Gluten Free Product Review: Cookies

First the standard disclosure that I'm not receiving anything from these companies to review their products, not even free samples.  I'm just sharing my own personal impressions of some of the gluten-free products we're trying out since my partner's diagnosis with Celiac Disease.  It can be quite a complicated treasure hunt! 

The Good:
Kinnickinik brand KinniToos Chocolate Vanilla Sandwich Cookies
Ah, Oreos, how I missed thee....

These Chocolate Vanilla Sandwich Cookies were a passable to good version of the gluteny cookies. The texture was perfect. The filling was sweeter than Oreo's, but they balanced the overall flavor well by putting in a little less. It wouldn't work as a double-stuff, unless you like super-sweet. I would highly recommend putting some in a bag, smushing them a bit, and mixing them with vanilla ice cream if you sorely miss the classic cookies and cream flavor. Of course, they're pretty darn good all on their own. By the way, they're also dairy, nut, yeast and egg free (according to their website) for those who have multiple allergies. They do contain soy.

The Bad:
Glutino Chocolate Dream Cookies
Another oreo-like chocolate cookie with cream filling. The cream filling is similar to Kinnickinik brand and Oreos, but the cookie part falls flat. It has a satisfying crunch, then seems to dissolve into fine wet sand in your mouth. It's the unfortunate curse of the rice flour, which simply doesn't break up well on cooking. After two cookies and a full glass of water to wash down the grit, I think I'm done with these. If there was no other GF chocolate cream sandwich cookie on the market I'd probably grin and bear it because the flavor itself is all right. Unfortunately the texture is a significant fail.


The Ugly:
Jovial brand Vanilla Cream Filled Chocolate Cookies
JD and I pondered for some time over the disgusting-yet-compelling taste and texture of these cookies. The closest I can come to describing them is "crack-filled dog biscuits". The texture and overt flavor of the cookie, which I didn't realize was supposed to be chocolate until I saw the package, is dry, crumbly, and disturbingly close to the aroma of milk bones. The filling taste a little like sweetened condensed milk mixed with corn syrup. There is an odd aftertaste, which somehow made me want to take another bite, just to sort out the conflicting messages I was getting between all my senses. Then another bite, probably just to kill the aftertaste. Then a big glass of water because the cookie had sucked all moisture from my mucous membranes. If these have a marketable use, it's definitely as a desiccant.