Oy, a very late post. Merry Christmas to me!!

YUMMMMMM. I <3 cookie dough! Just keep it in your fridge or freezer and when you want some cookies or have a last-minute party at your place, you have cookies in 20-25 minutes!! My showers are sometimes that long! Cookie dough is the perfect balance between store-bought and homemade from scratch; they taste SO MUCH BETTER than store-bought, are cheaper, are often softer, generally don’t have as many preservatives and ingredients AND you can eat the cookie dough (provided that the eggs are pasteurized of course). Of course your customizations are limited but if it’s a great cookie dough you won’t need to alter ingredients

I got triple chocolate chip cookie dough from Albie. Everyone loves them!!

Look at that gorgeous deep brown color! Underneath this smooth surface of dough you’ll find white and milk chocolate chips

There they are on the rack!! Smooth, warm, soft, and delicious. For a chocolate cookie, it’s not as gooey as one might hope. Your above-average chocolate chocolate cookie. I would like to tell you how they are a day later but.. none of them lasted that long.

• Taste: 8
• Crust and center moistness: soft, even after a few hours
• Value: present, great!
• Overall: Good choice for cookie dough, so don’t hesitate if you’re approached for a fundraiser!!

I was totally STOKED when these came in the mail!! They are, and I quote:

…a brand of organic, ready-to-eat, whole grain cookies that solve the debate of nuts in schools as they are free of common food allergens including peanuts, tree nuts, dairy and eggs.

My favorite parts about these cookies:

• they’re organic
• they contain no common food allergens (there is soy lecithin in here though) and are vegan
• they are made with whole grains
• they are sans trans fats (and cholestorol but I don’t have to worry about that too much) and corn sweeteners

I first tried the mini chocolate chocolate chip cookies, because I could eat 6 of them for only 130 calories

They’re crunchier than I wanted, and by “crunchier” I really mean they are a bit dry. I couldn’t really taste the chocolate chips, but there is definitely a chocolatey taste all around. I would have liked to differentiate the chocolate chips from the rest of the cookie in my mouth, but I kept reaching for more quickly, one after the other, which says a lot. For some reason, for me, the law of diminishing returns didn’t apply; each cookie I ate was better than the last. Despite the lack of raw sugar in this cookie (sweeteners include cane juice crystals, 3rd ingredient listed) it still is really sweet and satisfied my after-lunch sweet tooth. Couldn’t tell that it was made from whole grains, although I will note that this cookie is “heavier” than other cookies (might be the barley flour).

Since this is a “healthier” cookie I will go into the nutrition facts. As mentioned above, it’s 130 cals for 6 minis — actually really good compared to regular cookies at 170+ calories a cookie. Only 20 carbs, but they’re whole grain, so that’s almost moot. Same with the 11g of sugars, most of which comes from the fruit juices and cane juice crystals. The rest — 1g fiber, 2g protein, 0% of all vitamins and minerals except for the 6%DV or iron, is negotiable with other cookies. I hesitate to say that these are healthy cookies since, they are, after all, cookies, but I will say that I know a thing or two about nutrition and these cookies are definitely not as bad for you as other cookies.

**UPDATE** I also sampled their regular chocolate chip cookie! Take a look at my review here: Home Free Chocolate Chip Cookie.

• Taste: 7
• Crust and center moistness: very crunchy, dry even
• Value: 30 mini cookies which is 5 servings for $4.99 in select Whole Foods, Shaw’s and some institutions like schools and sports venues; pretty darn good for a cookie with organic ingredients and few allergens. but if you can’t find them in store, they go for $5.69 + S&H at www.homefreetreats.com. They also have individually wrapped regular-sized cookies for $1.79 a cookie. That price is a little steep for me — I’d go with the minis, they’re more fun to eat too!
• Overall: If you are picky about your food choices, or want a not-as-bad-for-you cookie, pick these up, totally worth it. If not, they’d be good to try if you’re not craving a chewy chocolate chocolate chip cookie and they were convenient to obtain. 7