What Makes Us Different From Others?

It’s not just about quality and presentation.
It’s about sharing our passion, embracing fresh and real ingredients, avoiding chemicals and preservatives – all while caring for the environment and about what’s good for people, too.
Read on. We’ll be updating this information about our choices (and why we make them) regularly.

We’ve noticed that not a lot of bakeries (much less subscription boxes) include information about the ingredients used in their products. At GiggleBake, we’re proud to share that information.

Our rule of thumb: If a product has a bunch of words in the description we can’t pronounce, we’re going to look for a better alternative. That’s why we go out of our way to use as many real and wholesome products as possible. And social responsibility matters, too. From our choice for wheat flours (King Arthur) and baking soda (aluminum-free) – to Guittard’s slavery-free chocolate and fresh fruits – for us, ingredients matter. (And it also means “fresh” isn’t just an option, it’s mandatory!)

Ingredients

You’ve probably figured out by now that we’re picky about the ingredients we use to make our GiggleBake sweets and savories. There are two reasons for that: Quality and Ethics. “Quality” speaks for itself, of course. But a company’s ethics – when it comes to producing their goods – matter to us, too. When we’re given a choice, we’ll go for the socially-responsible, sustainably and ethically sourced options every time.

We’d like to share our choices with you, and the list below is subject to change and growth over time as (we hope) more and more companies make the decision to incorporate those practices into their operating philosophies.

  • King Arthur Flour.This one was a no-brainer for us, because we’ve known about this company, how they make their products, and how they operate for a long time. Many of you may only know them as “the more expensive flour on the supermarket shelf.” To that, we can only add: “Thank heavens it’s available to everyone!”  There are many reasons we admire King Arthur (and if you’d like to see them all, just check out their website). But the two that are most important to us are these:
    • Their products. All flour is not created equal. Many home bakers aren’t aware of this – but it’s part of the reason sometimes recipes just don’t turn out right – and they’re not sure why. But we’ll let them explain it (from their website): “King Arthur Flour has the most rigorous standards for the wheat used to mill our flour—which means consistent baking performance, always. WE ALLOW A VARIANCE OF ONLY 0.2% IN PROTEIN CONTENT. Our competitors allow a 2.0% or higher variance in wheat they use in their flour, which can dramatically affect the outcome of baked goods.” Add to that that all their wheat is grown in the USA, plus it’s never bleached or bromated – and it makes us feel like we won the lottery every time we use their flour.
    • Their social responsibility. King Arthur is a 100% employee-owned company. And it just gets better from there. Founded 226 years ago, they’ve always maintained a commitment to the environment, to their employeestheir products, and to communities They are also a founding B Corporation – a new type of corporation that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems, that aspires to do no harm and to benefit all. As a B Corporation, they are held to comprehensive and transparent social and environmental standards. (Don’t you wish you could say that about all companies?) Overall, they’ve created a pretty impressive legacy – one that stands on the right side of the things that are important to GiggleBake, too.
  • Guittard Chocolate.  Most people – when they hear the words “chocolate” and “slave” in the same sentence – might just apply that to their own inability to pass up anything made with that creamy confection. But the truth is, there’s a much less savory reputation surrounding slavery and chocolate – and sadly, many of the most well-known chocolate purveyors in the world still subscribe to these practices. (If you’d like to read up on it, here’s a good source to discover more.) GiggleBake could never condone such methods of cocoa harvesting, which is why we made the decision to use Guittard chocolate exclusively in our baking and candies. Certified Fair-Trade and committed to Slave-Free cocoa harvesting, Guittard helps to make our GiggleBakes guilt-free (if calories don’t count, that is). To the best of our knowledge, GiggleBake is the only baker committed to the use of slavery-free chocolate in its products.
  • Rumford Baking Powder. Why? It’s aluminum-free. ‘Nuff said.
  • Honeyville Almond Flour.Yep – we know we mentioned above that we’re die-hard fans of King Arthur. But after baking thousands of our favorite little sweeties (macarons) – we have to admit that no almond flours on the market came close to the consistent quality and flavor of Honeyville’s Almond Flour. Non-GMO and Kosher, in addition, of course, to being Gluten-Free, Honeyville is based and made in California out of California almonds. They are recognized as being among the leaders in milling and quality certifications in the industry. The story of founder Lowell Sherratt, Sr.’s selfless act of helping many Japanese-American families avoid the March 1942 internment deadline that was set by President Roosevelt – by relocating Honeyville to Utah – was just the icing on the (gluten-free) cake for us.

Choosing Our Partners

In our GiggleBake Boxes, we try to make it a point to include something special and unexpected.

How do we pick these items?
  • In many cases, they are foods or products that we’ve come to rely on over the years for our own uses – and we believe they are so above-and-beyond that we’re simply compelled to share them with you. In many cases, we’ll build an entire box theme around them, we think they’re that good.
  • Others may be recently discovered artisan food items we’ve stumbled upon in our foodie quests – because as you’ve probably noticed, there’s always something new popping up. When we find something we love, we’ll do our research first: To discover more about the company’s philosophy to ensure they share our values, confirm they’re made in the U.S., that products are made with whole foods and minimal ingredients (if they’re locally-sourced – even better), and, uh – yeah – they have to taste GREAT. Some of our previous food partners include Just Poppin’, Apricot King, and Cherry Republic. (By the way, we don’t sell their products ourselves (which many tell us is weird) – but we let you know who they are and why you should visit their website to find out (and order) more, if you agree with us.)
  • Or – sometimes, it may not even be food. (Yes, it’s hard to believe, we know.) But sometimes, we just get really excited about sharing something fun, useful, unique, or even goofy. So – we will. One of the favorites was our Gigglewand (you had to be there). For Earth Day 2016, it was Bee Wildflower Garden seeds and real Vermont honey. It just depends. We’ve been known to be a little nutty on occasion.

Whatever we may settle on for each Box, you can be sure it’s going to give you something to chuckle about.

Preparing Your GiggleBake Box

It’s not often you’ll find our noses outside of cookbooks or baking blogs (unless we’re creating sweet giggles of our own, that is). For us, life basically boils down to keeping our eyes peeled and our notepads ready as we seek out the old, the new, and sometimes things a little twisted or goofy that we can put our own GiggleBake spin on. There’s literally no telling where our next theme idea will pop up from, or what our taste buds are in the mood to share. In fact, we’re always open to your ideas, too! Have a Box theme you’d like to see? Feel free to send your wacky thought our way at Surprises@GiggleBake.com.