Grub Street world headquarters was graced today with a gift from “Celebrity Natural-Food Chef” and Real Housewife Bethenny Frankel. Last month, Frankel launched a Bethenny Bakes line of vegan muffins, and today we tasted the sampler pack. What did our discerning panel of non-vegans think?

Low-Fat Fudge-Chocolate-Chip Muffins
The consistency is fudge-y, but the vanilla and almond extracts are overpowering.
“If I never had fudge or anything good, I suppose this would do.”
“Tastes like the amaretti cookies Italian grandmothers give you.”
“Where are the chocolate chips?”

Almond Lemon Poppy-Seed Muffins
Dry and sandy — not even soy milk or “vegan vegetable shortening” can make this muffin moist.
“Tastes like pot!”
“I’m waiting to get to the nuts.”
“Feels like a bran muffin.”
“Crumbly, but lemony, like a Hostess Fruit Pie.”

Coconut Cupcakes With Coconut Icing
The icing was a favorite, but the coconut extract reminds us of something else.
“It tastes like suntan lotion, like Bethenny Frankel made this with all of her beauty products.”
“It’s like peeling sunburned skin after you’ve put on Hawaiian Tropic oil.”
“Like eating a piece of the Sahara — with frosting.”
“I tasted the icing more than anything. It doesn’t have that fake-icing flavor you get on cheap cakes.”

Bethenny Bakes [Official site]