Champs Bakery, Take Two

After descending upon them with my awesome sweet tooth on their very first day, I was anxious to return to Champs only three weeks later, having been tempted by the promise of even more exciting treats to come.

I was surprised to find that there still weren't any tables or chairs set up, and the decoration hadn't made much progress.  There was a larger and more varied assortment of goodies, but none of the items I was hoping for such as bread goods (croissants!), black and whites, and rainbow cookies.  In their defense, because of my fruit/dessert aversion I passed on a majority of the day's offerings because there seemed to be an inordinate amount of fruity goods: scones, muffins, danishes, etc., which simply are not my individual cup of tea.

vegan friends: the best kind

I brought home a bunch of pignoli cookies, which were covered in nuts just the way I like them.

Last time there was only a sprinkle, so this was a great improvement on an otherwise already delicious cookie.

Of course I had to try the chocolate chip cake balls: giant, dense, glazed munchkins of sorts.

Fantastic, but I suggest that you eat these right away because the sweet, icy, glaze turns the ball quite mushy in the fridge.  This is particularly grand if you're a cookie dough lover, but I preferred them as fresh cake: tasting like an upscale donut hole/tiny cake. 

Look at the incredibly huge chocolate chips lurking throughout!

Finally, I could not pass up the iced sugar cookie shaped like a crown.   They also had a tooth but, um, yeah; I went with the crown.

 These tasted almost exactly like my scrumptious dinosaur sugar cookie from the bakesale; I swooned.  That's what I'm talking about, Champs; things like this truly support a mission of being an authentic, [vegan] Brooklyn bakery.

The consensus among NY vegans seems to be that there's somewhat of a standoff as they wait for Champs to kick things up a notch.  While I agree that I've expected "more" both times I've visited, I can't say that I have been disappointed in anything I've chosen.  But Champs, please do bring it on; we're ready.  And, in the meantime I'll be buying the pignolis, sugar cookies, and chocolate chocolate chip scones by the truckload.

Btw, have you tried their cake?