Love it or loathe it, candy corn is a traditional part of Halloween. If you love it and follow a gluten-free diet, you might be surprised to learn that not all candy corn is considered gluten-free. Finding a gluten-free candy corn used to be almost impossible. Not anymore!

Is Candy Corn Gluten-Free?

It depends. Many brands of candy corn do not contain gluten. Due to processing, however, popular brands often carry a “may contain” warning for wheat/gluten. Always check with the manufacturer and/or look for candy corn that is clearly labeled gluten-free. 

Gluten-Free Candy Corn List (2021)

Items are gluten-free and prices are accurate at the time of publication. Please always check the gluten-free status of individual products as ingredients may change. 

• Jelly Belly 
  • Labeled gluten-free.
  • Traditional candy corn and giant candy corn
  • Site: JellyBelly.com
    
• Happy Bites Candy
  • Labeled gluten-free.
  • Traditional candy corn
  • Site: https://www.eatplayhappy.com/products/happy-bites-candy-corn-1-pound

• Brach’s Candy Corn
  • Brach’s Naturally Flavored Candy Corn.
    • Labeled gluten-free. (Brach’s naturally flavored candy corn review.)
  • Brach’s Traditional Candy Corn.
    • As of 2021, Brach’s candy corn ingredient list does not indicate gluten. The company does not maintain a gluten-free candy list. Please contact them directly for more information. 

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When I read that Red Lobster launched a gluten-free version of their popular Cheddar Bay biscuits, I was surprised. This is not a restaurant that’s known for its gluten-free menu. 

Then I saw that Red Lobster wasn’t making a gluten-free version of their biscuits in their restaurants. No. They created a mix so you can make the biscuits yourself. At home. (As I type this, gluten-free Cheddar Bay biscuits aren’t offered in the restaurant, nor does it sound like Red Lobster has any plans on doing so.)

That’s…odd? But, still, the mix grabbed my attention. Because I love biscuits the way Oprah loves bread. (I created a recipe for gluten-free Cheddar biscuits a few years ago. Those biscuits, I must say, are pretty darn good.)

So I headed to the only place selling the mix: Wal-Mart. A box cost me $3.84. The non-gluten-free version of the mix was $1.78. As is often the case, the gluten-free version cost most. Sigh. 

The Ingredients

Biscuit Mix

Rice flour, palm oil, defatted soy flour, leaving (baking soda, sodium aluminum, phosphate, monocalcium phosphate), cornstarch, food starch-modified, whey powder, salt, dextrose, buttermilk, xanthan gum, soy lecithin.

Herb Blend

Garlic powder, maltodextrin, salt, onion powder, hydrolyzed soy protein, torula yeast, natural and artificial flavors (maltodextrin, butter oil), corn oil, silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent)

The ingredients are pretty boring. A blend of rice flour, soy flour, and cornstarch. While the mix does contain milk, soy, and cornstarch, it looks to be egg-free.

Making and Baking

The back of the box calls for 1/2 cup shredded cheese. It also includes this note on the bottom: “Some shredded cheddar cheese contains gluten. Be sure to make certain your cheese is gluten-free.”

Here’s the deal:  I don’t know if gluten in shredded cheese is just a rumor or if there is a brand that uses it. I’ve yet to see one. (That doesn’t mean there isn’t and you should always read labels!) But at this point, I feel like this is a rumor that’s been circulating for years without any proof. I wish someone could name a brand of shredded cheese that uses wheat.  (If you know of one, let me know!)

I shredded my own cheese for the mix. Why? I like the taste better. Pre-shredded cheese is convenient but I think it’s a bit blah when it comes to taste. So I shred my own. 

The mix came together easily. The box says to scoop out the dough in “about 1/4 cup” portions. So I did. And I got…nine biscuits. (My biscuits were a scant 1/4 cup each.) This isn’t the end of the world but it’s a bit annoying. 

The biscuits took 16 minutes to bake. On the box, we’re directed to “bake until golden brown on top.”Hmm…the bottoms were a lovely golden brown. In fact, if I’d baked them much longer, they might have tipped into being too brown. 

The top of the biscuit? Not really golden brown at all. 

The day before I tested the mix, I picked up a 1/2 dozen (NON-gluten-free) Cheddar Bay biscuits at my local Red Lobster. Those babies were nice and golden brown. Look at how they compare to the gluten-free version. 

