The Worst Sugar-Free Cookies You Can Buy At The Store

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Resisting a delicious cookie is hard enough, but when it claims to be a sweet treat without the sugar? That kind of promise sets off alarms. To find out which ones are worth your time, Tasting Table sampled nine different store-bought sugar-free cookies and ranked them. Each cookie was judged on how closely it matched the flavor, texture, and overall experience of its sugar-filled counterpart.

Unfortunately, the bottom of the list belonged to Walmart's Sugar-Free Chocolate-Flavored Chip Bakery Cookies. Despite looking promising with their soft, chewy-style texture and generous chocolate chips, these cookies were a disappointment. Our reviewer described the flavor as bland with a dry, cardboard-like aftertaste — oddly sweet and far from satisfying. Even with a 10-cookie pack and a kosher dairy label, they simply didn't make the cut. But here's the kicker, while the label reads "sugar-free," the cookie relies on alternative sweeteners and sugar alcohols like maltitol powder and stevia to deliver its sweetness.

That fact alone raises questions about what "sugar-free" really means on a food label. Are these cookies actually free of sugar, or are they just using other sweeteners or ingredients to get around the wording? Often cookies labeled this way still contain added sugars or syrups that can sneak past casual label-checkers. Even the chocolate chips have maltitol in them. That's why understanding the ingredient list is crucial if you're trying to cut down on sugar — or avoid it entirely. It's safe to say these cookies are better off left on the shelf. 

Instead of the disappointing Walmart cookies, look for top ranking brands like HighKey, which offers clean ingredients and uses a blend of natural sweeteners — monk fruit, erythritol, and allulose — or Voortman Bakery, which bakes with real cocoa, avoids artificial colors and flavors, and avoids added sugar and corn syrup entirely. Both brands have earned awards for their innovation and taste, and in our Tasting Table review, they beat their competitors hands down. Just keep in mind when you hit the store aisle that "sugar-free" doesn't always mean what you'd expect — labels can be a little tricky.

If you'd rather skip the cookie aisle altogether, you can whip up your own sugar-free chocolate chip cookies with just a few ingredients — natural peanut butter, an egg, a spoonful of monk fruit sweetener, vanilla extract, and sugar-free chocolate chips like these from Choc-Zero, available on Amazon. Mix, scoop, and bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit — no syrups, no weird aftertaste, and no label-reading required. They won't win awards for looks, but they taste surprisingly rich and filling. And if you're specifically looking for a sugar-free chocolate chip cookie to replace Walmart's, both HighKey and Voortman Bakery offer chocolate chip options in their lineups — and they're miles ahead in flavor and texture.