Both gluten-free and Ohio-grown products have become so abundant in stores, they’re not necessarily marketed with big announcements of their specialness. While Moondance Desserts does disclose its gluten-free-ness on its label, its chocolate chip cookies were found in the mix with a bunch of normal cookies, and the fact that it’s based in Cincinnati became evident only after looking at the itty bitty print.
The bakery does its chocolate chip cookies in bar form. They’re dense and sweet and reasonably freckled with chocolate chips. The texture is tender; certainly, no one would think they’re missing gluten (wheat flour), and they can hold their own over anything made by Nabisco or even fancier big-box cookie makers. Truly, nothing in this world is less satisfying than a wooden Chip Ahoy. Except possibly, the chemical-ly ones that are treated to stay bendable.
In smaller print, the ingredient list also mentions being “all natural.” That actually turns out to be pretty true too. A quick look at the ingredient list shows the first ingredient is brown sugar. There’s also unsalted butter, eggs, vanilla: lots of the normal stuff you’d use at home, with the exception of “rice flour”, instead of wheat flour. Full disclosure: there are a few little odd things like soy lecithin and xantham gum in the mix, but you find those two in lots of “natural” products.
If you’re doing gluten-free for weight-loss purposes (let’s be honest, people do that), these are probably not the cookies you’re looking for. A single hit will get you 130 calories. Of course, there’s a gram of protein there, and 4 percent of the RDA for Vitamin A. If you eat the whole box, which is a distinct possibility, you’ll end up eating most of the calories for the day. You can always eat a salad tomorrow.
You can find Moondance Bakery items at local gourmet grocers. In terms of branching out, it’s also got a line of brownies, cheesecakes and coffeecakes.