Dr. Gourmet's Food Reviews

Lucy’s Oatmeal Cookies

This is one baked good that works well using gluten free ingredients. The types of flours used in gluten free baked goods don't work as well for items that need to rise, but they work great for cookies. We tested eight different cookies from four bakeries.

Lucy's

Their Sugar Cookies are good sugar cookies. They have no funny astringent or off putting flavors that gluten products can sometimes have. They are crisp but with a creamy flavor that hits all of the right sugar cookie notes. Each cookie is 43 calories.

Their Oatmeal Cookies are a different story. An odd sort of soapy flavor comes through at first that's almost chemical. This was unusual and does not make this a top choice but even worse there's not any oatmeal cookie taste. When I say none, I mean none. The taste and texture is almost identical to the sugar cookies (in blind tests tasters couldn't really tell them apart except for a hint of cinnamon). There's a sweet, sugary aftertaste. Fair cookies, but not great, so have their sugar cookies instead. Each cookie is 40 calories.

Kinnikinnick

We reviewed the Kinnikinnick waffles recently and they fared pretty well. Their Montanas Chocolate Chip Cookies don't fare so well and are just OK. One taster said "these are like Chips Ahoy" (but not in a nice way). They are crisp and have the same initial soapy flavor that the Lucy's Sugar Cookies did but give way to a standard boxed style chocolate chip cookie taste. Each cookie is 36 calories.

Annie's

Annie's Homegrown makes the cutest little Bunny Cookies. These are like tiny animal crackers. There's cocoa and vanilla flavor and these would be an OK snack for kids. They're crisp and sweet and flavorful. 27 cookies contain 120 calories.

Mi-Del

The cookiest of the cookies tasted are from the Mi-Del company. We tasted four from their gluten free lines. Their Arrowroot are quite simply animal crackers (I got a buffalo and a rhino). Great, sweet flavor and crispy. No funny chemical taste at all. Ten cookies contain is 120 calories and the most fiber of any of the cookies at 2 grams per serving.

Their Chocolate Chip cookies are head and shoulders above the Kinnikinnick. As with the Mi-Del Arrowroot Cookies, there's no off putting taste and the cookies are crisp, sweet and chocolaty. Five cookies have 120 calories.

Mi-Del makes both Cinnamon Snaps and Ginger Snaps. Both are great. Sugary and crisp, the cinnamon are really flavorful but 5 cookies come in at 140 calories. The Ginger Snaps are a little less, at only 130 calories, and are the clear winner of our taste tests. They taste exactly as they should: like ginger snaps. Crisp with a little bit of chew that the cinnamon doesn't have. They do have a fantastic gingery flavor.

This has been one of the most satisfying gluten free tastings we have done. I think we'll have another cookie session soon!

Reviewed: March 12, 2010