New Bread - Gluten Free 100% Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie - April 11, 2024

Chocolate of The Day

New Bread
Gluten Free 100% Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie
Good + Good ++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) total container
Calories: 220 calories (estimate) in 2 cookies
Cost: $7.99 for 1 container of 4-5 cookies
Purchased from: Missing market information (Palo Alto, CA)

Welcome to Day #2 of Baked Goods with Chocolate Series.

Today's Gluten Free 100% Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies were from New Bread, a Gluten-Free Lifestyle Company, LLC, based in Alameda. CA. 

Like many gluten-free product companies, the founders had family members with food sensitivities, and started their own operations after finding existing gluten-free baked goods dry, crumbly, or wanting in some regard. 

Aroma notes included: subtle baked good (cookie, cake); very faint chocolate and mild nut notes.

Texture?: soft cookie base that was almost cake-like and that had a non-crumbly (coherent) texture. Very slightly chewy. (what is soft bake?), with a sprinkling of small chocolate chips.

Flavor notes included: soft-baked cookie base with very faint vanilla, eggy cake, and chocolate-y chips. These cookies had a very slight menthol flavor that is sometimes present with artificial sweeteners. (Made my nose run.) 

I liked that they used almond flour and olive oil were the top two ingredients. (I'm not a fan of artificial sweeteners; but it was nice to taste less sugar, and to be reminded just overpowering granulated sugar can be in a baked good. 

Ingredients: Almond flour, olive oil, non-GMO allulose, organic eggs, organic almonds, organic coconut flour, chocolate chips [unsweetened chocolate, chicory root fiber, erythritol, milk fat (rBST free), cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin, stevia extract, vanilla extract], organic almond oil, baking soda, chocolate flavor, sea salt, xanthan gum.

Allergen-related information: Contains: milk, egg, almond, coconut. "Processed in facility that uses soy, almonds, tree nuts, milk, eggs and sesame" 

The Healthy Energy Bar - Mexican Coffee House bar (cookie) - Apr. 3, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

The Healthy Energy Bars

Mexican Coffee - Coffee House bar

Good - Good +

Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) in 1 bar

Calories: 220 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $1.75 (sale) for 1 bar

Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate Snacks Theme Week.

Today's Mexican Coffee - Coffee House bar was from The Healthy Energy Bars/The Healthy Baking Co. (Lafayette, CA). 

The aroma of this heart-shaped, bar/cookie was oat-forward, with some plant (botanical, seed, hemp seed), sweet, and warm vanilla spice notes.

This wholesome snack had a thick, oaty chew with faint hints of sweet coconut, seed(s), chocolate (chips), and very faint (almost undetectable, perhaps imagined) almost fruity, coffee notes. 

I appreciated the sweetness level, which is to say it wasn't too sweet (thank you!).

Ingredients: Brown rice syrup, organic unsweetened, unsulfured coconut, organic whole oats, 

organic hemp seed, rice bran, semi sweet chocolate (sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, dextrose), sunflower lecithin, freshly ground local artisan coffee, vanilla, cinnamon.

Allergen-related information: Contained tree nuts (coconut). No preservatives.

The Cookie Department - Mint Condition Double Chocolate Chip + Mint - Sept. 19, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

The Cookie Department
Mint Condition Double Chocolate Chip + Mint
Good 
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total package/cookie
Calories: 210 calories in 1 package/cookie
Cost: $3.49 for 1 package/cookie
Purchased from: missing information 

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate Surprise Theme Week.

The surprise in this case was finding this in my chocolate vault.

Today's soft chocolate chocolate chip cookie was from The Cookie Department (Portland, OR) and had an aroma with chocolate cake, light sweet (sugar alcohol) and menthol notes. 

An almond flour base created a slightly stiffer version of what looked and tasted like chocolate cake. Cocoa powder and chocolate chips as well as a hint of grass-fed butter and egg contributed a nice rich chocolate flavor and binding/cohesive texture.

The faint menthol or mint note (achieved via "natural flavoring") in combination with the sweeteners had a strange alcohol sweetness and coolness to it; but it was not too overwhelming. 