I melted some butter, mixed it with “garlic herb blend” (this just smelled like garlic and onion) and slathered it on the hot biscuits. The mix says to melt 1/4 cup of butter. That’s a generous amount of butter for 9 biscuits. So I had a bit leftover. 

The Taste

These biscuits were very good. Like the ones sold at the restaurant, they were rich–almost a bit too rich, they left grease on my fingers. The garlic herb butter added a really nice flavor. I’d love to mix the packet into the flour mixture before baking. I think this would add a nice even flavor throughout the biscuits. 

The one thing that surprised me was the mild cheddar flavor. It’s there but it’s not terribly strong. 

The Texture

The biscuits were nice and soft. None of that grit that can be present in too many gluten-free baked goods. 

The bottom of the biscuits provided a nice crunch, while the inside was soft and tender. (And not gummy. Yay!)

What I liked

I really liked how easy these biscuits were to make. You add some shredded cheese, a little cold water, stir, and you’re done. I also like the texture and flavor. Did I LOVE the flavor? I can’t say that I did. I found them just a wee bit bland. They were good, not great. 

What I didn’t like

The price. The box cost almost $4.00, plus the added expense of having to add your own cheese. This seems a bit pricey for a mix that’s supposed to make 12 biscuits but only made nine. 

Would I buy these again?

That’s a solid maybe. While I liked them, they weren’t a total standout for me. Since biscuits are such a treat, I’d rather take a few extra minutes and make mine from scratch. This way I can use butter, instead of the palm oil that’s included in the Red Lobster Mix.  

Grade: B+

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“I Love My Air Fryer” Gluten-Free Recipe Book Review

Do you own an Air Fryer? The answer is probably yes. A whopping 4 million were sold last year. (four million!)

When Air Fryers first started getting attention, I didn’t think much of it. They’ve been around for a while and other than getting some play on television shopping channels, they never really caught on. This, of course, has changed.

Now Air Fryers are everywhere and, if you’re like me, you’re probably wondering what the %^$ to do with one⁠—besides using it to make crispy frozen French fries.

The “I Love My Air Fryer” Gluten-Free Recipe Book by Michelle Fagone aims to help us answer this question.

Filled with 175 gluten-free recipes for an Air Fryer, this book surprised me. I expected it to be filled with recipes for fried foods like onions rings and other such foods.

It’s not.

The book covers everything from how to make gluten-free blueberry muffins to a simple recipe for Two-Ingredient Barbecued Pulled Jackfruit. (A recipe that promises to make a meat-free pulled pork in only 10 minutes.)With recipes for lobster and sea bass nestled among recipes for jalapeno poppers and “pizza bombs”, this book attempts to be a serious cookbook for gluten-free eaters who like to have a little fun in the kitchen.

That’s where this book succeeds. The recipes are interesting, enticing, and, easy.  The photos are lovely, showcasing how many different foods can be prepared —and prepared well in an Air Fryer. 

Where the book falls short is with the ingredient recommendations.

Most of the recipes use naturally gluten-free ingredients. However, for the baked and breaded recipes, you’ll need a gluten-free flour blend. Since gluten-free flour blends vary so much from brand-to-brand, I wish the author had included a note about which brand of flour she used to create and test the recipes. This is especially important since some recipes call for additional xanthan gum. Some gluten-free flour blends include xanthan gum; others don’t. Adding xanthan gum to a blend that already contains it will give you a very different result than adding xanthan gum to a blend that contains none.

Of greater concern was the inclusion of ingredients that sent up a red flag to me, specifically oyster sauce, gochujang, oats, and cornflakes. These ingredients need a clear note about using the gluten-free version. (The traditional versions often contain gluten.)

It surprised me that these ingredients were overlooked because in the recipe for Moo Shu Pork Wrappers (p 127) there’s a helpful note about using a gluten-free hoisin sauce. And in the recipe for Giant Nachos (p 166), there’s a note about the vegetarian status of refried beans. The author clearly tried to include thoughtful and helpful notes about ingredients. 

However, the unevenness of the ingredient notes is of concern. Knowing to select gluten-free cornflakes or to look for gluten-free oyster sauce, is one of those “big little things” that make cooking gluten-free a challenge. 

