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Enjoy Life Foods New Crunchy Cookies, A Review and Giveaway!

I was the recent recipient of 4 complimentary packages of Enjoy Life Foods New Crunchy Cookies and while I did not personally sample them (I avoid all grains and cane sugar), my guys had a lot of fun “working” on my behalf…it’s a tough job, ya know! 😀

I really like Enjoy Life Foods, they are one of the few companies whose products I feel safe feeding my food allergic family, and they make some great tasting products, most of which you’d never know were free of so many allergens.

Some of our favorites are the Perky’s Crunchy Flax Cereal (a wonderful cereal option for those who are gluten-free and also have corn and rice allergies), Boom Choco Boom Bars (these make great dairy-free S’mores and I also use them to make Dairy-Free Buckeyes).  Last but not least, I’d be lost without Enjoy Life’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips and their new Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks, which are an essential ingredient in my Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and Egg-Free “Toll House” Chocolate Chip Cookies!   I also have a recipe coming soon for homemade “Cookie Dough Larabars” which Luke just loves. 😀

All of Enjoy Life Foods products are certified gluten free, and are made in a dedicated gluten-free facility.  They are also free of the Top 8 allergens: they contain NO wheat/gluten, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish or shellfish (nor do they contain casein, sesame, potato or sulfites).

And I have great news for my fellow corn allergy sufferers!  According to Alina over at Enjoy Life Foods:

All of our products, except for 2 of the Boom Choco Boom bars are actually corn free.  Although the xanthan gum does have a corn alcohol base, it is processed in such a way that all corn proteins are removed and our products are tolerated by most corn allergic people.  (You can read more about the xanthan gum on ELF’s website by clicking here and the salt they use is not iodized, so it does not contain any corn or corn byproducts, WOOT!).

The Enjoy Life Crunchy Cookies earned a position of high esteem with my husband who thinks they are as delicious as Glow Gluten Free Cookies.  Mike has really missed having the Glow cookies in our pantry – and in his cereal bowl – ever since Luke was diagnosed with an egg allergy a year ago (you can read my review of Glow from 2009 here), so he is over the moon for Enjoy Life’s new product addition.

Crunchy Double Chocolate Cookies:

Mike: I could honestly eat the whole bag.  From what I can remember, it tastes like a Chips Ahoy (even though it’s double chocolate).  I don’t know how the heck they did this without dairy.

Sam: Really good, Luke will freak over this cookie.

Luke: ChocoooooLate!

Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Mike: Flavor’s fine but I think this batch may have been baked a tad bit too long, there was a slight “burnt” undertone.  All the flavor’s there, maybe just a minute too long in the oven.

Sam: This is really good, just the right amount of chocolate for me!

Luke: Yummy.

Crunchy Sugar Crisp Cookies:

Mike:  A little snickerdoodle-ish, very subtle though.  It’s not a sugar cookie like you would imagine a sugar cookie, but still very good.  Frankly, this would be a good sort of generic entertaining type box of cookies, especially for those who don’t like chocolate or peanut butter.

Sam: Awesome!

Luke: They need some chocolate mommy (ooohh…I bet these could be great dipped in some melted dairy-free chocolate!)

Crunchy Vanilla Honey Graham:

Mike: This is my favorite, hands down.  I’ve never had a cookie like this, the flavor combination is something that the big food manufacturers need to be aware of, it would be a massive money maker…as is, allergen-free.  It tastes like something I’ve had before and the first thing that comes to mind is some kind of breakfast cereal but I can’t place it.

Sam & Luke:  We didn’t get to try this one, dad ate them all.

Well, there ya have it.  The Enjoy Life Crunchy Cookies were all very well received in the Kelly household and have earned the “official” Sam and Luke Seal of Approval!

Want more opinions?  Be sure to check out the following reviews from a few of my fellow bloggers:

Please Don’t Pass The Nuts (a.k.a. Allergic Girl)

A Life of Sugar and Spice

Accustomed Chaos

Many Hats Mommy

Triumph Dining

Would you like to try some for yourself?

**This giveaway is now closed**

Enjoy Life Foods has kindly offered to give three of my readers their choice of 2 boxes of Crunchy Cookies!  To enter for a chance to win this giveaway:

Leave a comment telling me your all-time favorite cookie flavor.

Bonus Entry Opportunities (strictly optional but should you decide to do any, please leave a separate comment for each task you complete or your bonus entries will not be counted…each comment is automatically assigned a number in WordPress and this is what the random number generator uses to pick the winners).

  • Spin around in a circle and quack like a duck (just kidding).

I will announce the 3 winners on Monday, September 26, 2011.  Good Luck! 😀

 

Comments

  1. Great giveaway, our family loves the new Enjoy Life crunchy cookies! My all-time cookie flavor would have to be plain old chocolate chip. Or maybe some with some peanut butter chips thrown in as well… yum!

