread, so naturally that was the spice I selected to use first in this whole wheat gingerbread recipe I’m sharing with you today. I adapted this recipe from the recipe they provided and my favorite gingerbread recipe.

One of the clear advantages of the RawSpiceBar subscription is that the spice blends come pre-measured. There was no need to purchase ginger, cardamon, star anise, nutmeg, cinnamon, and the other spices in the gingerbread spice and then measure out the precise ratios; all I had to do was open the packet and add to my dough! The gingerbread blend created a deliciously warm and spiced flavor to the cookies, which was a more complex flavor than my usual cinnamon and ginger combination for gingerbread. Full disclosure: I ate two of the cookies right after photographing them, because the fragrant gingerbread spice blend tempted me from the moment I opened the packet. 

Whole Wheat Gingerbread Cookies

Whole Wheat Gingerbread Cookies

Laura Norris
Prep Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 1/2 teaspoon RawSpiceBar Gingerbread Blend*
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1/4 cup natural unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/3 cup maple sugar or brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour plus more for rolling
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions
 

  • Using a stand mixer, hand mixer, or whisk, cream together the butter, applesauce, and maple sugar until smooth, or for 3-4 minutes.
  • Beat the egg, molasses, and gingerbread spices into the creamed mixture until smooth.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until thoroughly combined.
  • Let the dough chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Lightly dust a clean surface with flour and roll out the dough until approximately 1/8 inch in thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies and place them on the sheet, with ample space between each cookie as they will expand as they bake. Continue to reshape and roll out the scraps of dough until all of it has been cut into cookies.
  • Bake the cookies in the oven for 10 minutes, or until firm.
  • Let cool on the baking sheets for 3-5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
  • Store in an airtight container for up to five days.

Notes

*If using your own spices, use 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger, and 1/2 teaspoon allspice
Adapted from Martha Stewart

I highly recommend the quarterly RawSpiceBar subscription if you are interested in trying new spices and enjoy cooking at home, and you know I only recommend products I would use myself. There are no downsides to RawSpiceBar, with the exception that you may receive a month of spices that do not appeal to your personal palate, but that is no fault on their part. RawSpiceBar is an approachable and affordable way to add a touch of luxury and world travel to your budget-friendly home cooking!

[Tweet “Tasty whole wheat gingerbread cookies with @rawspicebar spices are the perfect #holiday treat! via @thisrunrecipes”]

You can connect RawSpiceBar on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

What region’s flavors would you like to try?
Merry Christmas Eve! What are your holiday plans?
Is RawSpiceBar something you would try?

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15 Responses

  1. We tend to stick to the same spices that we know we like, because its so expensive to buy something and only use it once! We got a spice rack for our wedding but when through most of those quickly and since then have only replaced the ones we use frequently. Hope you have a great Christmas!

    1. It is so expensive to only use a spice once! A spice rack sounds like such a great wedding present! Hope you and Rob had a wonderful Christmas and enjoy time with your family!

  2. Oh cool! Those would taste so fresh with the spices. I just went through my spice cupboard and threw out spices from like 5 years ago. GROSS. Merry Christmas Laura!

  3. I am glad Laura you had nice experience. But, I felt that RawSpiceBar’s product quality was not what I had expected (I had heard great reviews) and the individual spice packets contained less than what was promised on the label (I individually weighed each packet – even if you include the weight of the mini brown envelope, the product delivered was less than what was promised).

    I canceled after 1 month – I think, it was a waste of $6 for less than 3 spoons of spice!

    1. I’m sorry to hear you had a negative experience – that is frustrating! I didn’t have a kitchen scale to weigh my spices, but I know what was provided was enough for a batch of cookies. I don’t know if there is variation from month to month, but I guess there very well could be.

  4. If you read recent reviews of rawspicebar you will see that they are very negative. A lot of people are not even getting their spice boxes. My May box finally arrive on June 18 and I have not received June’s box. I emailed them, but have not heard back about the June box. I received a 6 month subscription for Mother’s Day and am wondering if they are that incompetent or if this is a scam. I am not the only one.

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