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Kicking gluten off the menu doesn’t mean you have to silently suffer while others enjoy mouth watering treats.
We can still have the desserts we like while choosing quality ingredients that aren’t slowly killing us, making us sick or creating gut inflammation and/or stomach issues.
At The Fitness Wrangler we believe in eating real food and also consuming food that may be processed but has quality ingredients so we can take control of our health and fitness.
In this article we’ll look at gluten, why it may be bad for the body, how to pick a good gluten free cookie mix and then finally checking out 3 of the best gluten free chocolate chip cookie mixes.
What is Gluten?
Gluten is a protein that’s found in some grains, such as wheat, wheat berries, Khorasan wheat, spelt, rye, barley, semolina, durum, farro, emmer, graham, triticale, and einkorn.
It holds food together and is even stretchy. That is why dough made with gluten-rich grains, such as pizza dough, can be stretched. Oats do not contain gluten except for the gluten it may acquire in facilities that process gluten-containing grains.
Gluten is sometimes sold as a high-protein food for vegans in the form of wheat gluten or seitan. Modified food starch, lecithin, soy sauce, and monosodium glutamate (MSG) also contain gluten.
Why Would Gluten be a Problem?
Gluten might be a problem for people for numerous reasons but the biggest for people who can’t tolerate it is because they’re lacking the enzymes to break it down properly.
They also may have hit what Dr. Tom o’Bryan calls an “oral threshold” which could be at 22, 40 or 90 years old and it’s at that point the body’s immune system is fed up with accepting wheat in the body.
Without the enzymes, and potentially hitting the “oral threshold” moment, antibodies identify gluten as a foreign substance and create an immune response in the intestines. Immune response symptoms include gas, bloating, and diarrhea, to name a few. Continued exposure turns the intolerance into an allergy. Continual consumption of the allergen gluten can then turn into a disease.
Who is Prone to Have an Intolerance to Gluten?
People of northern European descent are the most susceptible to gluten intolerance. Their ancestors were hunter-gatherers before they became farmers who eventually ate high-bred grains.
Type O blood types are associated with the hunter gatherers and type O blooded individuals are the most intolerant of gluten. Type A blood types are more associated with the more recent agricultural people. They are more tolerant of gluten than type O people are.
What Allergens Besides Gluten are Sometimes Eliminated in Gluten Free Cookie Mixes?
People may also have an intolerance to dairy, soy, eggs, coconut, and tree nuts. Most gluten free product manufacturers leave most of those ingredients out but then make their gluten free products in facilities that process allergen-laden foods. Sugar is not an allergen, but too much sugar is not healthy. Yet, sugar is commonly included in the healthy cookie mixes.
Having a gluten intolerance does not mean a person is intolerant to everything. But the food choices offered to gluten intolerant people tend to be one of the two extremes – they’re either laden with ingredients that are bad for one’s health or they have almost no ingredients that your body could possibly have an intolerance to. People who only have a problem with gluten often add dairy, eggs, coconut products, and tree nuts.
What Attributes Differentiate the Various Gluten Free Chocolate Cookie Mixes?
Gluten free chocolate chip cookies typically contain almost no unhealthy ingredients. That means that gluten free chocolate chip cookie mixes are different from normal cookie mixes. The gluten free cookie mixes are also different from each other in various ways. Here are a few of the desired features:
- Recognized brand name
- Certified to be gluten-free
- Free of grains, soy, corn, dairy, gums/emulsifiers, GMOs
- Low sugar
- Low glycemic index
- Smooth texture of dough and cookies
- Tasty
- Adaptable
- Simple and accurate instructions
- Quick to make
- Specifies how much product you get for the price
- Reasonably priced
How to Choose the Best Gluten Free Cookie Mix
The way to get the best gluten free chocolate chip cookies is to make them. Unless you make your cookies from scratch, you are at the mercy of the various cookie mix manufacturers.
When you consider the various options, you will want to take into account whether or not you are intolerant to anything besides gluten. You’ll also want to consider the mix’s sugar content. From the options left, you may want to consider the product manufacturers’ reputations and then learn about tastiness and texture from product reviews.
Best 3 Gluten Free Cookie Mixes
1. Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
Perhaps the creators of this recipe should have made these gluten free chocolate chip cookies with almond flour instead of with xanthan gum, tapioca flour, whole grain sorghum flour, potato starch, brown rice flour, and sweet rice flour.
Consumers add vanilla, almond flour, rolled oats, flax seed, chopped pecans, coconut oil, butter, peanut butter, eggs, walnuts, and/or more chocolate chips to add layers of flavor and to make them less sweet.
