Product: Zena’s Gluten Free Homestyle Chocolate Chunk Cookies – $5.49+
Cookie Monster is back with a vengeance.
My good friend, Jenn, knows me and knows that I love to try new gluten-free cookies. So, for my birthday, in my little bag of delicious birthday goodness, she provided me with three kinds I hadn’t tried before. Just after heading to New York City…and just before leaving for Walt Disney World…my roommate and I broke into the second brand she provided for me to try.
This time…it was Zena’s Gluten Free Homestyle Chocolate Chunk Cookies.
I had never heard of this brand before, so I was a little excited to try it.
Okay…a lot.
Why? Two words: Chocolate Chunk!
HELLO!!
Do you see where this is headed? Because who doesn’t love a good chocolate chip cookie, right? It’s the most basic of drop cookies out there. It’s a classic. It’s the go-to cookie of choice. I mean, you’ve reached for a cookie before and bit into it thinking it was chocolate chip only to be disappointed that it was oatmeal raisin, right? It’s happened to all of us. There is something that is so simple, yet so magical and incredibly comforting about a chocolate chip cookie.
But these weren’t just chocolate chips, yeah? These were…chocolate chunks!
The Zena’s Gluten Free Homestyle Chocolate Chunk Cookies come in a box containing 8 individually wrapped cookies. Open box…open wrapper…enjoy. Simple and satisfying.
The thing was…I wasn’t completely sold on these at first bite. Here’s why:
The Zena’s Gluten Free Homestyle Chocolate Chunk Cookies were…bland. If you didn’t happen to get a bite with the sweet chocolate chunks in it, then the cookie itself couldn’t carry it as a delicious dessert. While I found the cookies to be a great soft texture, the sweetness was just…wrong. The base of the cookie should be able to stand alone, but this was seriously lacking unless you got a bit of the chocolate in that bite. And, unfortunately, the chocolate chunks weren’t scattered well throughout each cookie. A lot of times, these chunks were just focused in the center, making it seem like the cookies were scooped and…whoops…forgot the chocolate part. They weren’t bad…we enjoyed them enough to eat the entire box (not in one sitting, but over the course of four days, HA!), but they aren’t a cookie we would actively seek out again.
As for the science of things, the Zena’s Gluten Free Homestyle Chocolate Chunk Cookies are made from soy flour, palm oil, dark chocolate chunks, sugar, brown sugar, canola oil, potato starch, egg whites (frozen), natural flavors, soy lecithin, xanthan gum, baking soda, cream of tartar, ammonium bicarbonate, Ganaden BC30, and salt. I admit, I had to look up what Ganaden BC30 was…and it is a natural probiotic. These cookies are gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and are kosher. They are also cholesterol free!
Now, let’s look at the nutritional value of the Zena’s Gluten Free Homestyle Chocolate Chunk Cookies. They are…cookies…so don’t expect great things here. A serving size is one cookie. This cookie will provide you with 130 calories and 8 grams of fat. One cookie will also give you 70 mg sodium and 9 grams of sugar. You will also be taking in 1 gram of fiber and 3 grams of protein. Not bad for a cookie, but there are other cookies I’d rather have over these.
So, while Zena’s Gluten Free Homestyle Chocolate Chunk Cookies weren’t bad…they weren’t great either. They made a good enough dessert for the few days I was home between the New York City Marathon and the Walt Disney World Wine & Dine Half Marathon…but they won’t be a brand that I rush out to purchase again.
The Celiathlete 