  2. I'm a chocoholic, so my favorite cookie flavor is chocolate chocolate chip. We recently started the gluten-free adventure, so I'm excited to enter the giveaway!

  3. Tanya Osborne says

    Twitter – tanyaakajherri

    All Tasks done…thanks for the giveaway…keeping fingers crossed!!

  4. My all time favorite cookie type is white chocolate macadamia cookies. Maybe it's a good thing I can't have gluten anymore!

  5. My favorite cookie has to be sugar! I miss having fresh warm sugar cookies straight out of the oven, but I am so glad to have products like Enjoy Life's to make up for it!

  6. I FINALLY found the crunchy ones and we tried the sugar ones first. My guys loved them, my non-allergy kiddo ate the most!

    I did not see the vanilla honey graham! OMYummyness, i want these or chocolate chip 🙂

  7. Just "liked" enjoy life foods

  8. We have only had the Vanilla Honey Graham (I had them before I went grain free). They were FANTASTIC! I could (and did) eat a whole box by myself. We use them for smores too! My family loves them!! I think the kids would love to try the other flavors.

  9. also like you on FB….. i really want to win (can you tell) to bad i don't know how to twitter 😛

  10. These cookies are awesome, except they don't last long enough in our house!

    My favorite cookie has got to be my mom's "bon-bons" which are a sugar cookie wrapped around a hershey kiss, with icing on top! I miss those!

    Thanks for the great giveaway!

  11. Dana Hamilton says

    Chocolate Chip!

  12. Peanut butter, every time!

  13. Dana Hamilton says

    Just 'liked' Enjoy Life on Facebook.

  14. Chocolate Chip!!

  15. I 'like' Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom on fb…chocolate chip!

  16. Snickerdoodle or pumpkin cookie!

  17. I 'like' Enjoy Life Foods on fb…chocolate chip!

  18. My favorite cookie has always been homemade chocolate chip! Thanks for this giveaway!

  19. Chocolate chocolate chip! Yum!

  20. I like Enjoy Life Foods on FB.

  21. I'm following Enjoy Life Foods on Twitter.

  22. I like Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom on FB.

  23. I'm following Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom on Twitter.

    and

    Quack quack! 😀

  24. My little guy would love to try the double chocolate.

  25. We were so excited the day we discovered Enjoy Life came out with crunchy cookies. We were all yelling in the store isle like we had won the lottery!! Now we are waiting for some Enjoy Life white chocolate chips….

  26. Nice, thanks for the blog love. I agree with Mike, the Vanilla Honey Graham are awesome!!!

  27. Of course, sugar cookies! These would be great to try as finding gluten free vegetarian cookies are a rare find. Thanks!

  28. Chocolate Chip will always be the best!

  29. I like you on FB

  30. I'm a big fan of white chocolate macademia nut cookies though I haven't had one in years!

  31. My all time favorite is ginger snaps. Or maybe chocolate chip. Oh, but sugar cookies with M&Ms are awfully good too. Don't want to forget those fudge covered Oreo's. Well, actually I do want to forget them since I can't have them anymore.

  32. My favorite cookie is definitely oatmeal chocolate chip (gluten-free of course)!

  33. I like Adventures of a GF Mom on Facebook. Thanks!

  34. Chocolate with peanut butter chips are my favorite! Though I haven't had one in years with my allergies and my little ones peanut allergy. I miss them!

  35. I liked Enjoy Life Foods.

  36. I like your site on Facebook.

  37. I follow Enjoy Life Foods @MommaStaciA

  38. I follow you too @MommaStaciA. Thanks!

  39. I love Cranberry White Chocolate Macadamia Nut. So freakin' good! 🙂

  40. My favorite has always been Peanut Butter, but since I was diagnosed with a peanut allergy it has switched to Almond Butter cookies and ANY type of Chocolate cookie!

  41. I'm a fan of all cookies, choc. chip with walnuts is my favorite!

  42. I like Enjoy Life Foods on facebook!

  43. I like your site on facebook!

  44. I follow your site on twitter!

  45. I follow Enjoy Life Foods on twitter!

  46. My all-time favorite cookies are chocolate covered peanut butter cookies! Yum!

  47. I followed you on twitter!

  48. I like you on Facebook!

  49. I like enjoy live on FB

  50. I followed EL on twitter!

  51. I even spun around in a circle and quacked like a duck. (LOL)…my kids thought it was hilarious!

  52. One of my most favorite cookies is oatmeal with butterscotch chips!!!

  53. I already like you on facebook.

  54. I now like Enjoy Life Foods on facebook.

  55. I love shortbread cookies. I scored a couple boxes of honey graham the other day at our local natural market. They were BOGO. I was craving smores. Now I want the double chocolate because of your families review.