If simple ingredient alerts were included, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book. Heck, flipping through it got me interested in Air Frying—a tough feat. I wanted to love this book.

Unfortunately, because of the oversight of some potential gluten-containing ingredients, I can only recommend this book with reservations.

If you understand the complex ins and outs of gluten-free cooking or follow a gluten-free diet as a lifestyle choice rather than for health reasons, this cookbook would make a lovely addition to your collection.

For those new to the gluten-free diet, especially those who follow the gluten-free diet due to health reasons, like celiac disease,  I can’t recommend the title. I’d hate to see someone “gluten” themselves because a recipe called for cornflakes, instead of gluten-free cornflakes.

About
The “I Love My Air Fryer” Gluten-Free Recipe Book: From Lemon Blueberry Muffins to Mediterranean Short Ribs, 175 Easy and Delicious Gluten-Free Recipes by Michelle Fagone. 

List Price: $16.99

Available on Amazon (affiliate link) 
As an Amazon Associate GlutenFreeBaking.com earns a commission from qualifying purchases.

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Visiting Trader Joe’s on a Sunday afternoon is…never a good idea. Yet, this past Sunday, there I was, squeezing down the aisles, bumping into folks and having folks bump into me. Good times.

I noticed a display of what looked like Trader Joe’s branded Cocoa Puffs. And, dear reader, I used you as an excuse to buy the box. As a rule, I don’t buy cereal because it seems to ~mysteriously~ disappear. One minute the box is full. The next? Not so much. And since my husband doesn’t like cereal…it must be a ghost. Yeah. That’s it. A ghost. There’s no other explanation.

But! I was thinking of YOU! It’s a new gluten-free cereal. I *needed* to try it for you. For science. For the gluten-free community. 

It was a duty that I needed to uphold. 

I happily tossed a box of Cocoa Crunch Cereal into my cart. It cost $3.49 for a 9.2-ounce box. That didn’t seem overly expensive but it didn’t seem “Oh my god!”-cheap either. 

I couldn’t wait to try it. I love Cocoa Puffs. (I haven’t had it in years but my love burns bright.) So when I opened the box, I was expecting the heavenly, cocoa-sweet aroma to great me. And…nothing. Nary a whiff of chocolate greeted my nose.

I took a bite. It was…not Cocoa Puffs. The cereal, which contains as much sugar per serving as Cocoa Puffs*, tasted flat.

There wasn’t enough cocoa flavor or grain-y sweetness in the cereal. It’s not that I was looking for overly sweet cereal but, if I’m going to eat a chocolate cereal as a treat, I want it to taste like something. And this didn’t taste like much. In addition to missing the sweet grain notes that corn brings to the cereal, this cereal also needed a bit of vanilla or something.

It tasted like someone wanted to make a health food version of cocoa puffs. Something that would look like Cocoa Puffs and would taste…almost like it. But not close enough.

The texture worked. When eaten dry, it was nice and crunchy. When eaten with milk, it didn’t turn soggy.

Speaking as someone who loves cereal, this one won’t tempt me again. And that’s saying something because I still miss Ice Cream Cone cereal from the 1980s.

* Trader Joe’s Cocoa Crunch Cereal contains 9 grams of added sugar per 40-gram serving. Cocoa Puffs contains 9 grams of sugar per 27-gram serving. 

Trader Joe’s Cocoa Crunch Cereal: Ingredients

RICE FLOUR, CANE SUGAR, SORGHUM FLOUR, YELLOW CORN FLOUR, DUTCH COCOA POWDER, CHICKPEA FIBER, PSYLLIUM HUSK POWDER, NATURAL FLAVOR, SEA SALT, CANOLA OIL, SUNFLOWER LECITHIN POWDER, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE (ANTI-CAKING AGENT).

Please note: Ingredients can change at any time. Please refer to the box for the current ingredients. 

Trader Joe’s Cocoa Crunch Cereal: Nutrition

Serving size 1 cup (40g)
Calories 150
Total Fat 1g
Saturated Fat 0g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 80mg
Total Carbohydrate 33g
Dietary Fiber 2g
Total Sugars 9g(Includes 9g Added Sugars)
Protein 3g

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Our store put out the limited run “liveGFree: products early. If you’re reading this before May 8th, you might want to see if your local store already has them out because I have a feeling these are going to go fast. 

