Republic of V opens + the Winner is..

Republic of V, BerkeleyCan you imagine a place where everything on the shelves is vegan? No need to read labels, just cruelty free shopping bliss? Well, those of us in the San Francisco Bay Area just got lucky, as Republic of V opened last week in Berkeley, CA.

Of course, because they carry the best in vegan goods, they have Go Max Go Bars! I was thrilled to see the bars on display and in good company of many fine products. The owners of the shop said they were flying off shelves quickly, which I’m sure comes as no surprise.

If you find yourself in the area, you MUST stop by. Don’t forget to grab lots of Go Max Go bars to satiate your sweet tooth! Check them out on Facebook.

By the way, we had a TON of entries for the last giveaway. It was a thrill to see people tweeting and posting their recipe ideas. THANK YOU for the great suggestions. Some of you pretty much read my mind, but I also got a lovely idea from the comment section that will hit the blog on Friday. Be sure to come back to see the new recipe!

Now, let’s announce the winner of the 8 Go Max Go bars; one of each flavor, plus an extra Jokerz to bake Peanut Butter Jokerz cookies with. Congratulations to..

Natalie LeGuerrier!
Thank you Natalie for tweeting about the giveaway! Please email info@gomaxgofoods.com to claim your prize.

Until next time! x

Peanut Butter Jokerz Cookies + the Giveaways don’t stop!

image(5) Ladies and Gentlemen, start your ovens. Here we go again with another recipe, this time starring Go Max Go sensation, JOKERZ!

This is not a cookie for the faint of heart. Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chips, and the caramel, nougat goodness of Jokerz bars is a serious flavor explosion, all in one little edible disc.

Peanut Butter Jokerz Cookies
Makes 12 cookies

1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Non-Dairy Vegan Butter (I use Earth Balance), MUST be at room temperature
2/3 cup creamy Peanut Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
3/4 cup Turbinado Sugar
1/2 cup Evaporated Cane Sugar
1/4 cup Chocolate Chips
1 Jokerz Bar, sliced down the center long-ways, then in thin slices

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using electric mixer, beat vegan butter, peanut butter and vanilla together in large bowl until well blended.
Add in both sugars and blend until fluffy.
Add flour, baking powder, and salt, blend until combined and well formed in to a moist dough.
If your dough is sandy, add a bit more peanut butter. The vegan butter needs to be soft to have the proper consistency to make a soft dough.
Fold in Jokerz and Chocolate Chips.

For each cookie, take a heaping tablespoonful of dough and form it in to a flattened disc, about a 1/2 inch thick.
Bake the cookies until set on edges, about 12 minutes.
You may find some melty candy bar spillage around the edges, it tastes great!
Cool on a wire rack, then ENJOY!

GIVEAWAY!
Just like Miley Cyrus, We Can’t Stop! This time, we’re giving away 8 Go Max Go bars, one of each flavor, plus an extra Jokerz to bake with, oh yeah! Check out the ways to enter, lots of chances to win! Winner announced 2/25.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Viva La Vegan Grocery + WINNER time!

Viva La Vegan!Happy Tuesday all! Melisser here and today, we’re showing some love for The Largest Vegan Grocery Store on Earth, Viva La Vegan! With two locations in California, we’re stoked they carry Go Max Go Candy Bars for your eating pleasure. Also, they ship internationally, which is appropriate with last week’s international candy bar giveaway. Thank you Viva La Vegan for showing your Go Max Go love on Instagram.

We had over 100 entries from all over the world and we loved your answers to which seven bars you would pick. Most of you seemed to have a hard time choosing. Trust me, we have a hard time choosing which one to eat as well!

I have a new recipe up my sleeve coming up for Friday. Maybe, just maybe, there will be a giveaway to go with it.

Alright, let’s get to the WINNER! Congratulations to Tami, who said:

“I just gave Go Max Go bars to my whole family for Valentine’s Day, so I need to replenish my stash!
I would chose:
2 Jokerz
2 Snap!
1 Twilight,
2 Mahalo”

Great choice, Tami. Please email info@gomaxgofoods.com to claim your prize!

For the rest of you, be sure to keep reading the blog and join us on Facebook and Twitter, so you don’t miss out on any news and more giveaways!

