Kinnikinnick Foods' KinniToos Chocolate Sandwich Creme

Brand: Kinnikinnick Foods

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Product Name: KinniToos Chocolate Sandwich Creme

Location/Cost Info: Kinnikinnick Foods' Website



Total From A to Z: 5 Stars

A's Review: * * * * *

You know Oreos? OK. You love Oreos? OK. There is an option for GF people to end their Oreo drought and it is called KinniToos!

Z's Review: * * * * *
Tastes just like regular Oreos, only gluten-free!!! 'Nuff said!

Mi-Del's Cinnamon Snaps

Brand: Mi-Del

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Product Name: Cinnamon Snaps

Location/Cost Info: Mi-Del's website




Total From A to Z: 4 Stars

A's Review: * * * *
These make really good little s'mores, if you can't have regular graham crackers. Crunchy and bite-sized, you could eat these by the handful and enjoy every second.

Z's Review: * * * *
I found these cookies when I was on a quest for gluten-free graham crackers to take camping. I didn't find any graham crackers, so I bought these cookies as a replacement for making gluten-free s'mores. I figured graham crackers are sometimes cinnamon flavored, so I thought these would be close. Although they are smaller than the half graham cracker used for the average s'more, they tasted great! An excellent option for a gluten-free s'mores substitute. Because what's camping without s'mores? (NOTE: Make sure your marshmallows are gluten-free too!)

RESTAURANT: Global Cafe

A&Z

at
Global
Cafe

Restaurant: Global Cafe

Location:
Buena Vista - 222 Hwy 24 South - (719) 395 - 8092
Full-scre
Gluten-Free Options: Gluten-free options are marked on the regular menu and include bread for sandwhiches, pasta on the dinner menu, and cookies!

Total From A to Z: 5 Stars

A's Review: * * * * *

What a find. We stumbled upon this place about a year ago when it had only been open for a week. At the time, Z was not yet GF and so the full handwritten whiteboard menu was open to her. Last month, we were passing through Buena Vista again and needing lunch, we stopped at Global Cafe. It has grown into a full service oasis with a much larger menu including an extensive wine list and they tell you where they get the ingredients for the food (most are local to Colorado). They have also added a full GF menu section, with GF panini for sandwiches. Z was ecstatic. We were very pleased to see it grown and doing well. Most certainly worth stopping here anytime you are in Buena Vista.

Z's Review: * * * * *
We usually review restaurants in the Boulder/Denver area, so Global Cafe is a little bit outside our usual range. We happened to stop at Global Cafe on our drive back from Great Sand Dunes National Park, where we had spent the weekend camping. I figured I would be at least able to get a nice salad for lunch. But I was super surprised to discover that Global Cafe works hard to cater to its gluten-free guests!! They had gluten-free bread for sandwiches, gluten-free cookies, and they even offer gluten-free pasta on their dinner menu! I can't tell you how excited I was to order a panini for lunch. And it was seriously delicious, as was the peanut butter cookie I enjoyed for dessert. Global Cafe also has a really nice atmosphere. It is located in an old gas station, which gives it a sort of recycled charm. It also has an adorable thrift store next door. And well-behaved pets are welcome on their patio, so we had a lovely lunch on the patio (complete with a glass of wine) with our puppy getting to take a break from being in the car too. If you are ever in Buena Vista I highly recommend Global Cafe.

BISCOTTEA's Blueberry Tea Shortbread

Brand: BISCOTTEA

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Product Name: Blueberry Tea Shortbread

Location/Cost Info: BISCOTTEA's website


Total From A to Z: 5 Stars

A's Review: * * * * *

It's like a tea party in my mouth. The blueberry variety was the sweetest of the offerings but it is still not so sweet to make you think you are eating dessert. Think of them as being sort of close to flavored Lorna Doone cookies. I could keep eating but I ran out of tea.

Z's Review: * * * * *
Of the three BIS-COT-TEA flavors we have tried, this one is my favorite! This shortbread tastes just like eating a blueberry in cookie-form! It is also buttery and crunchy, just the way shortbread should be. In my opinion a perfect sweet snack.

