Pillsbury contacted me several weeks ago about working with their new promotional campaign for their brand new line of gluten-free baking doughs. To be honest, at first I was slightly hesitant. I know many of my readers prefer to make things from scratch. And generally I do too...
BUT the longer I've been gluten-free, I've realized the more I long for shortcuts. Not all the time, but for those times when company's coming over unexpectedly, or when you just want a chocolate chip cookie! Shortcuts can be really helpful and when you're gluten-free they are not always readily available. So I agreed to participate in the paid campaign. This is my first compensated review and I can tell you, that no matter what I agree to review, the food will be reviewed with utmost honesty and integrity.
Also once I have reviewed all three products, I will have a baking set & Pillsbury product giveaway, sponsored by Pillsbury. So stay tuned!
Also once I have reviewed all three products, I will have a baking set & Pillsbury product giveaway, sponsored by Pillsbury. So stay tuned!
So last week I received the 3 Pillsbury gluten-free doughs in the mail. It's been a busy week and I wasn't sure when I was going to get a chance to try them. If you've been reading this blog very long you know my husband Michael loves chocolate chip cookies. Today I thought I'd give them a whirl.
The first thing I noticed when I opened the plastic container of dough is how much it actually looked like MY cookie dough! Same color, similar consistency. I do recommend taking the dough out of the fridge and allowing it to come to room temperature before baking. It's much easier to handle that way.
The dough was very easy to work with and we got right around 2 dozen small cookies (about 1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per cookie). We baked them for around 11 minutes and allowed them to cool on the parchment paper for several minutes before trying them.
Really, I was skeptical. I honestly didn't expect these cookies to be ANYWHERE near as good as my homemade cookies. But in spite of my reservations, I really liked them. I mean I really liked them! I went back and looked at the ingredients and told Michael that I thought they must have borrowed MY gluten-free cookie recipe! The cookies are really good. Michael really liked them too (although he would NOT say they were better than mine... I think he was just being nice though! lol)
The cookies end up being a bit more greasy than the cookies made from my homemade dough, but I absolutely would not hesitate going out and buying this Pillsbury gluten-free chocolate chip cookie dough.
Charlie was really intrigued by the aroma of the cookies as they came out of the oven... I had to stop him from climbing on the table a few times.
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UPDATED: 8/7/2013, 10pm
Jenny G. a reader on facebook requested the ingredient list on the cookies, which I meant to include in the post.
Ingredients: Brown Sugar, Rice Flour, Semisweet Chocolate Chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural flavor), Water, Palm Oil, Canola Oil, Sugar, Corn Starch, Modified Potato Starch, Contains 2% or Less of: Eggs, Modified Tapioca Starch, Salt, Baking Soda, Xanthan Gum, Natural Flavor.
CONTAINS: EGG AND SOY; MAY CONTAIN MILK INGREDIENTS.
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So overall, I'm really impressed with these cookies. They are crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. They are soft and have a chewy crumb. They were honestly much better than I thought they would be. And I kinda hate to admit they were just about as good as my homemade version. A neighbor stopped by to drop off a dish while these cookies were baking and she loved them too. She even took a few home with her... and she's not even gluten-free!
Pros:
- Easy to make, you don't have to add ANY additional ingredients
- Resealable container, which makes the dough easy to save for later, you can easily just make a few at time, if desired.
- Tastes great! DOES NOT "taste" gluten-free!
- Would be great for parents to make with kids, super easy to assemble and bake.
- Perfect for travel or to make when visiting friends or family. Easy to suggest to friends & family to have for you when you come to visit.
- A bit more greasy than homemade gluten-free chocolate chip cookies
- High sugar/starch/calorie content -- but this is generally the case with just about any gluten-free processed sweet treat
Good job Pillsbury!
GLG Disclosure:
Full disclosure: this article is financially supported by Pillsbury®.
The product samples and product stock photos were also provided by Pillsbury.
However, the opinions in this post are completely my own.