  56. I like you on FB.

  57. I love any type of cookie with chocolate and peanut butter in it!

  58. My favorite flavor is an oreo like cookie.

  59. Vanilla Honey!!!!

  60. I like adventures of a GF Mom on FB!

  61. I like enjoy life foods on FB!!!

  62. Love peanut butter cookies and have not found an alternative yet. Made some sunflower seed butter cookies once but it just isn't the same.

  63. I already "like" adventures of a gluten free mom on FB

  64. I 'like' Enjoy life foods on fb too 🙂

  65. Chocolate chip! Who doesn't love chocolate chip cookies? Although, I am fond of double chocolate chip… and snickerdoodles…

  66. Already following you on Twitter

  67. Already following you on FB

  68. Already following Enjoy Life on Twitter

  69. Already following Enjoy Life on FB

  70. My all-time favorite cookie is Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip!

  71. I follow Enjoy Life Foods on Twitter.

  72. I follow Adventures of a Gluten-Free Mom on Twitter.

  73. Rebecca Bochenek says

    I LIKE "Enjoy Life Foods" on FB. My favorite cookie flavor is oatmeal, butterscotch, white chocolate with Craisins! I call them Butterscotch explosions! I LIKE Adventures of a Gluten free mom ALOT!

  74. I'm not entering the giveaway, Heidi, but I did thoroughly enjoy your family's reviews. It seems like GF Dad had more cookies than anyone else. 😉 The "corn-free" xanthan gum (not in direct relation to Enjoy Life Foods, but in general) has been a topic that's been discussed on my Facebook page, in emails to me, and on Twitter a bit of late. Some were saying that their research had shown that all xanthan gum "should" be corn free because the process itself should "eat up" the corn. A few readers commented in response that even when they have been told that xanthan gum is corn free, they've had the same corn reaction. So it would be wonderful to know that it is truly corn free, but I wonder if any of the corn-allergic folks will try given their previous experiences. The corn-free discussion makes me think of the whole "gluten-free" discussion. What does "free" mean? Is it 0 ppm? Is it 5 ppm? For some folks, it matters, so I wonder if any testing is done for these products that are supposed to be corn free and what is actually considered corn free? Not trying to hijack your post and comments, but wondering …

    xo,

    Shirley

    • I think Mike was having some kind of "hormonal moment" when those cookies arrived because he's not typically a "sweets person," LOL!

      The "true" corn-free status of xanthan gum is something that I often think about too and I really wish there was an organization that did scientific studies/testing for corn allergies (similar to what Tricia Thompson does for the gluten free community). When I was dx'd with my corn allergy, the list of foods to avoid that I was given by my allergist had all sorts of things on it that I never would have expected (like cane sugar) and when I started doing my own research to understand why (I'm a "need to know and understand the science" kinda girl), I was dismayed to discover that the only corn-free websites out there are run by regular people with corn allergies (or who have a child with a corn allergy). Not that that is a bad thing mind you (heck, the same can be said about me with gluten), but the gluten-free community at least has scientific resources for understanding why something is technically "gluten-free" or not. The same cannot be said for the corn-free community (and what regular person has the financial/scientific resources to take on that massive undertaking?).

      I have some other big "corny" questions that I cannot seem to find any answers to either (and it doesn't help that there are some stark contradictions for corn-free and gluten-free). For instance, all the corn allergy websites say to stay away from distilled vinegar (and certain grain alcohols) because they're usually derived from corn. But those of us in the gluten-free community are taught that the gluten protein does not survive the distillation process, so even if a distilled vinegar or a distilled grain alcohol is derived from a gluten containing grain, the end product is still technically "gluten-free."

      So why wouldn't the same mechanism apply for the corn protein? I don't know the answer to that and it drives me crazy!

      The other problem I have is that I have a "class 2" IgE corn allergy and (much like gluten), my symptoms aren't exactly drastic or obvious. The few times I've had corn straight-up (as in non-gmo corn on the cob) since I went on the elimination diet and had my sinus surgery last winter, I've noticed that corn appears to give me sinus congestion within an hour or so of consumption, but there are no other symptoms that I can pinpoint. Makes it hard to tell if you've cornified when you have a cold or are suffering from other allergens (like I am right now with Hay Fever).

      And Shirley, pish posh on "hijacking" my posts or comments, you do EXACTLY what I'm most passionate about (and quite frankly, would like to see more of from my readers)…asking the big questions and getting conversations started! So PLEASE DON'T STOP! 😀

      xoxo,
      Heidi

  75. Chocolate Chip is my all time favorite cookie! So far I haven't found an Enjoy Life cookie I didn't love.

  76. I "like" Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom on Facebook.

  77. I love M&M and Chocolate Chip. 🙂

  78. I like you on FB. 🙂

  79. I like Enjoy Life on FB too! 🙂

  80. Michelle End-Alcabes says

    I love Oreos. My 4 year old son's favorite cookies are the Enjoy Life Soft Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies. We would love to try the new crunchy cookies.