PROS
- Kosher Pareve
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Does not give a stomach ache
- Easy directions
- Almost as tasty as gluten-filled cookies
- Final product tastes much better than the dough does
- Lends itself to tasting good with various ingredients added
- Doesn’t crumble after it’s cooked
- Great for dunking into coffee
- Listed yield of 18 large cookies is accurate
CONS
- Dough may taste “funny” and be gritty
- Too sweet for some tastes
- Insufficient amount of chocolate chips
- Chocolate chips are not soy-free
- May need ingredients added for extra flavor and cut level of sweetness
- Costly since many people feel the need to add nuts and other ingredients
- Dry dough and dry cookies
- Cookies may be slightly hard and flat
- Requires a lot of grease on the pan
- Though the advertisement specifies you get 22 ounces of dough mix, the product picture suggests a four-pack of cookie dough is what is being purchased
2. Pamela’s Products Gluten Free Cookie Mix
This gluten-free option is made without dairy products, eggs, grains (including wheat), GMOs, corn syrup, sugar, artificial additives. Only quality ingredients that won’t make anybody sick go into it.
This one is also versatile enough to be made into desserts other than cookies when baking gluten free. Oddly, no recipes are included with the mix.
PROS
- A top gluten-free brand
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
- Egg-free
- Vegan option
- Grain-free
- Wheat-free
- Sugar-free
- Non-GMO
- Organic
- No artificial additives
- No corn syrup
- Kosher-certified
- Made with premium quality ingredients
- Tasty, even if it comes without many chocolate chunks
- Quick and easy to make, requiring just two ingredients to be added
- Versatile, making more than just cookies with the same two extra ingredients added
- Makes desserts other than cookies with the same two additional ingredients
- Can replace required eggs with flax meal
- Advertisement specifies that you get one 13.6-ounce bag
CONS
- Made in facility that processes milk, soy, eggs, coconut, and tree nuts, which are contain allergens.
- Too dry
- Too crumbly
- Too gritty
- No recipes come with the baking mix, as people expect when it is advertised to make more than cookies
- No sweet taste
- Too expensive
- No place to return product
- May come not filled with large chunks of dark chocolate
3. Simple Mills Almond Flour Mix
This mix is also free of grains, soy, corn, dairy, emulsifiers, and GMOs – these are the gluten free chocolate chip cookies without xanthan gum if you’ve been trying to find one.
It is apparently not void of taste, however, because many customers rave over the taste of the cookies this mix makes. With both cane and coconut sugar, along with both organic coconut flour and almond flour, this mix was destined to be good when baking gluten free.
PROS
- Simple Mills is a recognized brand name
- Specifies how much you get
- Contains just three simple ingredients
- Grain-free
- Gluten-free
- Soy-free
- Corn-free
- Dairy-free
- Gums/emulsifier-free
- Certified to be gluten-free
- Non-GMO Project verified
- Vegan
- Low glycemic index
- The almond flour makes eating these cookies easier
- Healthy
- Extremely delicious, according to customers
- Can substitute non-dairy milk or coconut milk for the milk
- Just add milk or milk substitute, vanilla, and butter or oil (maybe olive oil)
- Simple instructions
- Cookies taste good
- Dough tastes good if made with flax egg instead of eggs
- Great, non-sandy texture
- A great find for diabetics, not affecting blood sugar much
- Genuinely allergen-free
- Great for people on a Paleo diet
- Simple and quick to make
CONS
- Instructions may need to double the cook time to 20 minutes
- Too expensive for the number of cookies the mix makes
- May need to be refrigerated after baking
- Contains cane sugar and coconut sugar
Conclusion
When choosing a healthier life and potentially going gluten free we don’t have to abstain from all treats and desserts – especially the baked kind.
It’s not easy to dine out and find these gluten free desserts unless you know specific restaurants in your area that may have them. This is why baking gluten free at home opens so many doors.
However, there are a TON of companies right now cashing in on the gluten free hype that’s becoming more and more popular. All they do is make a gluten free mix but still add in other horrible ingredients – so it’s vital if you’re going to do gluten free baking that you pick quality products.
We looked at 3 of the best gluten free cookie mixes out there right now: Bob’s gluten free chocolate chip cookie mix, Pamela’s Products Gluten Free Cookie Mix and Simple Mills Almond Flour Mix.
The information in this article is for educational and entertainment reasons, it should not be interpreted as medical advice or as a recommendation for a specific treatment. Always talk to your doctor and in the event of a medical emergency one should seek the help of a qualified and licensed health care provider.
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