When I saw that Aldi had included gluten-free glazed doughnuts in their lineup this year, I almost squealed with delight. I love all doughnuts but glazed doughnuts are my favorite. 

These, like the gluten-free chocolate frosted doughnuts, are sold in the freezer section. At our store, they were in the small case that sits in the aisle, not in the freezer case up against the wall. 

I let the entire package thaw on the counter. There aren’t any directions for how to defrost the doughnuts. The box simply says “thaw prior to eating.” If you want to rush them, I think you could use the microwave but I’d be careful. These seem like the type of baked good that you could over-microwave quicky. 

They’re a nice size, about three inches across and an inch thick. The picture on the box made me think they’d be small. I was happily surprised when I opened the box and saw six full-size doughnuts. It’s always nice when gluten-free foods aren’t waaaay smaller than their wheat-counterparts, isn’t it?

Let’s talk about the texture of these doughnuts! Oh my goodness. I thought they were yeast-raised. The crumb is light and airy. They aren’t as soft as, let’s say, a Krispy Kreme doughnut (what is?) but they didn’t taste cake-like to me. A good cake doughnut tends to be dense. These aren’t. 

It was only after I re-read the ingredients that I realized these doughnuts don’t contain yeast. 

The glaze is the perfect thickness to add a hint of sweetness to the doughnuts. Like most glazed doughnuts, the glaze crackles a little as you bite into it. So grab a napkin. You might need it. 

I also loved how the texture wasn’t gritty at all. I know some folks hate it when people say, “You’d never guess these are gluten-free!” That description of gluten-free foods doesn’t bother me. Many people come to the gluten-free diet after years of eating wheat. So the gritty texture of some gluten-free foods is offputting. I’m happy to report that these doughnuts aren’t gritty at all! 

These don’t taste like freshly-fried doughnuts you’d make yourself or pick up at a bakery. They remind me of the type of doughnut you get at the supermarket. If you go in with that expectation, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.  

Aldi Gluten-Free Glazed Doughnuts: Ingredients

Aldi Gluten-Free Glazed Doughnuts Ingredients*: Gluten Free Flour (Corn, White Rice, Tapioca), Palm Oil, Sugar, Eggs, Water, Canola Oil, Baking Powder (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Corn Starch, Monocalcium Phosphate), Xanthan Gum, Salt, Pure Vanilla Extract, Sunflower Lecithin, Vanilla Glaze (Confectioners Sugar, WAter, Sugar, Canola Oil, Agar, Calcium Carbonate, Calcium Sulfate, Pure Vanilla Extract, Salt.) 

Contains: Eggs

As with the gluten-free chocolate frosted doughnuts, these are dairy-free! 

*Please check the current package for up-to-date Ingredient and Nutrition Facts. Ingredients change frequently. Any ingredient or nutrition information provided by GlutenFreeBaking.com is included for educational purposes and may not reflect the current ingredients. 

I’m neither impressed nor surprised by the ingredient label. Traditional doughnuts are always a treat. And these gluten-free doughnuts from Aldi are no exception. The gluten-free flour base is a standard “white” flour base. I think this is fine for something like a doughnut. 

Aldi Gluten-Free Glazed Doughnuts: The Price

A box of six cost me $4.49*. For gluten-free doughnuts, I think this is a fair price. Is it as cheap as gluten-based doughnuts? Sadly, no.  But $0.75 per doughnuts feels reasonable for doughnuts you don’t have to make yourself. (And, as I type this, I remember recently paying more than that for a box of gluten-y doughnuts. Perhaps the price of doughnuts has risen for wheat-eaters?)

Aldi Gluten-Free Glazed Doughnuts: Stock Up or Skip?

I say stock up! I really enjoyed these doughnuts. The taste, texture, and price didn’t disappoint. If you’ve got space in your freezer, you can’t go wrong with buying a box or three. 

RATING: FIVE OUT OF FIVE. 

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On May 8th, Aldi’s gluten-free products hit the shelves. I decided to try some out. Please note this is NOT a sponsored post. I purchased all the products included in the review. Prior to the release, Aldi sent me a press release about the products. I was not asked to post about them. But I was curious. Would they be tasty? A good value? 

