Every celiac has a cookie they measure all the others against. Mine is Tate's Bake Shop, the bag that has lived in my kitchen since my diagnosis. So for the first review on this site, I did the only fair thing: I bought its challengers, put them all on the same table, and scored every one of them the same way.
The card, all bought with my own money on one grocery run: Tate's Bake Shop ($8.99 for 198 g, $4.54 per 100 g), Kinnikinnick Montanas ($6.99 for 220 g, $3.18 per 100 g), MadeGood Crunchy ($6.49 for 200 g, $3.25 per 100 g), and the President's Choice store brand ($5.00 for 220 g, $2.27 per 100 g). A fifth cookie was also purchased. We will get to that.
Each cookie is scored out of 10 on Taste, Texture, Value, and the Dunk Test: ten seconds in cold milk, judged on what comes back out. Gluten-free cookies live or die on structure, and there is no faster way to find out what a cookie is really made of. In finishing order, from fourth place to the crown:
4. President's Choice: 6.3/10
The store brand, certified by the Canadian Celiac Association, at half the per-gram price of the champion. I wanted this one to win.
| Category | Score | From the tasting |
|---|---|---|
| Taste | 6.5 | Suffers from the same bland cookie as Kinnikinnick, but does have slightly more robust chocolate flavour, so it gets an extra half a point. |
| Texture | 4 | Here's where these cookies fall apart, literally and figuratively. They're crisp, but you get that little crumb explosion on every bite. And once you start to chew, there is zero crunch. |
| Dunk Test | 8.5 | These do a good job of holding together through dunking. As a bonus, once they're soaked in milk, the soft outer layer prevents the crumb explosions. |
| Value | 6 | Discount product at discount price. |
Verdict: I really hoped these would hold their own against the more expensive options, but they really fell flat. I will definitely eat the rest of the box, but wouldn't buy again. The one twist: milk fixes them. Soaked, the crumb problem disappears, which is how the worst texture on the card posted the second best dunk.
3. MadeGood Crunchy: 7.0/10
Organic, nut free, and the smallest cookies on the card. Size matters in this review, mostly at dunk time.
| Category | Score | From the tasting |
|---|---|---|
| Taste | 8 | The chocolate shines in this cookie. The cookie itself has a slight hint of vanilla. |
| Texture | 7 | I was worried when I opened the bag and saw every cookie absolutely coated in crumbs, so they are a bit messy. But these are small enough that any crumb explosion happens securely in your mouth after you pop the whole thing in. |
| Dunk Test | 6 | They hold up fine, but it doesn't really do anything but put crumbs in your milk and get your fingers wet. |
| Value | 7 | Being organic adds some value. However, you get less than Kinnikinnick and pay more. |
Verdict: I wasn't a big fan of these. Good flavour, but not much else going for them. A cookie this small gives you nothing dry to hold onto, so the Dunk Test becomes a finger test.
2. Kinnikinnick Montanas: 7.8/10
Made in Canada, Celiac Canada certified, and free of just about everything: vegan, peanut and nut free, soy free, dairy free.
| Category | Score | From the tasting |
|---|---|---|
| Taste | 6 | Very light flavour, almost no chocolate flavour comes through. Not bad tasting, just bland. |
| Texture | 7 | Chocolate chips melt in your mouth. The cookie is a bit too hard. I like crisp, but these are extra crunchy. |
| Dunk Test | 9.5 | That extra crunch allows these cookies to keep their texture through a 10 second dunk and deliver a near-perfect milk-soaked bite without falling apart into your glass. |
| Value | 8.5 | Being vegan, soy and peanut-free makes these a great option for folks with other dietary restrictions. |
Verdict: These will not take Tate's spot on my shelf, but I would definitely recommend them to my vegan friends. The hardness that cost it points on texture turned around and won the dunk outright. Same cookie, different test, opposite result.
1. Tate's Bake Shop: 8.0/10 🏆
The defending champion, and the only cookie here I already knew. Certified gluten-free, real butter, and priced like it knows it.
| Category | Score | From the tasting |
|---|---|---|
| Taste | 8.5 | Buttery, chocolate-y, and delicious. Just a touch too sweet for my taste. |
| Texture | 10 | Crisp and crunchy, but not too crumbly. Real chocolate chips that melt in your mouth. If you're a crispy cookie enjoyer, these are as good as the real thing. |
| Dunk Test | 7.5 | The cookie held up fine, but didn't really absorb any milk. |
| Value | 6 | A premium cookie, at a premium price. |
Verdict: Tate's has been my go-to cookie since being diagnosed. I know I definitely will buy these again, and again. It posted the only perfect score of the day, a 10 for texture, and "as good as the real thing" is the highest praise a gluten-free cookie can earn in this house.
The Final Standings
| Cookie | Taste | Texture | Dunk | Value | Average | Buy again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tate's Bake Shop | 8.5 | 10 | 7.5 | 6 | 8.0 | Yes, and again |
| Kinnikinnick Montanas | 6 | 7 | 9.5 | 8.5 | 7.8 | For dunkers and vegans |
| MadeGood Crunchy | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7.0 | No |
| President's Choice | 6.5 | 4 | 8.5 | 6 | 6.3 | No |
| Walker's Shortbread | Eaten by my kid before judging | Rematch pending | ||||
The Bottom Line
- The crown stays. Tate's remains the house cookie. Expensive, a touch sweet, and structurally the best gluten-free cookie I have found.
- Best dunk and best value: Kinnikinnick. If you dunk, or you are feeding a mixed-allergy household, that is your cookie.
- Cheap is not the same as a deal. President's Choice is certified and costs the least per gram, and its texture is still where the savings show.
- Total spent on the Championships: $34.46, fifth cookie included. Prices are shelf prices from October 24, 2026, and they will move.
All five were bought with my own money. Nobody sent me a cookie, which is a shame, because I would have eaten that one too. How this site makes money is on the disclosure page.