Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Gluten-Free Jennies Carob Macaroon Review


There are plenty of times when my sweet tooth requires quick attention and I just do not feel like baking a gluten-free dessert from scratch to satisfy the "need" for a cookie, cake, or similar treat. When this situation arises (all too often), it is nice to have a few gluten-free snacks around that fit the bill -- like this Jennies Macaroon (carob variety).

In one word: SWEET!
This small 2-ounce cookie (which by the way is not quite photogenic as you can see below, as it resembles a mound or pile of some sort. lol), is just packed with sweetness from the honey contained in the recipe. In fact, there are 34-grams of sugar in this cookie, which is a bit extreme, but guaranteed to satisfy any sugar cravings you have (and, also why I quite often split this cookie into two separate servings).


But, sweetness aside, there is plenty of flavor from the coconut and carob to provide satisfaction too. The carob bears some similarity to chocolate, but yet has subtle differences; either way, it is a nice taste for me. And, this cookie is actually a "high fiber cookie" (in my opinion) thanks to all that coconut fiber, weighing in with a whopping 6-grams of dietary fiber per cookie too.

The product's gluten-free recipe is a simple one, as one would expect of a macaroon (certainly a homemade macaroon would have a similar recipe), with the ingredients label showing only these items in the formula: unsweetened sulfite-free coconut, honey, carob, and egg whites. Period. I always love such simplicity in commercial recipes and appreciate the attention to keeping the recipe free of any chemicals, preservatives, colors, or artificial anything. This is how a purchasable celiac-friendly snack should be!

I have found these gluten-free cookies at a couple local stores, but not widespread. So, there is always the official Jennies Macaroon official website where you can buy them -- including, this rather wonderful sounding order option of 144 macaroons at a time :) Wow! 144... a gross of cookies!? That would keep even me busy for a long, long time. The nice thing about buying in such large quantities is the ability to get that price-point below $1/cookie (the website lists 144 for $125), but then again, unless I have a lot of help eating them, it probably is not a bargain. Anyone nearby want to "go in on a gross" of macaroons with me? he he he

Bottom line: great product. Super sweet. Great taste (I also like the regular coconut macaroon variety, and I have not had a chance to try the dutch-chocolate version, but I suspect it is just fine). Semi-reasonable price for a convenient form of a gluten-free dessert when you do not have time to bake your own. Recommended.

4 comments:

Brenda Wilkey said...

That cookie sounds like it would satisfy even the worst craving. I haven't seen these anywhere. I guess I am going to have to do a search. Thank you for the review. I am always looking for something new.

Lynn said...

macaroons are not my favorite. but give me a good pinoli cookie and I'm in heaven. Fortunately, I've been able to eat the ones in the bakery with no problem except for the $18.00 a pound price tag. Maybe I will make them myself some day. Only four ingredients plus powdered sugar if you want.

free said...

i never have this cookie. Near our college one super mall is there and it's available there. But this is so costly there and my friends who already tasted this recommend me not to have this because it's not so delicious and not so worthy for it's cost.

Lars said...

But you don't like the "texture" of carob.