Gluten-free baking requires doing do one of two things. You can either make your own flours from scratch, or buy them ready-made. True gourmets and some amateur chefs prefer making making their own gluten-free flour blends, taking time to learn about the characteristics of many different gluten-free flours, to determine which type works best for each cooking need. For instance, bean flours don’t tend to do that well in sweet baked goods, unless there is a flavor in the recipe that will overpower the taste of beans.
Thankfully, for the less culinarily talented, there are ready-made gluten-free mixes for most everything you can imagine. They are sold at many health food stores and some mainstream grocery stores. Some Publix stores in Atlanta have a great selection, while others have little or no selection. Kroger has the best selection of gluten-free products in Atlanta, compared to Publix stores.
Several of these great mixes will allow you to convert any gluten recipe into a gluten-free "family favorite". In a world where most people are in a rush, there is no time to figure out what recipe to use aramanth, tapioca starch and millet flours in. Find the mixes you like and take the guess work out of the equation.
- Gluten-Free Naturals
- Gluten-Free Pantry
- 123 Gluten-Free
- Namaste
- Tracey’s Treats
- Pamela’s Products
- Toro (Tastes Like Real Food)
- Breads by Anna
- Gluten-Free Bakehouse
- Bob’s Red Mill
Gluten-Free Naturals offers FREE shipping for orders with minimum purchase and has a "store listing" on their website. The line is sold at Return to Eden and Nuts-N-Berries among other places. The products contain soy flour, which tends to mimic gluten flour quite well.
Pamela's, Bob's Red Mill, Namaste, Gluten-Free Pantry and the new Betty Crocker mixes are available from Amazon.com, with FREE shipping on purchases of $25.
For more info: Most health food stores will bring products in if enough people request them. Ask for your favorite mixes and have your gluten-free support group members do the same.
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The collective celiac International Laws require -
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In food-labeling
Outreach campaigns
THANKS FOR YOUR WORK.
Faithfully
SONIA GLUTEN FREE
The Betty Crocker mixes don't make your list? :) I have to say, I think they are becoming my favorite, and winning by a thin margin. They are found in major grocery stores, unlike the smaller, above named companies. That is HUGE to me! When I can find my GF food at a regular store, and not have to drive to a specialty store, then I am happy!
I agree, Betty Crocker is quickly moving to the to top of my list because it is so available and affordable. I love not having to go to a health food store to find it. However, its still only cake, brownies and chocolate chip cookies. For breads, pie crust, muffins and other kinds of cookies, etc., we have to turn to other brands. Luckily, we now have so many options for that as well. Thanks for summing up the best ones!
Return to Eden is the only local store to carry the Toro (Tastes Like Real Food) mixes in Georgia. They also carry all of the other mixes minus Wholefoods GF Bakehouse and Tracey's Treats.
Since I've only tried two of the four Betty Crocker mixes, I can't deem them to be worthy of making my top 10 list just yet. I love the fact that our friends and family can easily pick them up and make something everyone can enjoy. I prefer the Whole Foods gluten-free brownie mix (which is less than the BC mix) but of course I'll buy whatever is the most convenient for me at the time. I prefer the Pamela's chocolate chip cookie mix to make bars but it's about $2 more a package than the BC mix, so I'll probably also alternate between those mixes based on my baking needs at the time.
Tiffany, thanks for listing Pamela's Products, we appreciate it. I also want to point out that we use the highest quality ingredients and have more than 150 recipes on our website. Additionally, we have a FREE monthly newsletter where we giveaway free products each month, along with great tips, ideas and info on what's going on in the GF community. Anyone can sign up at www.pamelasproducts.com.
Thanks for the consistently informative column.
Stephanie Robbins
Director of Marketing
Pamela's Products
No problem Stephanie. We use Pamela's P&B Mix for quick breads, appetizers that call for dough (like cheese olive puffs)and of course - the famous 5-minute gluten-free chocolate cake! All the recipes for it called for rice or sweet rice flour but all I had was Pamela's. After it worked so well the first time I made the cake - and every time after - I wouldn't dream of using anything else!
Try "Choice Batter" for an awesome coating for frying chicken, shrimp and fish filets. Roots in Clarksville Maryland has it.
We tried both the Betty Crocker mixes in our local store: The Chocolate Cake Mix and the Chocolate Chip Cookie mix. They were passable, but the chocolate cake was rather grainy in texture and the chocolate flavor had a bit of an aftertaste. We did not like the cookie mix... it tasted very artificial.
Tiffany, have you ever tried Bella Gluten-Free baking ,mixs? Mary Capone is located in Colorado, and her product far exceed the quality of most of your top 10. She also offer free shipping and distributes herself. She has been in business for 9 years and her products are delicious.
Judith fine-Sarchielli
The Tuscan Gluten-Free Chef
sarchjudith@gmail.com
www.glutenfreecuisine.weebly.com
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