Product Review: Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last weekend I went on a baking spree. It felt so good to be back in the kitchen, doing what I love most. I've been baking chocolate chip cookies as long as I can remember, starting with sitting on the counter helping my mom, then standing on a step-stool hand-beating the eggs and butter and sugar together because I wasn't old enough to use the hand mixer (Mom helped put them in the oven), then making them for all my friends and even earning a (good) reputation amongst my roommates and best friends for my chocolate chip cookie bars.

After getting over the initial shock of my diagnosis and the idea that my beloved baking days were over, I attempted to make chocolate chip cookies by simply substituting regular flour with the first gluten-free all purpose baking mix I ever bought, Arrowhead Mills. It was a disaster. I even cried. (Sound familiar?)

So, I took a hiatus from baking...at all. I'm starting to get back into it and am really enjoying it! I decided to take another shot at making cookies, this time with a mix. I've been very pleased with Betty Crocker's gluten-free cake and brownie mixes, so I decided to give the cookie mix a go. This resulted in mixed feelings.

First of all, the mix is really easy. Dump the contents of the box in a bowl and add butter, an egg, and vanilla. Done. Except, it was incredibly crumbly. There is even a very clear warning right in the directions: this batter will be crumbly. Don't take it lightly - Betty's not kidding.

Not to be deterred, I remembered that all batters and doughs are weird with gluten-free ingredients, so I got out my trusty (and not used for years) cookie dough scoop and went to town. I smooshed (only technical terms on this blog - ha) the dough into the scoop by pushing it (with much more force than I personally think should have been necessary) up against the side of the bowl while scooping, and that worked okay, although the dough separated again once I released it onto the baking sheet. I left them pretty much alone for the first batch, which resulted in very sad looking cookies that I refused to take a picture of.

For the next batch I repeated the above, but after putting the dough on the cookie sheet, I smooshed all together into tighter scoops with my fingers. MUCH better!

Still a little flat for my taste, but that one in the middle is pretty! I let them cool and did the best to restrain myself, but of course I had to go for a hot cookie. Pretty tasty! Only problem - it completely dissolved in my hand. This mix resulted in very fragile cookies for the most part - not my favorite. If you like thin, crispy, fragile cookies, this is the mix for you! (Don't think that stopped me from finishing these off last night, though. While the texture isn't my favorite for a cookie, the flavor was fantastic.)

That being said, I ended up with some pretty good looking ones. Makes me want a cookie. And if you give a Kelly a cookie...

Sorry. I tend to be a little random.

On a related note, several weeks ago (long forgotten until now) I made chocolate chip cookie bars from a bag of Pamela's cookie mix. These turned out great! Not that I should be surprised...everything I make with Pamela's anything turns out the way it's supposed to. Here's a pic to get your mouth watering:

You're welcome. 

Kelly