This list is for a friend who just went gluten free to see if it would help his health. I was telling him about all my favorites and realizing I hadn’t made an updated list. So. (And yes, many of the links below are affiliate links.)
Box Mixes:
- Glutino Gluten Free Pantry Brownie Mix — Glutino bought Gluten Free Pantry and the mix is supposed to still be the GF Pantry one, which was excellent and very close to the Ghirardelli gluten-full mix (which used to be my favorite). Wholefoods carries this.
- Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie Mix — Next best after GF Pantry, but more readily available. Many grocery stories carry this line.
- Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix — add 1 packet of vanilla instant pudding mix to get the right texture
- Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil’s Food Cake — add 1 packet of chocolate instant pudding mix to get the right texture
- Arrowhead Mills All Purpose Gluten Free Mix — great general mix and no corn, if that matters to you
I have never found a gluten free cake mix that was okay without doctoring it. All of them require something. The Betty Crockers, at least, are simple. I really dislike the Bob’s Red Mill mixes. Most of them are garbanzo bean based, which is a strong and unpleasant flavor for sweets. Most mixes have corn starch.
Trader Joe’s mixes are mostly from Bob’s Red Mill. So, I avoid them.
Pasta:
- Jovial Organic Brown Rice Capellini — the only gluten free capellini I’ve liked. All their pastas are good. Wholefoods carries this brand.
- Schar Gluten Free Anellini — pasta for soup. I use these in place of pastina or acini di pepe. All their pastas are good, but they do have corn (if you’re not avoiding corn, no worries). I’ve seen Schar products at Safeway,Wholefoods, and Nob Hill. But very inconsistent selections.
- Conte Cheese Ravioli (frozen) — you can order these online, but don’t. Link is only for reference. Wholefoods and some Safeways carry this. Under cook by at least one minute, if you don’t want it falling apart. They have other great frozen pastas.
Cookies:
- Schar Chocolate Hazelnut Bars — BESTÂ gluten free chocolate wafer cookie out there–by a long shot. I’ve only seen this at Nob Hill or online.
- K-Toos — best oreo equivalent (most taste like cardboard, this tastes like cookie). Best dipped in milk.
Wholefoods. - Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies — similar to Nantuckets. I like these better, though.
- Glutino Lemon Wafer Cookies — these are great. Avoid the chocolate ones like the plague. Many stores carry these.
Bread:
- Udi’s gluten free sandwich bread — take your pick of flavor, but remember to toast the bread. All gluten free bread is better toasted. Lots of grocery stores carry this.
Rudi’s Gluten Free Ciabatta Rolls — I’ve only seen these at one Safeway in Mountain View, but they are far and away the best dinner roll I’ve found. Again, toast them. They are actually the best gluten free bread I’ve found of any kind.
And… there are more, but that’s it for now. I’ll try to do another post continuing the list.
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