In my experience, there have been a number of products where the directions are less than perfect. Some have been outright wrong. However, there are some products where the directions could have been written a bit clearer which includes this Trader Joe's Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookie Baking Mix.
Making these
So as a part-food writer, foodie at heart let's go over some basics of recipes. Most of us do it wrong.
What I mean by that is most of us read the directions as we go. So we get the ingredients out and don't always manage the read the directions all the way through. Or worse, we make assumptions about what should go in when. However, in reality, a recipe should be read first and then read a second time for follow-through.
This is one of those products that if you don't read the directions, this product won't work for you. When it first debuted I was shocked to see people complaining of it failing.
Usually, mixes should go 1-2-3. However, with a mix, it is easy to assume that every ingredient goes in and you pop it in the oven and in 10 minutes you'll get the pictured cookies.
So here is how I foresee a few people seeing the directions: Add 3 tablespoon butter or oil, 2 teaspoon vanilla extra, and 3 tablespoon milk to mix.
In reality, if I could reword what you need to do, it would read something like this add 3 tablespoon butter or oil, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon milk + 2 tablespoon more if necessary until it looks like a dough.
The vast majority of the complaints are going to come from the confusion about the milk. I found that after 1 tablespoon of almond milk it looked like familiar cookie dough.
That's when I didn't add in the other 2 as they weren't necessary.
Now, this is an interesting item because when I originally reviewed Trader Joe's Almond Flour it already had a chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back. Granted the one on the back wasn't vegan, but it was still gluten-free.
Review & Taste
And what came out of the oven was good chocolate chip cookies for gluten-free cookies. There was a difference but nothing major.
But as non-gluten-free individual I thought this product is kind of redundant. We already had something similar to the recipe on the bag of almond flour. To be honest, I liked that recipe better. This mix is quicker but not by much.
But this mix won't save you if you just dump everything you think you should in.
But the cookies were on the soft side so if you like crispy leave them in for another minute or two.
Overall
For $4.99 for a mix that makes just 12 cookies, it isn't going to save you that much. You'll be able to make far more cookies from the bag of almond flour in the same aisle.
Would I buy this again? Trader Joe's Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookie Baking Mix is a pass from me.
Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!
Product Photos
The box of Trader Joe's Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookie Baking Mix:
Calories and ingredients
Instructions
After being cooked you get:
Want to see more items I've reviewed from Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe's for a searchable list.
Trader Joe's Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookie Baking Mix
Product Name: Trader Joe's Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookie Baking Mix
Product Description: Trader Joe's Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookie Baking Mix is a new gluten-free and vegan cookie mix that comes together quite easily.
Price: $4.99
Currency: USD
Availability: InStoreOnly
Summary
Trader Joe's Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookie Baking Mix is easy as 1-2-3 as long as you read the directions first
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Taste
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Value
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Worthy of Repurchasing
Pros
- Makes cookies quicker than your oven can pre-heat
- If you don't read the directions, this might turn out terrible.
Cons
- Pricey for just a dozen cookies
Kelly says
I absolutely loved these. I’m on the autoimmune protocol diet and there are lots of food I can’t eat. It’s incredibly rare to find a mix I can eat. Every ingredient (minus the cane sugar in the chocolate chips which I’ll allow an rare occasions) is something I can eat. I, like so many others, added all three tablespoons of milk before I read through the directions. The dough definitely seemed wet, but they came out great. I thought they were delicious and so easy. Definitely easier than the recipe on the back of the flour bag.
becomebetty says
Thanks for sharing Kelly!
RMB says
I think the mix is great, no muss, no fuss! I used olive oil instead of butter, 3 t vanilla, and the full 3 T of almond milk. Here's where I changed things up a bit.To the dry mix I barely folded in the oil & milk. Then added 1/2 C chopped walnuts, 1/2 C tiny dark choc chips and folded mixture until all ingreds. came together. Empty the entire bowl out onto a large piece of parchment paper, roll into a 2" roll and refrigerate for a couple hrs or overnight. preheat oven, unwrap roll, cut log into 1/2 " slices, lay on parchment covered baking sheet. Bake at 350 about 12-14 minutes. yields 18 cookies. They have a nice crunch and look prettier than pictured on the box.
becomebetty says
Thanks for sharing RMB!
Evy B says
1st, I only recently started to bake. I followed box directions and wasn’t impressed with ingredients. So I made a lavender tea and substituted 1tb of milk - I opted for whole milk just in case. I also added an additional tsp of vanilla.
At 2tbs dough looked good but since I don’t know what cookie consistency should be I added 3rd Tb.
Yes, they were too soft. However,
I’m glad I added the lavender as I found the chocolate too intense for my taste.
becomebetty says
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts on this!