I wrote a while ago that I would write reviews of the all-natural flavorings I am experimenting with and said I would share what I found.

I tried the Clear Vanilla and am very happy with it. I dont like to taint the color of my RI, cupcake frosting or fondant with regular vanilla (even if I balance it with Amerricolor Bright White) and using artificial clear vanilla flavoring is a no-go for me. I tried the Spices Etc. all natural Clear Vanilla and love it! Two thumbs up! I have tested it in fondant, cream cheese frosting and of course, in RI for cookies as that is what I do primarily. It gives a much truer color vice compensating with Bright White (and no taste from adding white). This is a keeper!

I also just tried the Pumpkin Pie Spice Flavoring in my RI and paired it with a Spice Cookie. It was fantastic! It pulled the flavors all together and will now be my go-to for my Fall cookie flavor. It made such a difference. Those would had them said that they tasted like Pumpkin Pie, which is exactly what I was going for.

If you didnt see the other postings, I also liked the Lime, Coconut, Orange, Lemon and Cherry as well.

To answer questions I usually get, I add it at the end of mixing my RI and do so to taste. For example, for a full batch of Antonia74s RI, I used 1 3/8 tsp of the Pumpkin Pie Spice Flavoring. That made a good amount of RI, but I had a lot of cookies to do. For smaller batches, I mix it up and pull out what I need and then add to taste. To give an idea, I used 1/8 tsp of Lime for 1½ cup of RI. Same with Orange and a bit more of Cherry. My friend, Jen Whitlock, has used the Orange in meringues and really liked it. I also put Coconut in my dough itself with very good results. I paired that with Coconut RI for a big Coconut fan and also paired a Coconut Cookie with Lime, Orange and Cherry for some fun summery-themed cookies. Very good as well.

To save on PMs about the coupon code I have as I am kind of swamped, here is info on a generic coupon code for a first time order (not specific to CC I did have one of those, but with rules and reds on CC, I was not to pass it along. So this is a generic one):

CC9 flat rate shipping of $4.95 for orders within the US only
AKT9 15% for US or international orders (discount taken before shipping costs)

Choose the one code that applies to you or what you want and enter it at the beginning of checkout and then continue on.

The Flat Rate shipping will be the first option for shipping under the billing information and the 15% off will show up when looking at the summary.
If you need it, here is a link to the page on their all-natural flavorings and extracts:

http://www.spicesetc.com/category/Natural-Flavorings

If you do order, you then get info on specials they send out via e-mail for discounts that can vary from flat rate shipping, free shipping and percentage discounts. You just need to have already placed your initial order.

I have always appreciated information that I have learned from others here and will write more reviews as I try more flavors.

Happy holidays and happy baking!
Tracy

Tracy - that is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing all of this wonderful info with us. I found it very helpful that you told us the amount of flavoring to put into the RI. Thanks for the website and coupon codes as well.

I just saw in another post that you had mentioned the spice cookies with the pumpkin pie spice. I had written that I thought that sounded delicious, especially for the holidays.

Thanks again!

You are welcome and glad to help! They have just added such a fun touch to my cookies. I discovered that finding all-natural, good-quality flavorings is not so easy, so when I did, I wanted to share the info with my fellow cookiers.

Tracy,

Thanks to your generous work, I used the coupon code when you first posted it and ordered several flavors. I love the clear vanilla too! In fact, thanks for reminding me I need to order more!

I've also used the natural maple, caramel, raspberry and amaretto. All are good - some more subtle than others. Even the ones that have a color to them (like raspberry) if using only a little (1 - 1 1/2 tsp) in a whole batch of RI (I use Antonia's), the icing still looks completely white when it's done mixing.

Great! Thanks so much for sharing what you found, Bonnie! Those sound great! I have the maple and raspberry, but had not tried them yet. Thanks again!

I tried (and I like all of them):
-Maple
-Clear Almond (I've made a second order for a 32oz)
-Clear Vanilla (I've made a second order for a 32oz)
-Banana (A banana cookie (real bananas+extract, and banana extract in the icing.. very good ! also try a chocolate cookie with banana icing on it, so good!)
-Orange
Will try tomorrow :
-Lemon

I have so much more in my pantry to try... need time!

Seriously, it's stuff like this that makes me wonder how people survive in baking without CC! Thank you so much Tracy and everone else for such wonderful info. I do remember you posting about this place a long time ago and I had saved it, but not ordered. I am now for sure going to go place an order for all of the delicious flavors you have all reviewed (minus coconut,lol) These will be waiting for me when I get home. Especially since reading about your pumpkin pie spice cookies and the idea to add maple to NFSC in the other threads, so excited!!!! Thank you!

You are welcome! I need more time so I can try the flavorings in the dough as well. It worked great with the almond and the coconut!

Thanks, Verano for posting your thoughts! You read my mind about the banana cookie!

I've put the orange extract with some orange juice in a cookie with an orange icing, was good !
Will try the same with lemon..
And the maple I put some in the cookie and the icing.. + real maple
And I also have a maple-peacan cookie with maple icing.. hmm hmm