I like to mix up the gluten free cookies that I purchase so I don’t get bored. As such, I’ve sampled pretty much every GF/DF cookie available in and around New Jersey. I’ve put together this list with my thoughts on each brand and in many cases individual cookie varieties.
Please note, I’ve provided allergen information and manufacturing processes where I have them. Just because something isn’t listed doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Also, recipes change so as always be sure to read the packaging and company website for latest information.
The views below are my opinions. I am not a fan of quinoa flour, garbanzo bean flour, or soy flour and state as such. However, I’ve spoken to people who like all three of these so to each their own.
As always I recommend you support your local gluten free retailer/supermarket. If however, you can’t find a product I’ve included links where possible to online retailers for your convenience.
Alternative Baking Company – they make individually wrapped cookies that are bursting with flavor. They’re the only garbanzo bean flour cookie that I don’t mind, I think the other flavors hide that garbanzo taste. They recommend reheating and I couldn’t agree more, I had their Pumpkin Delight cookie warm and it was great. If you can’t find these locally they are available online through an Amazon merchant here: Alternative Baking Company
(dairy free, egg free, vegan)[warning: not all are gluten free.]
Andean Dream – Individually wrapped small quinoa flour cookies. Interesting flavors – Orange Essence, Chocolate Chip, Cocoa-Orange, Raisins & Spice and Coconut. Quinoa has a distinct flavor that I’m not a big fan of. I do like that the individual cookies are wrapped which makes them easy to take along.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online at The Gluten Free Mall here: Andean Dream Gluten-Free Cookies
(gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soy free, corn free, sulfite free).
Aunt Gussie’s – makes their gluten free cookies both with and without sugar. I have only ever seen/tried the sugar free versions. I didn’t like them since I can have sugar, but if one needs both they could work.
(you’ll need to double check, most are also dairy free, almost all are also egg free.)[Most contained soy and/or nuts. Not all products by Aunt Gussie are Gluten Free.]
Betty Lou’s Gluten Free Fruit Bars – These fruit bars are quite good. They are sold individually so the unit cost is higher. Each is about four bites and quite hearty. They come in five flavors: Apple Cinnamon, Blueberry, Apricot, Strawberry, and Cherry. They are made with gluten free oats and labeled as not containing any of the eight major allergens.If you can’t find these locally they are available online from Amazon here: Betty Lou's Gluten Free Fruit Bars
(labeled as free from the eight major allergens)[contains gluten free oats]
Cherrybrook – Cherrybrook Kitchen is best known for their baking mixes (all products are prepared in a nut/peanut free facility). They also manufacture two types of cookies, both gluten free: mini vanilla and mini chocolate chip.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online from Amazon here: Cherrybrook Kitchen Gluten Free Cookies
Cookies . . . for me? – they produce a wide range of individually wrapped fresh cookies. These are good but since they are fresh I find they go moldy very quickly. Their website is a little lacking but claims everything is gluten free, egg free, nut free and possibly dairy free (I’ve tried quite a few so even if the entire line isn’t DF, a lot of them are.)
If you can't find them locally, the gluten free mall has a couple of varieties: Cookies...For Me? Gluten Free Cookies
If you can't find them locally, the gluten free mall has a couple of varieties: Cookies...For Me? Gluten Free Cookies
Enjoy Life – They’re soft baked line are puck shaped. These are a little more cake like and denser than other cookies. Not a substitute for gluten containing cookies, but rather a unique dessert all their own.
Last year they launched a line of crunchy cookies which I got to try at the SeaShore Celiac Picnic. They were excellent – they’re starting to appear in more stores but are still difficult to find. They are a larger size, thin and quite crispy.
