Gluten-free chocolate cookies, even Trader Joe’s Joe-Joe’s

When I saw gluten-free Joe-Joe’s chocolate sandwich cookies on my last trip to Trader Joe’s, I thought I’d check out some chocolate options. I easily found six in supermarkets.

They’re all pretty good, and some are much better than that. As is often the case, it’s the consistency that differentiates these gluten-free baked foods from those made with wheat flour. But the chocolate helps. It’s a strong flavor and helps to compensate for flavors our palates might not be accustomed to. Of course, for people with celiac disease, that’s a small price to pay, when the tiniest bit of gluten can mean a week or more of illness.

On average, these cookies are just slightly more expensive than wheat cookies.

First, the Joe-Joe’s. They’re not very different from other Joe-Joe’s. A serving, two cookies, has 130 calories. The cookies are made with sugar as the first ingredient – perhaps because of the sandwich filling. They also contain corn, soy and rice flours, cocoa powder, vanilla bean seeds and other things.

Kinnikinnick Foods also makes a chocolate sandwich cookie called K-Toos. A serving, three cookies, has 150 calories. They’re made from sugar, pea and potato starches, rice flour, cocoa and other things. Kinnikinnick is a popular gluten-free brand from Canada with a range of foods. The cookies are dairy- and nut-free.

Jo-Sef makes square-share chocolate cookies that are similar to shortbread. They’re delicate in taste and texture, perfect for a cup of coffee. A serving, three cookies, contains 170 calories. The cookies are egg-, nut- and dairy-free, made with rice and soy flours, palm oil, sugar, cocoa powder and other ingredients. The company, like many, was begun by a parent trying to find foods for a child with celiac disease.

Brownie Babies are made by the Sacramento company Sun Flour Baking Co. They’re soft, like brownies, but are small and round, with walnuts, a great addition. A serving unfortunately is not translated to the number of cookies, but an ounce has 134 calories. The cookies are made with rice and pinto bean flours, sugar, cocoa powder, and other ingredients.

Andean Dream, a Los Angeles company, sells Cocoa-Orange vegan cookies that are made in Bolivia, with quinoa grown there. They have a nice crunch and subtle orange flavor. A serving, two cookies, has 150 calories. They’re made with quinoa flour, sugar, chocolate syrup and are dairy-, soy- and corn-free.

The Chocolate Wafers from St. Amour have a blessedly short ingredient list and a crunchy, straight-forward flavor. They’re made with rice flour, butter, cocoa powder, eggs, sugar and baking powder. A serving, one cookie, has 55 calories.

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mary.macvean@latimes.com

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