Rather than sugar, this keto-friendly and gluten free cookie was sweetened with monk fruit sweetener (erythritol and monk fruit extract) and stevia. (My only quibble: I'm open to, and grateful for, processed sugar (and gluten free) alternatives; however, I might have dialed the alternative sweeteners back a bit. The cookie was almost too "sweet." 

Total Carbohydrates: 21 grams (dietary fiber 6 grams, total sugars 1 gram and sugar alcohol 11 grams), with 4 net carbs. The cookie contained 5 grams of protein and 18 grams of total fats. 

Ingredients: "Almond Flour, Monk Fruit Sweetener (Erythritol, Monk Fruit Extract), Grass-Fed Salted Butter, Whole Eggs, Prebiotic Fiber (Tapioca Syrup), Dark Chocolate Chips (Unsweetened Chocolate, Erythritol, Cocoa Butter, Stevia Extract, Sunflower Lecithin), Cocoa Powder (Processed with Alkali), Contains Less Than 2% of Rosemary Extract, Baking Soda, Xanthan Gum, Natural Flavoring, Salt."

Maxine's Heavenly - Almond Chocolate Chunk soft baked cookies - Dec. 1, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Maxine's Heavenly 

Almond Chocolate Chunk soft baked cookies

Good +

Weight: 1.83 oz. (52 g.) / 7.2 oz. (204 g.) in total package

Calories: 240 calories in 2 cookies

Cost: $ missing information 

Purchased from: missing information 

Welcome to Day #8 of Cookies with Chocolate Theme Week.

This morning's Almond Chocolate Chunk soft baked cookies were distributed by Maxine's Heavenly (Los Angeles, CA).

These coconut sugar and date-sweetened, gluten-free and vegan cookies were similar to yesterday's version (without almonds). They had a soft chewy, oat-y texture. If you like nuts, you might have a slight preference for the almond version.

Goodie Girl - Double Chocolate Chip Cookies - Nov. 25, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Goodie Girl Tribeca, LLC

Goodie Girl Cookies - Double Chocolate Chip

Good

Weight: 1 serving (4 cookies) / 6 oz. (170 g.) in total package

Calories: 130 calories in 1 serving (4 cookies)

Cost: $3.75 for 1 package

Purchased from: Whole Foods Market, Los Altos, CA  

Welcome to Day #2 of Cookies with Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's Double Chocolate Chip Goodie Girl Cookies were from Goodie Girl Tribeca, LLC (Ridgefield, NJ). 

These small, ebony-colored chocolate, chocolate chip cookies had a soft crunch and a sweet, chocolatey flavor.  

Like all cookies featured on this site, these were gluten free. The texture may (or may not) be different, depending on the recipe, style of cookie and ingredients used. 

For example, some find rice flour cookies somewhat mealy and crumbly. However, when used in small quantities in, e.g. a florentine, or with crunchy oats and quinoa cookies, a touch of this flour (perhaps as part of a gluten-free flour blend) might work well.

Cafe-Tasse - Noir Menthe; Noir Earl Grey bars + Persimmon Chocolate Chip Cookies - Nov. 24, 2018

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Cafe-Tasse
Noir Menthe (Dark Mint) small bar
Good +
Weight: .31 oz. (9 g.) in total bar
Calories: 48 calories (estimate) in 1 small bar
Cost: $0.80 for 1 small bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere, online order

Cafe-Tasse 
Noir The Earl Grey (Dark Earl Grey Tea) small bar
Good ++
Weight: .31 oz. (9 g.) in total bar
Calories: 48 calories (estimate) in 1 small bar
Cost: $0.80 for 1 small bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere, online order

Welcome to Day #13 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week and Day #1 of Cookies with Chocolate Theme Week.

These small bars were just the right size and thickness to enjoy the chocolate and the different flavor inclusions. Both had a comforting, smooth dark chocolate base and had well-balanced flavor notes.

The mint in the Dark Mint bar did not overpower the dark chocolate. It gradually crept in over the first two or three seconds after taking a bite, and there seemed to be micro up-ticks in peppermint candy flavor. Not completely homogenizing flavors allowed room for the palette to enjoy the separate flavors as well as the overall blend.