BISCOTTEA's Chai Tea Shortbread

Brand: BISCOTTEA

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Product Name: Chai Tea Shortbread

Location/Cost Info: BISCOTTEA's website



Total From A to Z: 4.5 Stars

A's Review: * * * * *

The picture on the packaging is square, but don't let that fool you. These babies are round. The chai flavored ones are just that since they are made with actual chai spices. Yum. I did notice that while these claim to be GF (nothing containing wheat in the ingredients), printed with the "Best by " was a line stating "ALLERGEN WARNING CONTAINS WHEAT AND MILK." I can only assume that this is because they are produced on shared equipment? So...fair warning if you are especially sensitive.

UPDATE: We received the following input from BISCOTTEA concerning the allergen warning:

The product you received was misprinted with allergen information. That has been corrected. The allergen warming states "Contains Wheat and Milk." This product contains no wheat and is tested for gluten with a result of less than 5ppm before released for sale. The allergen warning was printed in error.

Z's Review: * * * *
This cookie tastes like cinnamon and ginger. However, it isn't really buttery like you expect shortbread to be. It is a bit darker than shortbread and more like a regular cookie. But, that being said, this cookie is pretty delicious. It is crunchy with a wonderful hint of chai spices. A very satisfying sweet snack.

BISCOTTEA's Earl Grey Tea Shortbread

Brand: BISCOTTEA

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Product Name: Earl Grey Tea Shortbread

Location/Cost Info: BISCOTTEA's website


Total From A to Z: 4.5 Stars

A's Review: * * * * *

Waaaaay better than regular biscotti. Smoky with just a touch of sweet flavor, a very nice texture, and just the right amount of crunch. Did I mention this is waaaaay better than regular biscotti?

Z's Review: * * * *
I have to admit up front that I am not usually a fan of Earl Grey tea because I don't really like the "smokey" flavor it has. However, I did actually like this cookie. This may not be the best description, but I thought it sort of tasted like lavender. Maybe that is the smokey flavor of Earl Grey coming through? In any event, it was sweet and buttery and crunchy. All in all, a pretty satisfying sweet snack. Someone who enjoys Earl Grey more than I do would probably love this cookie.

Pamela's Products' Ginger Mini Snapz

Brand: Pamela's Products

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~ This item is in A&Z's Store!

Product Name: Ginger Mini Snapz

Location Purchased: King Soopers

Cost: $3.99

Note: This product was part of Z's Blind Ginger Cookie Taste Test! See the results!

Total From A to Z: 3.5 Stars

A's Review: * * * *
These cookies were the most like regular ginger snaps (out of the four we tried) and so they ranked second place on my list.

Z's Review: * * *
These cookies were crispy and crunchy, with a generally strong ginger flavor. They were a little bit on the hard side and I thought they were a little too grainy when chewing.

Pamela's Products' Spicy Ginger Cookies

Brand: Pamela's Products

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Product Name: Spicy Ginger Cookies

Location Purchased: King Soopers

Cost: $4.39


Note: This product was part of Z's Blind Ginger Cookie Taste Test! See the results!

Total From A to Z: 2.5 Stars

A's Review: * * *
These cookies were really hard but at the same time chewy. They were very gingery. I think they had the best flavor, but they had a strange texture.

Z's Review: * *
These cookies are really hard right out of the box - so hard that they almost taste stale. When you eat them they are chewy, but not exactly in a nice way. They have a really string ginger flavor and the name of the cookies isn't kidding - they are actually spicy! The flavor is actually really good but I couldn't get past the texture, which is why they ranked so low on my list.

Nana's Ginger Cookie

Brand: Nana's

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Product Name: Ginger Cookie

Location Purchased: Whole Foods

Cost: $1.99 for one large cookie


Note: This product was part of Z's Blind Ginger Cookie Taste Test! See the results!

Total From A to Z: 3.5 Stars

A's Review: * *
This cookie is really chewy, really dense, and really soft. Not my favorite.

Z's Review: * * * * *
This may be the biggest disagreement A and I have had about gluten-free food rankings. A put this cookie in 4th place but I put it in 1st place. You can smell this cookie as soon as you open the package - and it smells great! While this is a very soft and "cakey" cookie, I thought it had a really enjoyable flavor. It reminded me of spice cake, and though the texture is a little bit weird for a cookie, I really, really enjoyed it.

Trader Joe's Gluten Free Ginger Snaps

Brand: Trader Joe's

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Product Name: Gluten Free Ginger Snaps

Location/Cost Info: Trader Joe's website (why oh why isn't there a Trader Joe's in Colorado?!?)