Our store put out the limited-run “liveGFree: products early. If you’re reading this before May 8th, you might want to see if your local store already has them out because I have a feeling these are going to go fast. 

The two products I was most excited to try were the gluten-free glazed doughnuts and the gluten-free chocolate frosted doughnuts. Oprah loves bread. I love doughnuts. (shoutout to my friends who get my Oprah reference.)

When I first saw the box, I wondered if these were chocolate doughnuts with a chocolate glaze or vanilla doughnuts with a chocolate glaze. Perhaps this is obvious to you but it wasn’t to me and the box doesn’t make it clear. I love gluten-free chocolate doughnuts; so I was hoping they’d be chocolate. Heh.

You’ll find these in the freezer section of Aldi. At our store, they were in the small freezer on the floor. Not in the freezer case against the wall.

For the review, I let the entire package defrost. If you don’t want to thaw the entire box, you can pull out one or two and keep the rest frozen. 

As soon as I removed the tray from the box, I saw that these were vanilla doughnuts with a chocolate frosting. Mystery solved! 

They’re a good size doughnut. This surprised me a bit. For some reason, I expected them to be small. The picture on the front of the box looks a bit smaller than traditional doughnuts and, as anyone who eats gluten-free knows, sometimes gluten-free baked goods are smaller (and more expensive!) than their wheat counterpart. 

The doughnuts are huge but they’re a nice size. No complaints there. 

How yummy does that texture look? The first doughnut I tried from Aldi was the gluten-free glazed doughnut. I really thought it was a yeast-based doughnut because it was so light. Usually, cake doughnuts are pretty dense compared to yeast-raised doughnuts. 

Not these! The texture is very light and airy. Not too dry. Not too moist. 

Based on taste, texture, and ingredients, I think this doughnut is the same doughnut that’s in the Aldi Gluten-Free Glazed Doughnut but with a chocolate frosting. 

Speaking of that chocolate frosting…they call it frosting. I call it a glaze. 

It’s nice and thin. The chocolate isn’t overpowering and it isn’t frosting-like at all. And I like this! When I think of “chocolate frosting,” I think of something thick and heavy. This chocolate glaze is the perfect finish to the doughnuts. 

The funny thing about these doughnuts and the plain vanilla glazed is what appealed to me about them: they reminded me of inexpensive gluten-filled doughnuts. These don’t taste like fresh doughnuts from the bakery. They remind me of the doughnuts sold in bags at the grocery store. And I like those doughnuts.

If you’re looking for a gourmet doughnut, these aren’t for you. But if you miss supermarket-style doughnuts, you’re in for a treat. 

Aldi Gluten-Free Chocolate Frosted Doughnuts: Ingredients and Nutrition Facts

Aldi Gluten-Free Chocolate Frosted Doughnuts Ingredients*: Gluten Free Flour (Corn, White Rice, Tapioca), Palm Oil, Sugar, Eggs, Water, Canola Oil, Baking Powder (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Corn Starch, Monocalcium Phosphate), Xanthan Gum, Salt, Pure Vanilla Extract, Sunflower Lecithin, Chocolate Glaze (Confectioners Sugar, Water, Sugar, Cocoa, Canola Oil, Agar, Calcium Carbonate, Calcium Sulfate, Pure Vanilla Extract, Salt.) 

Contains: Eggs

*Please check the current package for up-to-date Ingredient and Nutrition Facts. Ingredients change frequently. Any ingredient or nutrition information provided by GlutenFreeBaking.com is included for educational purposes and may not reflect the current ingredients. 

The happy surprise? These doughnuts are dairy-free! 

As for the rest of the ingredients, I think they’re fine. These are doughnuts. So they’re a treat. The flour base is a standard gluten-free mix of corn, white rice flour, and tapioca starch.) You’re not going to get any fiber from these doughnuts. But I’m guessing you weren’t looking for fiber from doughnuts. And if you are? Skip these. 🙂 

Aldi Gluten-Free Chocolate Frosted Doughnuts: The Price

A box of six cost me $4.49*. For gluten-free doughnuts, I think this is a fair price. Is it as cheap as gluten-based doughnuts? Not by a long shot. But $0.75 per doughnuts feels reasonable for doughnuts you don’t have to make yourself. 

*Prices vary depending on your location. 

Aldi Gluten-Free Chocolate Frosted Doughnuts: Stock Up or Skip?

