Gluten Free Review: Brownies, pasta & granola bars

I have tried out a few new gluten free products recently, whether you are looking for treats, snacks or entree ingredients, here are few new goodies out there for you.  Some of them are definitely convenience foods.  

Dancing Deer Gluten Free Brownies

Dancing Deer Gluten Free Brownies

Yum!  These are premade brownies.  Dancing Deer shipped me two free containers to review and they went over well — one container at my house, the other at our celiac walk planning meeting.  

The younger kids, high schoolers and adults who were at the meeting agreed the brownies were so yummy and fudgy, they certainly didn’t taste like gluten free! 

While super tasty, these brownies are spendy.  You get 8 brownies (1 pound made in a certified gluten free facility) for $28.99 plus shipping (which is $8.99).  For 1 pound of “regular” brownies at that shop, they sell a gift box for around $23.99 with shipping.  Overall it is an expensive place to buy any kind of brownies.  But they are good! If you are on a budget, it might be a great idea for an Easter, anniversary, birthday, Christmas, Hanukkah or Valentine’s Day indulgence. 

Barilla Gluten Free Penne

Barilla’s Gluten Free Penne

We had this Friday night.  Now my gluten free daughter has not liked any noodle other than Tinkyada or Trader Joe’s brown rice noodles in the 14 years she has been gluten free.  She wouldn’t eat anything else.  When I put these on her plate, she instantly said — “Hey!  These are really good noodles!” My other daughter and I agreed.  

Not only that but I LOVED the price point.  I paid $1.79 at SuperTarget for this 12 oz. box of pasta.  I know the box is smaller than your typical 16 oz box.  But I have to say I was a bit dazzled by the nice price.  

The pasta itself is made of corn and rice.  So certainly not made from the most nutritious grains out there.  It uses no GMOs and is made in a gluten free facility.  The pasta was very tasty and held its shape.  I am ready to try a casserole with them!

Annie’s Homegrown Gluten Free Granola Bars

Annie’s Homegrown Gluten Free Granola Bars

I just spotted these for the first time at SuperTarget.  They were on special 2 for $6.00.  Emma has not tried them yet, but I told her she needed to because these would be GREAT in a backpack  as a quick snack.

I bought the Oatmeal Cookie and Double Chocolate Chip bars.   I and my non-gf daughter preferred the chocolate chip (even though I love a good Oatmeal cookie).  “THESE are really good,” Grace said.  The bars are slightly bigger than your typical gluteny Quaker Chewy Granola Bars which are 24 grams to Annie’s 28 gram bars.  There are only 5 bars per package. Also made without high fructose corn syrup and GMOs.

Sam Mills Gluten Free Pasta Sides

Sam Mills Gluten Free Pasta Sides

These would be your replacement for any of those processed noodle side dishes maybe you used to eat in college (truth be told those noodle side dishes tasted like heaven during a camping trip). Either way, I purchased these three dishes at Wal Mart back in January.  I don’t remember how much I paid for them — sorry about that.

So far I have tried the alfredo and the butter noodle version and they are both fine.  I personally would rather make something fresh from real ingredients.  But if the situation came about (like aforementioned camping or being a guest somewhere and I had to make something easy and quick), I would get these again.  Emma thought they were fine.   I thought they were pretty good.  

When I shared the photo back on my Facebook page last January, most people said they liked this brand, but recommended not overcooking the noodles.  It also is non-GMO.

Enjoy trying some of these new foods!  Let us know what you think by commenting below.

Tags: Annie's Homegrown, bar, Barilla, brownies, Dancing Deer, gluten-free, granola, pasta, penne, product, review, Sam Mills