Product Review: Trader Joe's Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

[runpunkrun]

The first time I saw Trader Joe's Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies through the little plastic window of their cardboard box, I was unimpressed. They looked lumpy, dry, and tasteless. But I'll try anything GF once, so I bought them anyway. To my surprise, they were delicious. Tender but chewy, not too sweet, with good chocolate and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt on top. They're the best GF chocolate chip cookies I've gotten from a grocery store.

But. These have a "best by" date on the box. Take it seriously. Get the box that has the furthest out date you can, and eat them as soon as you buy them or freeze them, because they will get stale, even in their plastic sleeves, and be as dry and joyless as I first suspected. You get six cookies per box, with three per sleeve. I find one (maybe one and a half) is a perfect serving.

Current Ingredients: oat flour, brown cane sugar, semisweet chocolate (sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, dextrose, soy lecithin, vanilla extract [water, ethyl alcohol, vanilla bean extractives]), butter (pasteurized cream [milk], natural flavor), margarine (palm oil, palm kernel oil, water, salt, monoglycerides, sunflower lecithin, natural flavor, citric acid (acidulant), vitamin a palmitate, vitamin d2), sugar, sweet rice flour, egg, tapioca starch, brown rice flour, brown rice syrup, egg yolk (sugar), sea salt, baking soda, enzymes, natural flavor, baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, cornstarch, monocalcium phosphate), xanthan gum.

Comments

[shadowkat]

They are also very salty - so if you are on a low sodium diet or have a low tolerance for salt - be wary of that. I liked the frozen ready to back version better - less salty. And yes, they get dry fast - whether you back them yourself or don't. And for the frozen ready to bake version - underbake don't over bake.

[runpunkrun]

It's true. They can be very salty. But I've also got them with barely any salt on, so they're inconsistent.

[shadowkat]

The baked ones that I got were extremely salty, while the cookie dough wasn't. Which is interesting.

[runpunkrun]

The cookie dough is also dairy free, which I appreciate a lot, but it's much sweeter than the baked cookies. I'm just happy that they have two good gluten-free chocolate chip cookie options; three, if you're a fan of small, crispy chocolate chip cookies.

[shadowkat]

Not completely dairy free - it has eggs in it. It tells you not to eat it. (I ignored it - I've eaten cookie dough most of my life.)

Sweet Loren's is actually better. And has more flavors. Plus a low-in-sugar option.

I have both. And was able to compare. Sweet Lorens has chocolate fudge cookies. And it's not as sweet or as salty, also dairy and egg free. (It's vegan).

Add to all of that - more readily available in that you can get it outside of Trader Joes and at regular and health food grocery stores. It's everywhere.

My favorite is still... Eat Pastry's Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

Although Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix is also good but it's definitely not vegan.

Best store bought? Insomina Cookies Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies Freshly Baked. Those are amazing. Beats all the others by a mile. Hard to find though.

(I've become an expert.)

[runpunkrun]

Ah, but eggs aren't dairy. Even though they're often found in the dairy section.

I've tried Sweet Loren's, and agree it's a nice low-sugar option, but Eat Pastry and Insomnia are new to me. Thanks for the recs! Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite, so I'm always ready for more research. :D