All of their products are allergen free (all 8 major allergens and sulfites) and made in a dedicated nut/gluten free facility.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online at the Gluten Free Mall here: Enjoy Life Foods Crunchy Gluten-Free Cookies
Envirokids – I hear rumors that they are making a gluten free animal cookie but I haven’t tried them yet. (I also can’t find a website for them, I believe they are part of Nature’s Path but there isn’t any info on the Nature’s Path Website.) They also make gluten free puffed rice bars that are quite good.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online from Amazon here: Envirokidz Gluten Free Animal Cookies
Gilbert's Goodies – they make bite sized cookies that are soft and shaped like Enjoy Life’s soft baked cookies. The Gilbert’s Goodies are much better. They also make individually packaged large soft cookies and brownies. These can be a little dry but still quite good.
On their website their byline reads: No, No, No, NO! As in no gluten, no peanuts, no nuts, no soy, no preservatives, no milk, no corn/corn syrup and no trans fats. Note however that the no soy only covers soy protein, their chocolate chips do contain soy lecithin.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online from Amazon here: Gilbert's Goodies Gluten Free Cookies
Glow - makes large crispy cookies. These contain garbanzo bean flour which has a particular taste. They come in Double Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, Chocolate Chip and Gingersnap. All are very good.
They are baked in a dedicated gluten free kitchen and are all dairy free. They do however all contain eggs and some contain soy lecithin.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online from Amazon here: Glow Gluten Free Cookies
Glutino – they have has sandwich cookies (Vanilla Crème and Chocolate Crème) and chocolate chip cookies. All three were dry and crumbly.
They also make wafer cookies. The best are their Lemon Wafers but I’m not sure why they don’t make a regular, but the lemon is great – very flavorful. The texture and sweetness of a wafer cookie are spot-on. (Unfortunately the Chocolate covered wafers have dairy and I don’t think they make the strawberry any longer.)
If you can't find them locally they are available on amazon.com here: Go Raw Cookies
HomeFree – Not all products are gluten free. They make mini vanilla, mini Chocolate Chip, mini Oatmeal, mini Chocolate Chocolate Chip, mini Oatmeal Chocolate Chip and regular sized Oatmeal cookies. Facility is dairy free/nut/peanut/egg/wheat free but not gluten free (above listed are certified gluten free). I’ve tried both the mini vanilla and mini chocolate chip and enjoyed both. Contain oats.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online from Amazon here: HomeFree Gluten Free Cookies
Ian’s – While Ian’s makes a number of gluten containing items, their button cookies are all gluten free. Each box contains individual serving size snack bags which is nice but not all varieties are dairy free. Their nice to have to grab and go but not one of my favorites.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online from Amazon here: Ian's Gluten Free Cookies
Immaculate Baking Co. – most of their products are gluten containing but they do make ready to bake gluten free / dairy free cookies found in the refrigerated section. Just pop them out and bake them. Amazing! (And if taste and texture weren’t enough, the price per pound for fresh baked tends to be lower than most other shelf stable gluten free cookies!)
These are sold refrigerated and I was unable to find them online. (I've seen them at Whole Foods and Kings.)
Jo-sef – When I first went gluten free this was one of the few brands available. Truth be told, I never found one I liked – they were all too hard and dry.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online at the Gluten Free Mall here: Jo-sef Gluten-Free Cookies
Jovial – these cookies are imported from Italy. Unfortunately, only the fig cookies are dairy free. See review here: Jovial Fig Filled Gluten Free Cookie Review. (p.s. I’m eating these as I write this and they are so good!)
If you can’t find these locally they are available online from Amazon here: Jovial Fig Fruit Filled Gluten Free Organic Cookies, 7 Oz. (Pack of 5)
Katz – another Jewish company that sells gluten free year round (they only make GF products). The cookies are really good but too high in egg for me (I can eat egg baked into almost every other gluten free product, sadly not Katz). This is a shame as they have an incredibly diverse product line and quite a few varieties no one else is making. All of their products are dairy free as well.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online from Amazon here: Katz Gluten Free
Kinnikinnick – Kinnikinnick is another of the original gluten free producers. Unlike a lot of other early companies, Kinnikinnick has done a great job of updating and improving their product line over time.
Their Montana Chocolate Chip Cookies are my favorite packaged chocolate chip cookie. Their Chocolate and Vanilla sandwich cookies are also the best in that class. They make an animal cookie as well and a graham cracker type cookie that is crisp but good for s’mores and blending into a graham cracker crust.