Note: This product was part of Z's Blind Ginger Cookie Taste Test! See the results!

Total From A to Z: 4 Stars

A's Review: * * * *
These are crunchy and don't have a lot of ginger flavor, but they still ended up being my favorite of the bunch. Satisfying.

Z's Review: * * * *
This cookies are crispy and crunchy, but luckily not too hard. I think they have sort of a brown sugar flavor so they are not too gingery, though there is a gingery aftertaste. All in all a satisfying ginger cookie.

Z's Blind Taste Test #5: Gluten-Free Ginger Cookies

Z's Blind Taste Tests are a monthly feature on Gluten-Free from A to Z!

Z's Blind Taste Test #5: Gluten-Free Ginger Cookies

How It Works: Z will cook/bake/prepare four different versions of the same gluten-free product and randomly label each version with a number. Then A and friends will try all four versions and rank them from most favorite to least favorite. The results will allow us to see exactly how different brands of gluten-free products compare to each other!

The Contenders:

1. Trader Joe's Gluten Free Ginger Snaps
2. Nana's Ginger Cookie
3. Pamela's Products' Spicy Ginger Cookies *
   
4. Pamela's Products' Ginger Mini Snapz *
   

*I would have preferred to use four completely different brands of gluten-free ginger cookies, but after looking in three different stores these were the only four different types of gluten-free ginger cookies I could find. So, like the chocolate chip cookie blind taste test, I ended up using two different types of Pamela's Products cookies.


The Final Results:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snapz (3 of 6 votes!)
  
• 2nd Favorite: Trader Joe's (4 of 6 votes)
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies (4 of 6 votes)
  
• Least Favorite: Nana's (4 of 6 votes)

A's Blind Rankings:
(For A's comments on each cookie, please see the individual A-Z reviews!)

• Most Favorite: Trader Joe's
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snaps
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies
  
• Least Favorite: Nana's

Our Friend RK's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snapz - "great! crunchy! crispy! yum!"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Trader Joe's - "crunchy, slight lemony taste"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies - "really chewy - makes me worry about the health of my jaw! interesting subtle flavor under the strong ginger"
  
• Least Favorite: Nana's - "gritty - but weirdly yummy, very gingery, kind of cakey and more like eating cookie dough than cookies"

Our Friend SK's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snapz - "tastes just like normal ginger snaps - yummy!"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Trader Joe's - "crunchy, sweet, but less ginger-snappy than my favorite"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Nana's - "way cakey-er, not at all crunchy, interesting, very light in weight and flavor"
  
• Least Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies - "very gingery, really chewy - too many would hurt my jaw!"

Our Friend MS's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snapz - "balanced flavor, nice and crispy"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Trader Joe's - "crispy, strong ginger flavors"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies - "really strong ginger flavor, soft but firm, almost too much"
  
• Least Favorite: Nana's - "not as gingery, grainy"

Our Friend GW's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Trader Joe's - "nice, crispy but not tough with a pleasant ginger taste"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snapz - "more of a biscuit tan a cookie, nice sharp ginger tast, very crisp but also maybe too tough to what I prefer"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies - "these taste like what i want a ginger cookie to taste like but what happened to these cookies? kind of like they got baked with taffy!"
  
• Least Favorite: Nana's - "wait, am i eating less flavorful cakes of brown sugar? te taste is not great and it is only slightly gingery, but there is something about the texture that is very nice and compelling"

Z's Not Blind Rankings:
(For Z's comments on each cookie, please see the individual A-Z reviews!)

• Most Favorite: Nana's
  
• 2nd Favorite: Trader Joe's
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Ginger Mini Snapz
  
• Least Favorite: Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies
  

GlutenFreeda's Real Cookies: Chip Chip Hooray!

Brand: GlutenFreeda
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Product Name: Real Cookies: Chip Chip Hooray!

Location Purchased: King Sooper's

Cost: $3.99 for 12 frozen unbaked cookies (cookie dough)


Total From A to Z: 5 Stars

A's Review: * * * * *
I don't know what they put in these cookies, but they are just good. You could switch them out for non-GF ones and no one would ever question it.