The second small, individually-wrapped, Dark bar was flavored with Earl Grey tea, and had lovely lilting, pleasing floral and happy citrus notes from this fragrant tea.

Persimmon chocolate chip cookies
These homemade persimmon cookies with milk chocolate chips and pecans were quite good. Even better, these gluten-free cookies were made with very little sugar. No artificial sweeteners, no sugar substitutes, just a very small amount of maple syrup, and natural sweetness from the persimmons,  baked yam, banana flour and warming sweet spices. No sugar needed. Butter added rich flavor to these free-form, drop cookies.

Bart's Bakery - Chocolate Chip GF Cookies with Pecans, Walnuts - July 26, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Bart and Judy's Bakery, Inc.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans and Walnuts

Good +

Weight: 1.13 oz. (32 g.) / 6 oz. (170 g.) in total box

Calories: 132 calories in 8 cookies

Cost: $4.99 (estimate) for 1 box of approx. 45 cookies

Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate Chip Week.

Today's Extra Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans and Walnuts were from Bart and Judy's Bakery, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA).

Bart and Judy Greenhut created these bite-sized, gluten-free cookies that were relatively light and crispy-crunchy—and made richer with Belgian chocolate chips and bits of roasted nuts. The cookie base was made with butter, fresh eggs and "Bart and Judy's Proprietary Gluten Free Flour Blend."

The box contained two individually-sealed packets, permitting smaller servings while prolonging freshness.

Bart's Bakery - Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies - July 25, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Bart's Bakery

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Good +

Weight: 1.13 oz. (32 g.) / 6 oz. (170 g.) in total box

Calories: 132 calories in 8 cookies

Cost: $4.99 (estimate) for 1 box of approx. 45 cookies

Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate Chip Week.

Today's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Bart's Bakery (Los Angeles, CA) were part of a larger product line described as "Bart and Judy's The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World."

These small cookies were relatively light and crispy-crunchy with a light peanut butter and chocolate touch. They were made with real butter, fresh eggs, "Bart and Judy's Proprietary Gluten Free Flour Blend" and Belgian chocolate chips.

At only "11 calories each" these provide a relatively light cookie snack. The box contained two individually-sealed packets, permitting smaller servings while prolonging freshness.

Crazy Monkey Baking - Dark Chocolate Chip Granola Cookie Crunch - Dec. 6, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Crazy Monkey Baking, LLC
Dark Chocolate Chip - Granola Cookie Crunch
Good
Weight: 2/3 cup (60 g.) / 7.5 oz. (213 g.) in total package
Calories: 300 calories in 2 servings
Cost: $5.99 (estimate) for 1 package
Purchased from: The Market, Indianapolis, IN

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate Snacks Theme Week.

I'm not opposed to mixing animal characters and clever names with chocolate. So, today's Dark Chocolate Chip Granola Cookie Crunch from Crazy Monkey Baking, LLC (Ashland, OH) seemed like a natural item to feature this week.

The only downside: I keep smiling as I imagine a group of manic monkeys flying around a kitchen baking things.

The company makes a few different flavor versions of their Granola Cookie Crunch, but the Dark Chocolate Chip was the original and is, according to the company's website, still the most popular flavor.

These oat and cornmeal based cookie-granola snacks were made with 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips, and evoked the aroma and flavor of home-baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

This tasty snack was uniformly crunchy and good. Some pieces were intact cookie-shaped rounds; and the rest were smaller, more granola-like chunks.

The PocketMonkey measuring device used for scale (see photo to the right) is about 3 1/8-inches (8 cm) long.

XO Baking Co. - Double Chocolate Chip Cookies - Jan. 24, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

XO Baking Co.
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Good++- Very Good
Weight: 2.65 oz. (75 g.) / 15 oz. (425 g.) in total box of mix
Calories: 270 calories (estimate) in 4 cookies
Cost: $5.99 for 1 box of mix
Purchased from: HomeGoods/T.J. Maxx, Santa Clara, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Gluten Free Cookies Theme Week.

These Double Chocolate Chip Cookies were from XO Baking Co. (Woodland Hills, CA).

Solid chocolate with chocolate chips—not surprisingly today's XO cookies offered the most chocolatey tasting gluten-free cookies yet this week.