  81. Samantha Spiker says

    Snicker-doodle! Our first gf cookie was actually Enjoy Life's Snicker-doodle and even my son liked it. My sister had been diagnosed with celiac and my son and I wanted to see what all this gluten free stuff was about, so we thought we'd try some cookies….who knew we'd be joining the parade so very very soon thereafter!

  82. Samantha Spiker says

    I follow you on Twitter! (&quacked like a duck 🙂

  83. I liked Enjoy Life Foods on FB!

  84. I liked Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom on FB!

  85. My all-time favorite cookie would have to be the sugar cookie with chocolate chip in a VERY close 2nd!! 🙂

  86. Favorite cookie, that's a tough one. We like cookies probably that most wouldn't list- that my Italian grandmother made, pizelles, S cookies….But my kids do like a good old chocolate chip as well!

  87. Chocolate chip, that's easy.

    Thanks Heidi

  88. I think my favorite would be Hungarian Cookies we used to make growing up – lb of butter, lb of sugar, lb of flour, rolled out and filled with pie filling. Number 2 would be soft, warm, 1/2 baked choc. chip cookies straight out of the oven 🙂 mmmmm….

  89. I like the CRUNCHY DOUBLE CHOCOLAE ,also the VALNILLA HONEY GRAHAM (like to smach them up for a pie crust. Now I would like to try the CRANBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA next.

    Thanks Heidi

  90. Leslie Payne says

    I love Oreo cookies. I too am sugar free so I have't had a "gluten" cookie in over 4 1/2 years. Recently my 5 year old son had his checkup and needed to gain a little weight. He picked out some gluten/dairy free "oreo" cookies from the health food store. I let him have three that day. That night I snuck in the pantry and got out one and poured myself some rice milk….I dunked for a few seconds and then put half the cookie in my mouth and sucked out all the milk. It just crumbled like I remember the real Oreo! I ate the rest of the bag and had to go get another one before my son came home from school! BUT IT WAS SO YUMMY!!!

  91. Without a doubt, chocolate chip! But in those crunchy cookies I LOVED the honey grahams too. They are awesome.

  92. I follow you by email and FB. I am sure mu son would love to try Double Chocolate. Thanks for the giveaway.

  93. My favorite cookie is a peanut butter cookie, but now I try to stay away from peanuts…so next best favorite would be oatmeal chocolate chip, YUM.

  94. Love a nice warm chocolate chip cookie! My son loves the gingerbread cookies that good life makes.

  95. i like you on facebook.

  96. I love cookies that have lots and lots of butter. My litte G3 of course can't have butter, or wheat, or eggs, or corn. He has never had a cookie.

  97. chocolate chip

  98. I like enjoy life on facebook

  99. Milk chocolate chip cookies are my fav!

  100. toll house chocolate chip cookies — we make the best GF ones! 🙂

  101. Chocolate chip of course!!!

  102. Peanut butter cookies are my favorite.

  103. Chocolate chip, of course! : )

  104. my favorite cookie is oatmeal peanut butter chip

  105. I like ENjoy Foods on FB

  106. I follow Enjoy Foods on twitter as kledford65

  107. I follow adventuresgfmom on twitter as kledford65

  108. I'm a chocolate chip kind of girl but DH is a sugar cookie man all the way. We're just starting on making our home a food allergen free home after a recent diagnosis. Thanks for your blog.

  109. Chocolate Chip are a favorite in this house- anything with chocolate!

  110. My favorite would probably be a chocolate chip or sugar type cookie. Honestly, though, I love all cookies 🙂

  111. I liked ELF on facebook.

  112. I love chocolate chip cookies and love that they now make gluten-free dairy free versions without egg!

  113. I like Enjoy Life on Facebook

  114. I follow Enjoy Life on Twitter @krystenlindsay

  115. I follow Adventures of a Gluten-free mom on twitter @krystenlindsay

  116. I like Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom on FB (Krysten Lindsay Hager)

  117. I liked Enjoy Life Foods on Facebook.

  118. And I liked AGFM on Facebook too!

  119. I followed Enjoy Life on Twitter! @trixbel

  120. I followed you on Twitter as well! @trixbel

  121. I love snickerdoodles!

  122. Great review – we're a big fan of Enjoy Life's mini chocolate chip cookies over here. Brands like this don't make living gluten-free all that bad 😉 btw – love your blog, great gluten-free resource!