Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Gluten-free brownies that taste awesome

I was going to title this post, "gluten-free brownies that taste good" for the alliterative effect, but I had to change it because this product I'm about to review doesn't just taste good, it tastes awesome. Which is difficult for me to say because I'm pretty damn picky.

A few weeks after I wrote the review of Coconut Bliss, talked about a paleo and a gluten free diet and mentioned some other gluten-free foods I was eating, I got an email from someone representing French Meadow Bakery which is the oldest, continuously operating certified-organic bakery in the United States. Aside from that, they also make some gluten-free products.

Now, I've tried plenty of gluten-free baked goods and the vast majority of pre-packaged (hell, I'll even include fresh baked gluten-free goods here) taste like wood, are as heavy as lead and have the texture of sand. So, needless to say, I figured the French Meadow Bakery Gluten-Free Fudge Brownies were going to not be a taste sensation. But, I'm game for pretty much anything, so I agreed to do a review.

Packaged in a box of nine that you can buy from your grocer's freezer (I've always wanted to say that), the brownies can be hucked into a school lunch box or taken to work and will be thawed by lunch. Or, if you are lazy or just forget, like me, you can throw it in the microwave for a few seconds until it is thawed.

People. These are the real deal. They taste as good as fresh homemade brownies and I would go so far as to say they are better than most commercial brownies with gluten. Glutinatious? Anyway, they are made with no artificial ingredients, preservatives or colors and they take care not to cross-contaminate for those of you with severe gluten allergies.

You can buy these nationally at Whole Foods, Safeway and other natural food markets, like PCC if you're in the Seattle area. And, even though their website sucks, you can get a coupon for $1 off, if you are so inclined. Even though I'm not on a strict gluten-free diet, I'm trying to be. So, needless to say, I'll be buying some more of these.

Note: I was in no way compensated for this review besides the brownies. Of course, I'm not against them sending me a box of them there cupcakes they are advertising.

6 comments:

Anna M said...

King Arthur Flour makes a Brownie mix that is quite nice. I suspect I've tried pretty much every brownie mix out there and I have to eat gluten free, celiac, so that was one thing I really missed. King Arthur Flour was by far the best one. I added pecans and it was fudgy and made the chewy edges I love.

El Gaucho said...

Excellent. We have a Celiac in the house and have been baking gluten free for four years now. Any tasty dessert (especially brownies) is always warmly welcomed. Thanks for the review.

Crunchy Chicken said...

Anna - Thanks for the tip about King Arthur. I'll keep my eyes peeled for it.

Bucklin said...

If you want to find the best ever recipes for gluten free foods, check out Shauna's blog at http://glutenfreegirl.com. Seriously good stuff :-)

Anonymous said...

It's always nice to read reviews about gluten free foods. I can't eat gluten myself and am extremely picky. So much so that I typically avoid GF "substitues" and have only had GF bread twice in the past few years.

I do have to say that it's kind of hard to screw up a GF brownie, I always thought they were better than the regular one's. If you try any of their other products I would be interested in hearing about it. Breads and cookies are the hardest things to get right so I would love to know if they're any good. I love hearing what non-celiac's have to say about GF foods cause they don't have to eat them, and if they're willing to eat something twice I'm willing to try it at least once.

Lisa Nelsen-Woods said...

I tried French Meadow bread. The Gluten free varieties surprised me that they were so tasty! I want to try the brownies. I bought my bread at a regular grocery store (Kroger.)