Readers with very good memories may recall that I did a post about gluten-free beers way back on December 10, 2012. Well, recently while at the grocery store I realized that it's started to stock more gluten-free items, in the cookie and cracker categories. So I picked up four kinds of the cookies to give them a try. I don't have celiac disease, or a gluten allergy, as folks no doubt realize from the topics of my other posts, but I thought I'd sample them just the same. Specifically I tried Pepperidge Farm's thin and crispy milk chocolate chip cookies, Smashmallow's Smash crispy cinnamon churros, Kinnikinnick's Kinnitoos, and Mi-del's Swedish style ginger snaps. And for the benefit of some European readers, once again, "cookies" are equivalent to what you call "biscuits"--small, sweet, usually crunchy pastries, usually eaten as a dessert.
Pepperidge Farm is a colossus in the cookie world, at least in the U.S. The founder was Margaret Rudkin (nee Fogarty), who was born in New York City in 1897. Reportedly her son had severe allergies and asthma, and a specialist recommended that he eat more fruit and vegetables, and avoid highly processed foods. Therefore, Margaret started baking her own bread and pastries, and quickly grew quite good at it. Oddly, the official website doesn't reveal the exact company founding date, but by 1939 it was flourishing, and the first factory bakery was opened in 1940, in Connecticut. A visit to Belgium in the 1950's prompted Margaret to get the rights to produce some Delacre Company cookie brands in the U.S. Similarly, Pepperidge Farm started selling the Swiss Goldfish crackers in the U.S. in the 1960's. In 1961 Mrs. Rudkin sold her business to the Campbell's Soup company. Americans probably most associate Pepperidge Farm with its ubiquitous cookie commercials, with a kindly old gent who assured us that, "Pepperidge Farm remembers." Also, their wares obviously impressed NASA, as their baked goods were on the astronaut's menus of the Apollo 13, Apollo 14, and 1988 Space Shuttle Discovery missions. Aside from cookies, Pepperidge Farm also markets rolls, pastries, and crackers. Furthermore, I found it a refreshing change to read about a company that uses GMOs in their products, is proud of it, and defends it.
In contrast, Smashmallow is a quite new and fledging company, beginning only in 2016, out of California. It's actually a line of Sonoma Brands, which is only a year older. Sonoma also owns such brands as Krave jerky, Medlie drinks, Guayaki yerba mate (see November 29, 2014 post), along with others that make dietary supplements, wine, and cleanses. Unlike Pepperidge Farm, Smashmallow eschews GMOs, as well as avoiding soy, corn, dairy, eggs, and nuts (except for one product). (Although for people with unusally sensitive allergies, the Smallmallow products are made in a facility that processes some of these substances.) Aside from the marshmallow-based cookies, the company also makes a type of gummy candy, called, of course, Smashgummies.
Kinnikinnick is a Canadian firm which dates back to 1991. Aside from cookies the company also makes bread, buns, bagels, donuts, muffins, mixes, and pizza and pie crusts. As far as allergens go, they make Smashmallow look like poseurs. In their wares you will not find dairy, nuts, peanuts, soy, eggs (with some exceptions), sesame, mustard, shellfish, GMOs, artificial colors and flavors, preservatives, and latex. (Some of these came as a surprise to me--I didn't realize that mustard allergies were a thing, and also, do some baked goods contain latex?! Apparently so.) Ted Wolff and Gudrun Von Selzam started the company after moving to Canada from their native Germany. Basically, they were into avoiding gluten before it was cool, before most of the general public knew much about celiac and gluten allergies, back in the early 1990s. Lynne Bigam and her husband Jerry bought into the company in 1997, and then took total control in 2005. The name "kinnikinnick" is an Algonquin word which means both "bearberry" and "mixture." The latter definition is evidently based on the berry's inclusion in the traveling food pemmican. The website noted that the company name is difficult to spell, but that everybody remembers it, since it's rather unusual.
Finally, ala Pepperidge Farm, Mi-del's origins are older, but a little vague. The bag and company website note that the business was started by a Samuel Midel in the 1940's, in Chicago, but neither reveal the exact company founding date. Mi-del also proudly notes that it was a pioneer in the making of gluten-free cookies, but again, a precise date is lacking. The company is in turn owned by Panos Brands, whose name is an acronym for Premium Authentic Natural Organic Specialty foods. (It's also reportedly the ancient Greek word for "torch.") Since Panos has only existed since 2009, their purchasing of Mi-del must have been relatively recently. Other brands owned by Panos include an Asian food line, a hormone-free cheese brand, an Italian food line, vegan drinks, and the calorie-free Walden Farm brand (see my post on January 2, 2014). Also, I get why the brand name is what it is, since it's the founder's surname, but I couldn't learn why they hyphenated it. I was further amused by two of the recent recipes included on the website, which had a Halloween theme. One was a spooky mummy chocolate peanut butter pie with "cobwebs," and another was a caramel apple spider pie with "cobwebs" again, and "spiders" made from cookies and pretzels.
Pepperidge Farm gluten-free thin and crispy milk chocolate chip cookies: These were round cookies with a light brown color, visible chocolate chips, and a diameter of about 2.5 inches (about 6.5 cm.). They were decent. I like thicker, chewier, soft cookies in general, but these were okay. They tasted very similar to cookies of the same flavor with gluten.
Smashmallow Smash crispy cinnamon churros: These looked like rice crispy marshmallow squares, about 7 cm (about 2.75 inches) to a side, with a yellowish brown color. And they tasted like rice crispy squares with some cinnamon bite. Again, they were okay. Maybe a bit drier than typical rice crispy marshmallow squares, but they were pre-packaged, obviously. Still solid overall.
Kinnikinnick Kinnitoos: These looked identical to Oreos or Hydroxes--round, dark brown sandwich cookies with a white cream filling, about 4.5 cm. (about 1.75 inches) in diameter. The taste was about the same as an Oreo, or good. They were moist enough, and tasty. Like Oreos, though, they were a bit messy to eat, as the cookie parts tend to stick to your teeth.
Mi-del Swedish style ginger snaps: Shape was round, with a diameter of about 1.75 inches (about 4.5 cm.), and the color was brownish-yellow. The texture was rather dense, and moist. Almost like a good cake's texture. Pleasant ginger bite. I really enjoyed these. The after taste was nice, too. The best of the bunch, very good.
So, in closing, all of these were at least alright, and two of them were well above average. Those with a gluten allergy or celiac disease will probably appreciate these, if they can locate them in their area (or order online, I guess). And even those who do eat gluten, like me, might like these cookies as a change of pace. I might try some of the other gluten-free products at my store, too. It seems like bakers have learned how to make better tasting gluten-free cookies in the past decade or so. I might not have been able to tell some of these apart from their counterparts with gluten, which is clearly a compliment.
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