An actual photo of the gluten-free, pareve, corn-free italian cookies from Oberlanders Bakery in Belleville NJ

An actual photo of the gluten-free, pareve, corn-free italian cookies from Oberlanders Bakery in Belleville NJ

Growing up in New Jersey meant Italian bakeries with the most fantastic artificially colored almond cookies with jelly on the inside and chocolate swizzles on the outside. Wnen I moved to Chicago these were still a treat to be enjoyed at parties where someone went to the italian bakery and brought a tray. But with my gluten-free, dairy-free, corn-free life, I never remotely expected to eat those cookies again.

Leave it to an orthodox kosher bakery located in an Italian neighborhood in New Jersey to replicate a fantastic gluten, dairy, and corn free version of the cookies. Oberlander’s Bakery makes all the cookies I grew up with every year for Passover and yet they make them gluten, dairy, corn and soy free. They do have nuts, eggs and food dye so they are not for everyone. They are not remotely paleo or healthy, but if you can otherwise never ever eat these cookies, they are great and they do not taste gluten-free or “kosher for Passover”. They taste like what you would expect from the finest Italian bakeries.

I don’t know if they ever make them in the off-season but next year I know that I plan to find a way to get my hands on as many boxes as I can and freeze them. Currently my pantry looks like it is inhabited by an Orthodox Jewish family of nine with no sense of when Passover is since I am full to the brim with crackers, bread crumbs, cereal and frozen pancakes and waffles, all of it kosher for Passover and Pareve. Unfortunately I missed my chance to buy cartons of these cookies.

I won’t make that mistake again.

That picture is of the actual cookies from Oberlander’s. You can visit the Passover section of their website here
http://www.oberlanderbaking.com/sub.asp?cat=PASSOVER
And no it is not your browser, it is kind of a half done site. I just found the gluten-free cookies when I went to the Hungarian Kosher Market in Skokie to stock up on gluten-free passover goodies. They don’t mention it on the site but the babyfingers (which also come in chocolate) and these cookies are indeed gluten-free.

I just wish they were available all year round.