I vote stock up! The taste, texture, and price are terrific for gluten-free doughnuts. Around here, gluten-free doughnuts aren’t easy to find. And when I’ve seen them, they’re usually much more expensive than $4.49. If you’ve got the freezer space, pick up a few boxes. 

Rating: Five out of Five. 

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Today I was poking around the Williams Sonoma site and something caught my eye: gluten-free croissants!

First, I got excited. Then I saw the price.

They’re selling a box of eight frozen croissants from Mariposa for…$79.99. You read that right: $79.99. ?

Here’s the thing, if you want to spend $79.99 plus shipping for eight croissants, I think that’s awesome. (I also want you to be my friend so that I can come over and try one of these magic $10 croissants.) But, for me, $79.99 seems crazy-expensive. Am I being cheap? Let me know what you think!

Here’s the upside: the croissants are made in a gluten-free facility and (reaching here) they have a chocolate variety.

If you want to buy a box, here’s the link. (It’s not an affiliate link. Just providing it in case you want to gawk at or buy $79.99 croissants.)

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note: this is not a paid review. I bought the mix with my own money. All thoughts are mine. 🙂 

My local grocery store just underwent a complete remodel. This meant that for months, I wandered around the aisles, muttering, “Where the heck is the _______?!”.” Everyone else was doing the same thing. So I wasn’t too weird.

The best part about it was that the store brought in lots of new-to-me items. Like this Krusteaz Gluten-Free Double Chocolate Brownie Mix.

A quick google search told me that Krusteaz introduced their line of gluten-free mixes in the fall of 2014. So these aren’t new mixes. But, like I said, they are new-to-me.

The Cost

I paid $4.99 for the mix. Which is in line with most gluten-free mixes but, as you know, is more expensive than traditional brownie mixes.

The Ingredients

The ingredient list made me a little happy and a little worried. It’s dairy-free and corn-free. (It does carry a “may contain” warning for dairy.) But the only gluten-free flour used is brown rice flour. This worried me.

It’s not that I don’t like brown rice flour. I do. You’ll find it used in recipes all over this blog. But when brown rice flour is used alone, the recipe tends to feel grainy.

The Add-Ins

This mix requires 1/3 cup (each) of water and oil and one egg. That’s it. This gets points from me. Too many gluten-free baking mixes have you add all sorts of ingredients. There’s one on the market that shows chocolate chip cookies on the front of the box. If you want chocolate chip cookies, however, you have to add your own chocolate chips to the recipe. This annoys me.

Mixing and Baking

The back of the box showed a wooden spoon mixing the batter together. So that’s what I did. Easy-peasy. I wouldn’t bother dragging out an electric mixer unless you really prefer using one.

There was a range for baking time. The box suggested 48 to 52 minutes. I baked my pan for 42 minutes and they came out perfectly.

The Taste

I knew the brownies were done a few minutes early because the kitchen smelled so good. The chocolate aroma was the first introduction to how good these brownies were going to be.

These are dense, fudgy brownies that are studded with chocolate chips.

Now about that texture. I liked it. Could I detect a little of that brown rice flour? Yes. If I really thought about it. If I just ate the brownie without analyzing every bite? I’d never have noticed any problem.

Overall

I really liked this mix. It’s easy to  make and has an ingredient list that’s allergen-friendly (It carries a may contain warning and does contain soy.)

But the best part is the texture and flavor. These are really good brownies! You could add walnuts or turn them into gluten-free cheesecake brownies.

Grade: A

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UPDATE: Since this review was posted, many questions have been raised about the safety of gluten-free Cheerios. I’m no longer comfortable eating them. (I have never experienced a reaction.) Please read about the FDA review of the cereal and the updated position statement from Gluten-Free Watchdog.

A few months ago, when General Mills announced that five varieties of Cheerios would carry a gluten-free label, people lost their minds. Some folks were excited. Some weren’t. And some were just plain mean about it. Those folks decided that Cheerios going gluten-free would be a failure and that people who were excited about it were idiots. How do I know this? When I shared the Cheerios announcement on Facebook several folks sent me nasty messages.  sigh  I felt cautiously optimistic about the whole thing.

