liveGfree Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Mix

For about a year, I’ve been reading about the line of gluten-free items at Aldi.  I like to go to Aldi once or twice a year to stock up on some basics, but it’s been a long time since I’ve gone because it’s a little out of the way (though not far).  There are so many other grocery stores that I like to stop at regularly that I didn’t want to add another to the list, but I finally ran into one of the stores and grabbed several items from the liveGfree line.

I haven’t tried much of it yet – most of the stuff that I bought are baking mixes, and I don’t use that sort of thing often.  On Sunday I wanted some cookies and didn’t have enough oats to make the recipe that I wanted, so I decided to try the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Mix.

The box called for butter and 1 egg, but after mixing it up I knew it couldn’t be right.  I reread directions and googled some other reviews to find that most people said they needed to add a few tablespoons of liquid because the dough was too crumbly.  To tell you the truth, I didn’t bother to measure – I just grabbed the coffee pot and poured a little bit of cool coffee into the crumbly dough mix…probably about two tablespoons.  I thought the coffee would add a little extra flavor.  It still seemed a bit dry, so I threw a tablespoon of peanut butter in the mix and that seemed to do the trick.

The dough still had the gritty texture that most gluten-free mixes do, so I don’t recommend tasting it.  I got some grit stuck in my throat and couldn’t clear it out for like 5 minutes.  I thought it could still work out, so I threw them in the oven.

They actually turned out pretty great!  I undercooked them slightly – the first time unintentionally because Jenson woke from his nap and I went up to try to settle him, so I just turned off the oven and opened the door.  They were almost cooked and that was just enough to finish them.  I left the second batch in slightly longer (because I forgot to set the timer), but pulled them out just in time.

The gritty texture was mostly gone once baked, and the flavor was decent for a mix…a touch bland, but most mixes are – gluten-free or not.  I could taste a slight peanut butter flavor from my addition of PB, and would probably add more next time instead of the extra liquid.  I really liked that these puffed up a bit and stayed chewy.  I would definitely buy these again.  I don’t remember how much they were, but Aldi is pretty cheap, so I’m sure they were less than most gluten-free mixes.  They were easy and were definitely better than most “from scratch” gluten-free recipes I’ve tried, which produce flat, crunchy cookies, so I’d take this mix over that any day.  They definitely LOOK like “real” cookies and Lo thought they were good too.  So don’t forget to add extra liquid (I recommend peanut butter), and under-bake them.  They’re great if you pop them in the microwave for 5 seconds before eating them.