These buttery dark beauties were crispy and slightly chewy, providing textural appeal for both crunchy and soft cookie fans.

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Goodie Girl - Quinoa Choco-Chip Cookies - Jan. 22, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Goodie Girl Inc.
Quinoa Choco-Chip Cookies
Good +
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 6 oz. (170 g.) in total bag
Calories: 130 calories in 2 cookies
Cost: $1.99 for 1 bag
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Gluten Free Cookies.

I sampled two Quinoa Choco-Chip Cookies from Goodie Girl Inc. (NYC).

The upbeat, colorful (resealable) Goodie Girl package set the stage. Enter company founder, Shira Berk. She had a decade-long career in punk rock PR*, a stint as a plus-size fashion model, and has a cafe in Manhattan.

She's juggled family and work, and focused on mastering "the perfect dose of sugar." Give this woman a hand; she knows how to live life fully. Like many entrepreneurs, I hope she also is able to squeeze in a rest now and then.

To the marketing tagline "Just the right amount of wrong," I would add: and just the right amount of crunch. these cookies were flatter and crunchier (and less crumbly) than most gluten-free cookies. And sometimes you just need something with a buttery snap to satisfy that urge to crunch.

These semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies were certified gluten-free and made with a gluten-free flour blend that included white rice flour, quinoa flour, corn starch and tapioca flour.

*Her closing words/advice on the packaging: "Eat up and rock-on." Words to live by. Thanks, I'll give it my best shot.

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

HomeFree Chocolate Chip Cookies - Oct. 13, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

HomeFree, LLC
Mini Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Good
Weight: 1.09 oz. (31 g.) / 5 oz. (144 g.) in total box
Calories: 150 calories in 7 mini cookies
Cost: $3.99 (sale) in 1 box
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #13 of Chocolate and Gluten Free Cookie Theme Week.

These Mini Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies from HomeFree, LLC (Windham, NH) were small enough that I could enjoy a festive little pile of them on a tiny dessert plate. Cute!

Gluten Free, Nut Free and made from "Whole Grain" -- these crunchy, bite-sized cookies dotted with chocolate were made with a gluten-free whole oat flour base.

Tate's Bake Shop - Double Chocolate Chip cookies - Oct. 12, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Tate's Bake Shop
Gluten Free - Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Very Good
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) / 7 oz. (200 g.) in total package
Calories: 280 calories in 4 cookies
Cost: $4.99 (estimate) for 1 package
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #12 of Chocolate and Gluten Free Cookies Theme Week(s).

Tate's Bake Shop (Southampton, NY) is based in a charming village in the Hamptons. It will be a while before I can make it out to Southampton, but that is the beauty of food. It allows us to travel via our palette and imagination.

The company's Double Chocolate Chip Cookies were a hit, possessing all the qualities I look for in a crispy-style chocolate gluten-free cookie. My checklist is below.

• Good balance between crispy and chewy - Yes, 95% crispy, 5% chewy
• Holds together without an excess of vegetable gum(s), not too crumbly - Yes
• Slight buttery flavor and texture - Yes (contained butter)
• Quality ingredients list - Yes; first ingredient listed was chocolate chips (bonus points)

These chocolate + chocolate chip cookies were just the right thickness (i.e. not too thick or thin) for the optimal buttery crunch. And the tiny hint of salt was perfect.

Odwalla Bars, Cream Sandwich - April 1, 2014

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Odwalla
Chocolate Chip Peanut protein bar
Good
Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 230 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $1.49 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today we say goodbye to chocolate and cranberries and welcome Day #1 of Chocolate and Orange Theme Week -- with two different items and combinations.

Odwalla Protein Bars

Odwalla offers a line of reasonably priced protein bars, including today's Chocolate Chip Peanut bar. The peanut butter flavor and smooth, nut butter texture drew me in and provided satisfying taste.

I paired this Chocolate Chip Peanut bar with an Odwalla Orange Cranberry "nourishing" bar. The two went reasonably well together. I also took part of the Orange Cranberry bar and incorporated pieces of it into an ice cream sandwich.