Oats are a tough subject in the gluten-free community. For many years, they were strictly off-limits. Then gluten-free oats entered the market. Why the confusion? Well, oats themselves don’t contain gluten. However, they often they get contaminated with gluten-containing grains, like wheat, rye, and barley. This contamination can happen during growing, transporting, and handling. Even when oats are free from gluten, a small percentage of people with celiac disease can’t tolerate them. Oats really are a complex issue.

You can understand why there are very real concerns about how General Mills will ensure that the oats used to make Cheerios (and soon Lucky Charms) are gluten-free. I haven’t spoken to anyone at General Mills; so before we dive into this review, I want to point you to a piece from Gluten-Free Watchdog about Cheerios. Tricia Thompson fully explains the complex issues surround Cheerios. After reading her piece, I urge you to decide if you are comfortable eating the cereal.

Right now, I feel okay about the gluten-status of Cheerios. Like you, I’m sure, I try to take wise precautions when it comes to eating commercial gluten-free foods. Once in a while, I’ll eat a meal out, and I buy the occasional gluten-free convenience food, like cookies and frozen pizza. Mostly I cook foods made from scratch but not always. This approach works for me and I’m thankful these options are available.

With ALL that said, let’s get to the review.

The Front of the Box

Not much changed on the front of the box except for that  little gluten-free symbol. Over time, I’m sure this will change but it’s nice that for now it’s right on the front!

The Back of the Box

I found this really interesting and informative. It explains how General Mills decided to make Cheerios gluten-free. According to the box, the daughter-in-law of a longtime General Mills employee can’t eat gluten. This inspired the idea to make Cheerios gluten-free. *cough* Along with general increased interest in gluten-free products, I’m sure *cough* But it’s a nice story! I don’t know about you, but my father-in-law never made a national cereal gluten-free for me. Way to go, Phil!

Let’s take a closer look at one of the photos

See how similar wheat, rye, barley, and oats look? Just a grain or two and the whole batch is contaminated. This is why so many people are leery of the safety of Cheerios.

The Cereal

Have you ever eaten Honey Nut Cheerios? Well, then you know what gluten-free Honey Nut Cheerios taste like! To me, that’s high praise. These taste like the Cheerios you remember. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of sweet cereal but I totally enjoyed these. They were sweet, oat-y, and tasted like the cereal I remember. They were great with milk, of course, but I really enjoyed them sprinkled on top of strawberry ice cream. The cereal added a nice crunch and flavor to the already awesome ice cream.

Cost

Here’s where things get exciting! Gluten-free foods tend to cost more. A lot more. This box of Cheerios cost me $1.99 because they were on sale. That’s exciting! They were included in a sale. Gluten-free foods rarely, if ever, go on sale. Since General Mills made five of the “regular” versions of Cheerios gluten-free, they’ll be included in sales and eligible for coupon discounts. How great is that?

Ingredients

current as of August 4, 2015. Please refer to current package for accurate information. 

Overall Impression

If I didn’t know these were gluten-free, I wouldn’t know they were any different from the Cheerios I enjoyed prior to my diagnosis. If you love Cheerios, you’ll love these! Personally, I can’t wait to find the classic yellow box with a “gluten-free” stamp on the front. Honey Nut are great but I’m really looking forward to the real thing.

What do you think? Are you going to give them a try or let them go by

The post Review: Gluten-Free Honey Nut Cheerios appeared first on Gluten-Free Baking.

I grew up eating a lot of pasta. How much pasta? Well, both my parents were Italian. Does that give you any idea? We ate so much pasta that in my memory of childhood meals, there’s always a pasta pot on the stove.

So when I learned that Ronzoni, a very mainstream pasta brand across the United States, introduced a line of gluten-free pasta, I wanted to try it! Could this gluten-free Ronzoni pasta taste as good as the pasta I grew up eating?

I grabbed a box of penne at my local supermarket. It surprised me to find the pasta in the “regular” pasta aisle and not shelved in the gluten-free section. The weight of the box disappointed me a little. Instead of a pound like other non-gluten-free Ronzoni pastas, the box gluten-free penne rigate weighed 12 ounces.

What’s up with that? Why can’t gluten-free products include the same amount of product as their gluten-free counterpart? Flour doesn’t come in five pound bags, the Pillsbury cookies I reviewed yesterday are 14 ounces instead of one pound. It would delight me if gluten-free products weighed the same.