Until next time! x

Quick & Easy Mahalo Puffs + an International GIVEAWAY!

Mahalo PuffsHappy Valentine’s Day! Did you forget to make dessert? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered with a quick and easy (*wink*) 20 minute treat that’s sure to be a hit. Chocolate + Coconut + Almond in puffy bready goodness is a great combo to make your friends and the special someone in your life (aka YOURSELF) swoon!

MAHALO PUFFS
Makes 8 puffs, aka enough for 1 or 2 gluttonous people!

Your Favorite Vegan Crescent Rolls (try Immaculate Baking, Trader Joe’s brand, or Pillsbury)
2 Go Max Go Foods Mahalo Bars
1 Tbsp of non-dairy Butter, melted (I used Earth Balance)
Shredded Coconut (optional, but pretty!)

Mmm, Puffs!Ready, Set, GO!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Melt your non-dairy butter
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and spread a little of that butter on the parchment
Cut each Mahalo bar in to 4 pieces, then use the side of your knife to flatten each piece
Place each Mahalo piece on the unbaked crescent dough triangle, then fold over and seal the edges
Brush each sealed triangle with melted non-dairy butter, then sprinkle with coconut shreds
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until lightly browned
ENJOY!

See? Nice and easy, plus now you’re off the hook for forgetting to buy flowers and a cheesy stuffed teddy bear- phew! Or, if you’re like me and skip the sappy holidays, you’ve now got a belly full of deliciousness. GOOD JOB!

Aww SNAP™, it’s time for a GIVEAWAY and this one is open worldwide!
We’re giving away SEVEN candy bars, but the catch? It’s YOUR choice which seven you win. Mix and match however you please! (Tough one, right?!) Don’t forget to grab some bars to make the recipes on the blog.
To Enter, comment below and tell us: If you win seven Go Max Go Candy Bars, what flavors will they be?
Entries must be in by Monday night, we’ll announce the winner on Tuesday, February 18th, so get to it and spread the word!

Until next time! x

Error Records loves Go Max Go + our Giveaway Winners!

Error RecordsHello again, Melisser here. Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway! We were so excited to see how many of you know and love Go Max Go Candy Bars, and especially to find out where you purchase them!

Speaking of places to purchase them, this week we’re showing some love to Error Records, an all-ages music venue, record store, and independent label in Champaign, IL. We adore that they bring music to the people, support local musicians, and sell our decadent candy bar goodness!

We spotted their love for us on their Instagram (thanks for using #GoMaxGo) and now we’re showing our appreciation for them right back. If you’re a local, go grab some bars! Or hey, maybe you’re in the mood to do some online record shopping?!

Now, we know you’ve all been waiting to see who the two winners of our crazy candy bar giveaway are. Great Job to those of you who answered correctly that the two newest bars are Thumbs Up and SNAP! Have you tried them yet? We hope so!

AndTheWinnerIsWe won’t delay you any further, I mean, you have Buccaneer Brownies to bake, right?! *drum roll please*

Congratulations to Cadry who buys hers when she’s in a town with a Whole Foods and to Leigh O. who gets hers at Follow Your Heart in Canoga Park, CA! Please email info@gomaxgofoods.com to claim your prize.

Also, thank you to spokescat Scurvy for not eating the prizes!

Didn’t win? Don’t you worry, there will be more opportunities to win in future blog posts. Not to mention, I’ll be back on Friday with another Go Max Go Recipe! Can you guess what the recipe will be? Comment below with a guess OR tell us what you’d like to see and it may be a future recipe!

Until next time! x

 

Buccaneer Brownies Recipe + a GIVEAWAY from Melisser Elliott!

Buccaneer Brownies with Raspberry Candy Drizzle!

Well, hello, Melisser Elliott here. You may know me as the author of the Vegan Girl’s Guide to Life, the blogger behind Cruelty Free Face, the creator of Sugar Beat Sweets bakery, or hey, not at all! Regardless, I’ll be your guest blogger for the next few weeks, showing you how to sweeten up your life with recipes, giveaways, tasty tidbits, and more! In fact, stay tunes for a giveaway in THIS very blog post.

