Trader Joe's Gluten Free Crispy Crunchy Ginger Chunk Cookies

I found these on the new-products shelf at the Asheville Trader Joe's Tuesday, having never heard of them before. There's nothing on the corporate web site about them, and, for once, nobody has tweeted about having discovered something new in the store.

My experience with TJ's gluten-free products has ranged from appallingly bad to so-so, and the three kinds of gluten-free cookies I've tried (Joe-Joe's, ginger snaps, and snickerdoodles) have all been on the bad end of that spectrum. As a result, I approached these cookies with considerable trepidation.

But--surprise!--they're pretty good! They're sweet as all get out, but I can live with that. They're also more brittle than most cookies. (I suppose they wouldn't sell as well if they were called "Gluten Free Brittle Ginger Chunk Cookies.") The big hunks of ginger are candied, and the cookie dough prominently features both brown sugar and regular sugar.

I'd call these a success. They are, however, quite spendy, at $3.99 for 14 cookies.


Will I buy it again? 

Probably not, both because there are so many other cookies I like even better, and because of the price. But if I were restricted to gluten-free products, I would consider these not just an acceptable substitute, but a godsend.