So, I've been tempted by more holiday treats than I thought I'd be able to indulge in this holiday season. I've baked (just 2 things), talked to various individuals and snacked on multiple types of candy.
I learned that Namaste brownies are AWESOME and taste exactly the same. Just in case they were not going to I did add a package of Nestle milk chocolate chips. I took them to our holiday party for MyEdu and they went before I even got one...and no one knew!
As far as cookies I've made the Red Mill Foods chocolate chip cookies (texture was closer to an oatmeal cookie) and one of my fellow DG's told me their brand has good baked goods across the board.
Finally...candy. Candy canes are fine, so is chocolate as long as it doesn't have a filler or crunchy in it (peanut and other nuts are fine). As I said, for Thanksgiving I had a Hershey bar for desert but now I know I can enjoy a Christmas themed candy selection :)
If any of my readers have other suggestions please comment!
Baked goods: Try both the Betty Crocker line and the King Arthur Flour gluten free line. Both are quite good. The brownies from both are very traditional brownie tasting. The cookie mix from both is perfectly acceptable and doesn't taste weird, but they're like buying any other cookie mix -- not as good as homemade but lots faster.
ReplyDeleteWe found the Betty Crocker cake mixes to be good but at least on our first try, it came out dry. So the next time, I added a full box (small) of instant Jello pudding mix of the same flavor as the cake mix (vanilla or chocolate) and that was awesome! You don't necessarily have to use the whole box of pudding mix -- probably adding just half would be enough. The downside is they make a single layer (or 12 cupcakes) of 8-9" round cake instead of a double layer like regular cake mixes and they cost $4/box instead of $1 like regular. Oh well...
Here's my candy rundown: If you used to like Milky Way, both MW Dark and MW Simply Caramel are GF. Butterfinger and Baby Ruth are also, as well as Reese's PB cups. I've read Snickers are fine but I've also read they're made on the same line as a not fine candy, so I've stayed away so far. Nestle Crunch are NOT ok b/c of the malt in the crisped rice. All M&Ms except pretzel are fine and Hershey bars or kisses w/ and w/o almonds are good. I haven't researched the kisses with other fillings (peppermint, caramel, etc) b/c I don't care that much about those, but I'm sure someone else has asked them and reported online!
Glad you are finding things you like!
My experience with the Bob's Red Mill baked stuff, at least so far, is that they're not at all traditional in flavor, so if you're looking to replace lost tastes, they won't likely fit the bill. Just FYI.
ReplyDeleteWhole foods has these really yummy spelt ginger snaps in the bakery section. They are pre-packaged in a round plastic tub (with a green label on top). Can't think of the name! Sorry :) Best of luck!
ReplyDelete