Anyway, I digress. In addition to the small size, I noticed that the gluten-free Ronzoni cost considerably more than Ronzoni’s wheat pasta. Bummer. I’d hoped that such a large company could introduce a more budget-friendly gluten-free pasta to the market.

In spite of this, I still couldn’t wait to try the pasta. What can I say? I love the stuff.

Cooking

I followed my usual method for cooking pasta: a large pot of rapidly boiling water that’s heavily salted. While the Ronzoni box states that salt is optional, I don’t agree. But that’s just me. I like my pasta to contain, you know, flavor.

Made from a blend of rice flours, corn, and quinoa, this blend is a bit different for me. Most of the time, I cook rice-based pasta. I use Tinkyada the most, followed by Trader Joe’s and Jovial. Occasionally I use corn pasta but, honestly, I don’t love it because the corn tends to taste too strong to me. I like my pasta to nicely fade into the background, instead of competing with the sauce or other ingredients.

When rice or corn pastas hit the water, the boiling water turns cloudy. The Ronzoni pasta didn’t do this, at least not as much. The water clouded a bit but it wasn’t nearly as murky was the pasta water I’ve grown accustomed to seeing over the years.

The box claims that the cooking time takes between eight to ten minutes. My pasta took about ten minutes to cook. At that point it wasn’t too tender and it certainly wasn’t mushy. It felt perfectly al dente which is how I like my pasta.

As always, I reserved some of the pasta cooking water and then drained the cooked pasta. It looked….pretty. All of the noodles retained their shape. Sometimes rice pasta, even when al dente, loses its shape. It flattens out just a little. This pasta didn’t do that!

Taste and Texture

While my pasta cooked, I sautéed zucchini slices, onions, and grape tomato halves. In a small pot, I heated up some Alfredo sauce (confession: most of the time I make Alfredo sauce from scratch. But sometimes I don’t. On those days, I use Classico Roasted Garlic Alfredo. It’s pretty good. Just don’t tell my mother. She believes jarred sauce is an abomination. It’ll be our secret, okay?)

It looked good. Even with the sauce and vegetables, the pasta retained its shape. I took a bite. YUM. Like serious YUM. It was as close to love at first bite that I get.

The box of gluten-free Ronzoni pasta claims a “Delicious White Pasta Taste.” At first I wondered why they’d say “white pasta” instead of wheat pasta. Then it dawned on me: most people equate wheat with whole wheat. As you might remember, whole wheat pasta tastes different than “white” pasta. The box was right. This tasted very similar to traditional white pasta.

The bite of this pasta really stood out to me. The texture wasn’t overly firm, nor was it gummy. It really tasted like what you expect from basic dry pasta.

After marveling over the texture, I noticed the taste. Or should I say, I didn’t notice the taste. The pasta didn’t taste too much like corn or quinoa. Like a rice-based pasta, the flavor is mild but not too mild. The pasta added a mild grainy nuttiness to the dish that complemented the rest of the ingredients but didn’t compete with them.

Ingredients

The best part of the ingredient for me is this statement: Produced in a Dedicated Gluten-Free Facility. I worried that Ronzoni would make their gluten-free pasta in a shared facility. Nope! Oh, and the pasta comes from Italy which is interesting. As of this writing, the box didn’t contain any “top eight” allergen statements.

This picture was taken on July 30, 2013. Be sure to read your package in case ingredients or nutrition information change.

Price

At $2.99 for twelve ounces, this pasta costs more than the Tinkyada I currently use. (For me, Tinkyada runs about $2.99 for a pound, a dollar cheaper than the Ronzoni.) I wish it cost less and I wonder if Ronzoni coupons will apply to this product. Call me cynical but I’m guessing that the sales and coupons will only apply to their 16 ounces boxes. (let’s hope I’m wrong!)

Is the price worth it? I think so. The pasta’s pretty great.

Overall

This gluten-free Ronzoni pasta is really lovely. The texture’s great; it tastes great. And since it’s made by a national brand, I’m hopeful that the pasta will be easy to find. That would be so nice! Often when I travel, I notice that gluten-free pasta isn’t always easy to access.
Again, I just wish the box was larger and that it cost a little less. I can’t wait to try the other Ronzoni gluten-free pasta. When I do, I’ll report back!

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