G-Free review: chocolate chip cookies!

If it's good, it's not cheap; and if it's cheap, it's not good. My beloved Nebraskan-Polish grandfather lived by that line (along with "Rest when you're dead, dammit"). For the vast majority of things in life, his line rang true--cheap cars break down; cheap hair dryers last until you've got an 8 a.m. meeting and could really use a good hair day.

But for off-the-shelf gluten-free items, a gross, crumbly, textureless chocolate chip cookie can cost just as much (or more) as a delicious one. Here are my winning--and losing--picks for that immortal sweet snack.

G-Free Gold Star: Hands down, the best chocolate chip cookie on the g-free market comes from Udi's. Chock-full of chocolate chips (no carob here), Udi's cookie dough has a barely-baked quality to it, making for a chewy, hearty bite each time. At my local grocery stores, though, they retail for about $5.99 for a container of 10 cookies. Paying nearly $6 for 8 oz. of cookie joy is asking a lot from my wallet. But when they go on sale...yuuuum.

Cheap G-Free Gold Star: Arguably as expensive, but packaged in a smaller quantity and a corresponding lower price, I give the WOW Baking Company single-serve chocolate chip cookie the cheap gold star. WOW (for With Out Wheat) works under the same philosophy as Udi's--that creating baked goods sans gluten doesn't mean they should leave out the eggs, sugar and butter as well. Fred Meyer sells these goodies for $1.89 per cookie, making it a quick, cheap treat. 

G-Free Passably: Nearly every store with a gluten-free section carries something from Pamela's Products, and rightly so. From baking mixes to cheesecakes, and biscotti to granola bars, they run the g-free gamut. As for their cookies, the only one I find tolerable is from their "Simplebites" cookie. Think of them as the g-free Chips Ahoy counterpart--crunchy and, well, just standard. At around $3.69 for a 7 oz. package, they work in a pinch. 

G-Free Miserably: Poor Pamela takes my bottom slot with her line's other chocolate chip cookie. Dense and crumbly with an almost powdery aftertaste, I'm not a fan. 

What are your g-free cookie favorites? Tell me what I missed!