Cream Ice Cream Sandwich

Berkeley, CA - based "Cream" has become a popular local cookie and ice cream sandwich shop chain in the San Francisco Bay Area in the last few years.

I visited the Cream San Jose location and bought two gluten-free chocolate chip walnut cookies to take home to make my own ice cream sandwich.

For the filling I mixed vanilla ice cream with bits of Odwalla Orange Cranberry Bar, and a splash of orange and tea flavored Qi liqueur from St. George Spirits (Alameda, CA). The resulting cookie and ice cream sandwich was sweet and delicious, and very filling.

Purely Elizabeth - Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix - January 28, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Purely Elizabeth
Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
Good
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42 g.) / 15.5 oz. (439 g.) total box of mix
Calories: 200 calories (estimate) in 2 cookies
Cost: $8.99 for 1 box of mix
Purchased from: Abe's Market, Michigan (online)

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Gluten-Free Cookie Theme Week.

I was having visions of rack after rack of chocolate chip cookies marching out of the oven, like the multiplying brooms and buckets in Walt Disney's animated film "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." Why? This box of Purely Elizabeth Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix (Appetite for Healthy Living LLC - New York, NY) made far more cookies than anticipated -- 41 to be precise.

I didn't mind having extra warm cookies perfuming my kitchen. But, it did take three sequential batches to cook them, and I needed to clear extra counter space to cool three large plates worth of them.

The base for these gluten-free and vegan cookie mix consisted of organic millet, organic almond and garbanzo fava bean flours, as well as chia seeds.

Directions for this mix called for 1/2 cup oil and 1/4 cup of applesauce, which helped establish a cohesive, chewy texture.

The golden brown cookies were dotted with small chocolate chips that seemed the right size for smaller cookies that I made. The cookies were sweetened with a relatively heavy dose of organic coconut palm sugar. While I like the flavor of this sugar -- often touted for its less refined, higher nutritional and lower glycemic properties -- I might use a bit less of this sweetener.

Because there was no raw egg in these cookies, the batter could be eaten (safely) uncooked, or could be enjoyed with other dessert items, e.g., ice cream. I tried this later -- layering cookie dough and crumbs with vanilla ice cream, to make a small shotglass dessert parfait. It reminded me of an oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich. And because I can't have wheat or oats, I appreciated this close facsimile.

ChocolateBet: July 26, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Enjoy Life Natural Brands, LLC
Crunchy Chocolate Chip cookies
Good++
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) / 7 oz. (198 g.) in total box
Calories: 240 calories in 4 cookies
Cost: $4.59 total box of 14 cookies
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #8 of Crunchy Chocolate Theme Week. I've extended this theme week by a few days, as I found several chocolate items with a crunch component.

These gluten-free (and nut and dairy free) Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies from Enjoy Life (Schiller Park, IL) were, as labeled, crunchy; and they were fairly light, with a generous smattering of chocolate chips.

These might also make good ice cream sandwich cookies -- perhaps with a vanilla gelato center.

ChocolateBet: September 12, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

2 cookies
Arrowhead Mills
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
Very Good - especially when right out of the oven
Wt.: ~60 grams for 2 cookies; Total box (dry mix) = 12.9 oz. (365 g.)
Calories: 250 calories (estimate) for 2 cookies
Cost: $5.59 for 1 package/box
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, in Palo Alto, CA

These were happy birthday cookies baked last night -- and eaten as today's chocolate, for breakfast this morning with some fruit. (Hey, I had to throw in the "some fruit" part to sound somewhat healthy, eh? It was a peach actually.)

ChocolateBet: June 3, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:
? serving?
Scharffen Berger
Dark chocolate-coated ginger
~1/8 of an ounce?
Very Good
Purchased at: Piazza's (market), Palo Alto, CA

Misc. notes: These would be good to try in chocolate chip cookies; they could probably be used in place of chocolate chips.

I went to the local art museum today to see an exhibit (and, yes, I always check the museum shop for chocolate items). I also re-watched the movie/documentary on artist Andy Goldsworthy, entitled "Rivers and Tides." It's wonderfully creative, and visually compelling. Note-to-self: It would be fun to do a nature-inspired sculptural piece like this, somehow incorporating chocolate.