Z's Review: * * * * *
We've tried quite a few varieties of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, but these are the best we've had so far! We found them in the freezer section - a dozen frozen chunks of cookie dough. Preheat the oven, pop them on a tray, and bake for about 20 minutes and you have gloriously fresh and home-made-tasting gluten-free cookies. Sweet, moist, mouth-watering, and makes your kitchen smell amazing! No one would have any idea that they weren't regular cookies. Also, I have to admit that this cookie dough tastes pretty great before it is even baked. (I nuked a couple in the microwave for a few seconds and just ate the dough!) Next time we are going to try chopping up the frozen dough and adding it to vanilla ice cream for a gluten-free version of cookie dough ice cream!

Nana's No Gluten Chocolate Cookie

Brand: Nana's

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Product Name: No Gluten Chocolate Cookie

Location Purchased: Whole Foods

Cost: $1.99 for one large cookie

Total From A to Z: 3.5 Stars

A's Review: * * * *
Dense like the lemon cookie. Chewy like pound cake. You'll want to have milk with this, but it is a nice sweet treat.

Z's Review: * * *
This chocolate cookie was pretty dry and cakey, sort of like a brownie that was not quite right. The flavor was actually quite nice, but there was something about the texture I didn't like. It felt sort of like powder in my mouth, though the good chocolate flavor makes up for that a little bit. Certainly not the worst gluten-free snack I've ever had, but not among the best either.

Nana's No Gluten Lemon Cookie

Brand: Nana's

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Product Name: No Gluten Lemon Cookie

Location Purchased: Whole Foods

Cost: $1.99 for one large cookie

Total From A to Z: 4.5 Stars

A's Review: * * * *

Dense and they have a very bold lemon flavor. Roughly the same texture and feel as pound cake. Tasty tasty.

Z's Review: * * * * *
A and I shared this big lemon cookie, and it was so yummy I wished I had a whole one of my own! It was a bit more cake-like than cookie (thick and soft) but the lemon flavor was really satisfying. It was also nice to know that the cookie had all natural ingredients and was sweetened only by fruit juice. It had no gluten, no eggs, no dairy, and no refined sugar - so almost anyone should be able to enjoy this tasty cookie!

RECIPE: GFE's Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Source: GFE - Gluten Free Easily

Original Recipe: Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Recipe Review by Z: I was intrigued by this recipe when I saw it on GFE because there's no flour in it at all! In fact, the whole recipe has only five ingredients! For peanut butter I used Arrowhead Mills' Organic Crunchy Valencia Peanut Butter, which is labeled as gluten-free. The recipe was pretty simple to put together and quick to make.

Total From A to Z: 5 Stars

A's Review: * * * * *
OK, someone tell me how peanut butter, brown sugar, and vanilla can manage to not be awesome? These taste great!

Z's Review: * * * * *
I have to admit: when I originally read this recipe on GFE I was pretty skeptical about it. I didn't see how so few ingredients could be combined and baked into a cookie with the right consistency. But it worked and these cookies were delicious. By following GFE's instructions (especially including the part about leaving the cookies on the cookie tray after removing them from the oven) I was rewarded with perfect and gluten-free peanut butter cookies!! The peanut butter flavor really comes through, too. The second batch with chocolate chips was also amazing!

Pamela's Products' Simplebites Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies

Brand: Pamela's Products

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~ This item is in A&Z's Store!

Product Name: Simplebites Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies

Location Purchased: King Soopers

Cost: $3.99

Note: This product was part of Z's Blind Chocolate Chip Cookie Taste Test! See the Results!

Total From A to Z: 4.5 Stars

A's Review: * * * *
Definitely the best of the cookies in our blind taste test. Small and crunchy, they reminded me of the Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies that my family used to get at Costco.

Z's Review: * * * * *
These bite-sized cookies are by far the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that I have found straight from the package. They were crunchy with a sweet and memorable cookie flavor. The chocolate chips are little but tasty. They come in a resealable bag but we literally ate the whole bag the same night we opened it!

Pamela's Products Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brand: Pamela's Products

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Product Name: Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies

Location Purchased: King Soopers

Cost: $4.39

Note: This product was part of Z's Blind Chocolate Chip Cookie Taste Test! See the Results!

Total From A to Z: 3.5 Stars

A's Review: * * *
These cookies were soft and yet dusty at the same time. While usually I would say that a glass of milk is required to go along with any cookies, you really do need it in this case as these were quite dry once bitten into.