My first recipe is for the serious chocolate lover. We all know and love the nougat-filled Buccaneer bar, but what if you baked it in to a rich, fudgy brownie, then topped it with a Raspberry Candy drizzle? OH YES, I DID!

Buccaneer Brownies with Raspberry Candy Drizzle

1 3/4 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Canola Oil
2/3 Cup Water
2 tsp Vanilla

2 cups Flour
1 Tbsp flax seed meal (ground flax)
2/3 cup Cocoa Powder
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Salt

1 1/2 Buccaneer Bars, cut Recipes Stepsin to various size small pieces, no larger than dice.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients until smooth.
Add in the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed, taking care not to over-mix. The batter should be a thick dough-like consistency, not unlike cookie dough.
Fold in the Buccaneer bar pieces, then press the mixture in to a lightly greased or parchment lined 9×9 pan, and stick them in your pre-heated 350 degree oven.

Bake for about 35 minutes, taking care not to over-bake or they will be very hard!
They should look gooey in the center with a firm set edge & a crackled top.
Allow them to cool for 10 minutes, then get your drizzle on.

Raspberry Candy Drizzle:
1/2 Buccaneer Bar, chopped in small pieces
2 Tbsp Raspberry Jam
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
A pinch of salt

Add all the ingredients to a small sauce pan.
On low heat, stir the mixture together constantly, taking care to melt the nougat and mix everything together.
Once everything is combined, drizzle it on to the cooling brownies.
The brownies should cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before being removed, so the center can set.

TA-DA! You’ve now been given the key to ooey-gooey brownie bliss. Good luck sharing with friends, I sure didn’t!

GIVEAWAY TIME!
I couldn’t tempt you with this tasty treat and not offer you the key ingredients to make it. That means TWO winners will win TWO of each Go Max Go Foods candy bar! That’s right, fourteen candy bars per winner and all you have to do is the following..

To Enter, comment on this blog post with the answer to this two-part question:
What are the two newest Go Max Go candy bar flavors AND where do you buy your Go Max Go bars?
The contest is open to US residents only. I will announce the two winners on Tuesday, February 11th, so be sure to check back to see if you won.

Until next time! x

HOLIDAY HAPPY GIVEAWAY!

here’s the deet’s direct from our facebook page:
it’s a win/win GIVEAWAY! 3 winners (picked randomly) will recieve 7 go max go bars each. nice, right? get’s better…first winner will have $100 bucks donated (in their name) to a charity of their choice! winners two & three will each have 50 bucks donated (in their names) to charities of their choice! just leave a what up here & you’re entered! winner’s will be announced around noonish on sunday.
*we wouldn’t dream of telling anybody what charity to support, but we can’t support any charity that tests on animals so we ask that you respect that, mmmkay? thanks & good luck y’all
thar ya go! see ya sunday 🙂

and the winners are….

bernadette sessions! dandies & 14 go max go bars. salena gomez! mini mallows, a tote, & 7 candy bars. we couldn’t stop there so 7 candy bars each to rachel Xvx jordaon, zippity doo da, zakiyyah moorehead & ashley v leslie! woot! thanks to everyone that entered & keep yer peepers open cuz we’re plannin’ more giveaways soon. we love you tons!

go max go + chicago vegan foods = one fantabulous giveaway!!

what’s better than some free go max go candy bars? some free go max go candy bars along with some free chicago vegan foods dandies marshmallows!! thass right! we teamed up with chicago vegan foods to bring you a veganlicious giveaway! one winner gets a bag of regular sized dandies marshmallows and 14 go max go candy bars. the other winner gets a bag of dandies minis (they’re so cute), a chicago vegan foods tote & 7 go max go candy bars. just leave your info here & your entered. easy, right? contest ends monday around 3. winners picked at random…good luck!!

And the winnahs are…

hi kids. we just completed our random “fishing of the names in a big blue bowl” ceremony & here are the names of the winners (btw, we upped the number of winners from 3 to 7 because, well, why not?): nora allen, cort caldwell, christina oura, cera rivers, stephanie nicole medoff, dave, & dina v. kourda! Yippe! congrats to all & thank you guys so much for your sweet comments here on the blog. we love you all a ton!!! now that the weather has cooled down we’ll be able to have more giveaways so there’ll be more chances to win free candy. i love free stuff 🙂