I compared store-bought ginger cookies and the cheapest, most festive kind was my favorite
- I tried three kinds of packaged ginger cookies from the grocery store.
- Tate's gluten-free ginger zinger cookies impressed me with bits of crystallized ginger.
- The best store-bought gingerbread cookies were Little Debbie's iced gingerbread cookies.
Nothing says the holiday season like a ginger cookie for dessert.
Many brands release seasonal versions of their most popular items during the holidays, from peppermint Milano cookies to Reese's peanut-butter Christmas trees.
I tried three kinds of ginger-flavored cookies, all of which can be found on most grocery store shelves and pack just the right amount of spice for the holiday season.
Here's how store-bought gingerbread cookies ranked, from worst to best.
The bag cost $5.79 at my local Key Food Marketplace.
This is comparable to other brands of packaged cookies I usually buy.
Sometimes I find ginger snaps can be a little tough, but these ones crumbled easily.
I thought the cookies tasted strongly of spices like cinnamon and molasses but were slightly off-balance in sweetness.
These cookies were borderline spicy, which I'm personally not a huge fan of. However, I did enjoy the texture.
These cookies, the most expensive of the ones I tried, cost $5.99 at my local Key Food Marketplace.
However, unlike the ginger snaps, these cookies supposedly contained pieces of crystallized ginger. I was excited to see how the flavors would measure up.
I could also see the pieces of ginger on the surface of the crispy cookies.
I loved the texture of the crispy cookies and the crystallized ginger and thought these were just as good as any non-gluten-free cookies I've ever tried.
At my local Stop & Shop grocery store, a box of eight cookies cost $3.59. They were the least expensive, but the box also contained the fewest cookies.
I thought these cookies would be a really cute touch for a festive school lunch or snack on the go.
The icing and smattering of red and green sprinkles upped the sweetness, but I also preferred the softer texture of these gingerbread cookies compared to the other two kinds.
Aesthetically, I also thought these were the most festive for the holiday season.
While I enjoyed all of these cookies, I would choose the classic gingerbread cookies for a sweet, festive treat.