Z's Review: * * * *
This was a good sized cookie with huge chocolate chunks. It was soft and a little bit crumbly, but all in all an enjoyable cookie treat.

Enjoy Life's Soft Baked Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brand: Enjoy Life

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Product Name: Soft Baked Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Location Purchased: Whole Foods

Cost: $3.99

Note: This product was part of Z's Blind Chocolate Chip Cookie Taste Test! See the Results!

Total From A to Z: 2 Stars

A's Review: * *
Soft and chewy, but with a strange almost-too-soft texture and a weird secondary flavor, one that reminded me of ginger.

Z's Review: * *
These cookies were just slightly larger than bite-sized. They were soft and crumbly and were almost more like a tiny cake than a cookie. The chocolate chips were pretty little. This cookie also had a sort of weird flavor - like they used an unusual ingredient. Not my favorite gluten-free chocolate chip cookie.

Cherrybrook Kitchen's Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies

Brand: Cherrybrook Kitchen

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Product Name: Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies

Location Purchased: Whole Foods

Cost: $3.69 for box


Note: This product was part of Z's Blind Chocolate Chip Cookie Taste Test! See the Results!

Total From A to Z: 3 Stars

A's Review: * * *
Pleasantly crunchy with an odd, slightly floury flavor. Better with a frosty glass of milk.

Z's Review: * * *
These bite-sized cookies were really crunchy and hard. In fact, the texture was almost stale right after opening the box. I had a hard time tasting the chocolate chips, but the taste of the cookie itself was pretty good.

Z's Blind Taste Test #2: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Z's Blind Taste Tests are a monthly feature on Gluten-Free from A to Z!

Z's Blind Taste Test #2: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

How It Works: Z will cook/bake/prepare four different versions of the same gluten-free product and randomly label each version with a number. Then A and friends will try all four versions and rank them from most favorite to least favorite. The results will allow us to see exactly how different brands of gluten-free products compare to each other!

The Contenders:

1. Cherrybrook Kitchen's Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies
2. Enjoy Life's Soft Baked Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
   
3. Pamela's Products Chunky Chocolate Chip *
4. Pamela's Products Simplebites Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies *
   

*I would have preferred to use four completely different brands of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, but after looking in three different stores these were the only four different types of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies I could find. I was able to find some other brands of frozen cookie dough, but I didn't think it would be fair to compare fresh baked with packaged cookies, so I ended up using two different types of Pamela's Products cookies.

The Final Results:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Simplebites (5 of 5 votes!)
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Chunky Chocolate Chip (4 of 5 votes)
  
• 3rd Favorite: Cherrybrook Kitchen (2 of 5 votes)
  
• Least Favorite: Enjoy Life (3 of 5 votes)
  

A's Blind Rankings:
(For A's comments on each cookie, please see the individual A-Z reviews!)

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Simplebites
  
• 2nd Favorite: Cherrybrook Kitchen
  
• 3rd Favorite: Pamela's Chunky Chocolate Chip
• Least Favorite: Enjoy Life

Our Friend RK's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Simplebites - "winner! crunchy & tasty!"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Chunky Chocolate Chip- "close contender, generally good, reminded me of 'chips ahoy'"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Enjoy Life - "still in the medals! tasted more like gingerbread, chewy, strange gritty aftertaste"
  
• Least Favorite: Cherrybrook Kitchen - "fourth place, somewhat bland

Our Friend SK's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Simplebites - "pretty good, crunchy"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Chunky Chocolate Chip - "lighter, more airy"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Enjoy Life - "super sweet, very chewy"
  
• Least Favorite: Cherrybrook Kitchen - "airy, kind of bitter aftertaste"
  

Our Friend HB's Blind Rankings:

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Simplebites - "crispy! ;0)"
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Chunky Chocolate Chip - "soft, big chocolate chunks"
  
• 3rd Favorite: Cherrybrook Kitchen - "crispy, reminded me of Trader Joe's little chocolate chip cookies"
  
• Least Favorite: Enjoy Life - "chewy, but with a hint of ginger flavor, grainy after texture"

Z's Not Blind Rankings:
(For Z's comments on each cookie, please see the individual A-Z reviews!)

• Most Favorite: Pamela's Simplebites
  
• 2nd Favorite: Pamela's Chunky Chocolate Chip
  
• 3rd Favorite: Cherrybrook Kitchen
  
• Least Favorite: Enjoy Life