Their website lists the allergens in each item and one can search by allergen as well.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online from Amazon: Kinnikinnick Gluten Free Cookies
If you can't find them locally you can order them (individually) from amazon.com here: Liz Lovely Gluten Free Vegan Cookies
Lucy’s – makes a line of gluten free vegan cookies. Varieties include: Sugar, Cinnamon Thin, Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal, Ginger Snap, Maple Bliss, and Chocolate. All contain gluten free oats and garbanzo bean flour (which has a unique flavor). They are average sized, thin and very crisp. I’ve seen them sold at Starbuck’s.
Made in a gluten/peanut/almond/egg/milk free facility.
Mary’s Gone Crackers – Each box has two separate bags inside which is nice. They all uses quinoa flour, which has a taste I do not like but you might. Like Mary’s other products very whole grain intensive.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online from Amazon here: Mary's Gone Crackers Gluten Free Cookies
Mi-Del – these are very old school cookies and can be quite hard. Their big upside is that compared to other GF cookies they are fairly inexpensive. Some varieties contain milk. My favorite variety is the chocolate caramel mini cookies.
Nana’s – each cookie is individually wrapped which is nice. Interesting flavor and texture. I’ll keep some around for when I need an individually wrapped cookie. Be careful as not all are gluten free and I find the packaging between gluten free and gluten containing to not be very distinct.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online at Amazon here: Nana's Gluten Free Cookies
Newman’s Own – WARNING: Newman’s makes wheat free cookies but most still contain gluten from barley. I would avoid these completely.
Orgran – Orgran is another of the original gluten free companies. Most of their cookies are a little gritty and dry. The only variety that I really enjoyed was their Shortbread Hearts which are buttery tasting (even though they are completely vegan).
If you can’t find these locally they are available online at the Gluten Free Mall here: Orgran Gluten-Free Cookies
Pamela’s – ah, a company that knows how to make cookies! [Warning: their shortbread cookies contain dairy, others may contain traces of dairy.] I particularly like their mini chocolate chip cookies (if they’re fresh from the factory they’re still soft, but crisp up quickly). Their larger cookies are slightly crumbly and slightly dry but still very good. My favorites are: Chunky Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip Walnut, Peanut Butter Cookies, and Dark Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Cookies.
One final note, I am extremely sensitive to dairy. Any cookies with chocolate chips/chunks are flagged as ‘may contain traces of dairy’ but I have never had a reaction.
Last year Pamela’s also launched a line of “Whenever” bars which are a cross between a snack bar and an oatmeal cookie. All four flavors were incredible.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online at Amazon here: Pamela's Gluten Free Cookies
Schär – Unfortunately, all varieties of Schär cookies, except some of their holiday cookies contain dairy. My holiday cookie review is here: Gluten Free Holiday Cookies and Cakes
If you can’t find these locally they are available online at the Gluten Free Mall here: Schär Gluten-Free Cookies
Shabtai – while this company manufactures their gluten free cookies and cakes year round, they are most often found around Passover. I usually stock up on these when they are marked down after Passover.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online at the Gluten Free Mall here: Shabtai Gluten-Free Cookies
Sun Start FreeFrom – good but dry. They have a number of unique flavors. [warning: about half of their flavors contain dairy, but all contain freefrom statements on the front of the package.] I found it odd that they list ‘real’ raspberries on their label – if you need to put quotes around ‘real’ then they obviously aren’t! All the same, I do from time to time purchase their df options for a change of pace cookie-wise.
If you can’t find these locally they are available online from the Gluten Free Mall here: Sunstart Bakery Gluten-Free Cookies
Tastykake – Has both Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies. Both contain soy flour and have a distinct soy taste. Full review is here: Tastykake Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Review. I wasn’t a big fan.
If you still want to try them and can't find them locally, they are on amazon here: Tree of Life Cookies
Udi’s – Udi’s makes ready to bake gf cookies in the freezer case. All contain dairy, so I can’t try them.
WOW – sadly their entire line contains milk.
