Guilt-free test: The winners among gluten-free food

Article author: Kult Plave Kamenice, May 2022.


If someone thought that the gluten-free food trend would deflate like every other, they were sorely mistaken. The selection of gluten-free products is growing day by day. Gluten-free diet came into our daily life from medicine, as a diet designed for people suffering from celiac disease, of which there aren't many. So how has it become the choice of millions of customers? The reasons are manifold, and one of the main ones is that people really crave more and more options for enjoying food without feelings of guilt and heaviness.
But, another element is important when it comes to gluten-free products. They aren't easy to make and be really good. Gluten-free food is any food that doesn't contain cereals or their bran. Oatmeal cookies, rice crackers or buckwheat noodles are naturally gluten-free products. But what when we want to enjoy food based on wheat or rye bran, where bran is the key ingredient that connects the others, gives texture, taste, durability? And admit it, most things we love to eat and snack on are chock full of gluten and their gluten-free substitutes are rarely up to the task.
"Deliiicije" sells dozens of gluten-free products, and for this testing we focused on the most demanding ones, the gluten-free versions of the most popular bran-based products: bread, cookies and cakes. We were looking for products that even without gluten retain their proper texture, freshness, and most importantly, are very tasty. Here are the winners.  
 
1. McVitie’s Gluten-Free Hobnobs


McVitie’s are the absolute champions of mass-produced graham crackers. The taste and texture of their cookies are imitated by many, but only a few succeed. Since the classic McVitie’s cookies contain 66 percent wheat bran in various forms including bran, we were interested to see what they would be like in a gluten-free version, in which the wheat has been replaced with oats. Although they have a completely different taste from wheat ones, gluten-free McVitie’s have retained fine sweet, caramelized flavours but have become crisper, much lighter and have acquired that distinctive, almost milky taste of oats. They are also sold in a milk chocolate version.


2. Frank&Oli Apple Cookies 


These cookies not only don't contain gluten but also don't contain any sugar. However, they have plenty of delicious flavours and a nice crispy texture. Frank&Oli specialise in healthy and sporty snacks. The cookies are made from buckwheat and millet flour. All ingredients are GMO-free, and these cookies are made from buckwheat, with apple and pumpkin seeds. They smell of fresh apples and spices, are light and crumbly, with whole pumpkin seeds. A lactose free vegan product, an excellent and fun cookie that you can snack on without any guilt.


3. Frank&Oli Protein Brownie of chocolate and cashews


Frank&Oli brand was a discovery of this tasting. Considering the composition and tastes, it is unusual that it is not distributed by all better fitness stores in Croatia. Their line of keto and gluten-free cookies includes several flavours, of which the most popular are chocolate and peanut butter. Because who says you can't indulge in sweets and stay on the healthy side of food? This gluten-free chocolate brownie contains no bran at all, it's made from chicory root fibre and whey. Although it has atypical ingredients, it has retained everything we look for in a chocolate brownie; rich dark chocolate flavour, juiciness, typical chewy texture and very moderate sweetness. This brownie, due to the whey it contains, slightly resembles protein bars, but its advantage is that it does not stick to the teeth and contains pieces of roasted cashews which improve its texture and taste.
 
 
4. Frank&Oli Keto Peanut Butter Cookie


This very unusual cookie is not for everyone's taste. If you've ever tried to bake cookies with peanut butter, you'd know that it's probably the hardest task in the science of baking cookies. Peanut butter cookies easily turn into sand or remain gooey. Hitting that firm, slightly chewy texture while retaining some crispness is a skill for both home bakers and professional manufacturers. Frank&Oli have made a very solid, concentrated keto snack that does not have the texture of a cookie. This energy bar in the shape of a disk, however, has an excellent taste of roasted peanuts and an ideal ratio of sweetness to saltiness which we want from a peanut butter cookie. For lovers of peanuts and the savoury flavours of cookies.  
 
 
5. Old El Paso gluten-free tortillas



These Spanish tortillas are made from tapioca, corn, quinoa and amaranth. They behave exactly like standard tortillas, have a good texture, are firm and above all very tasty. We tried them in wraps with grilled chicken and vegetables and can't see a difference between this gluten-free and the conventional version. 
 
 
6. Balviten gluten-free semi-white bread



This is more toast than bread, and it's correct as a toast. Balviten's semi-white gluten-free bread is based on rice bran, which gives it a special softness and pliability. It is best when well toasted and used in bulky sandwiches with milder flavored ingredients, such as avocado, fresh cheese, fresh vegetables, with accents like marinated onions, pickled vegetables, arugula, pesto or roasted nuts
 
 
7. Balviten gluten-free chocolate cake with orange peel


This cake has a decent chocolate flavour that is not too intense, and is full of citrus peels that however don't come out enough. However, it's a bit dry for what we expect from a chocolate cake. If the absence of gluten is important enough to you, it will be decent to you.
 
 
8. Balviten gluten-free Mini baguette



This product is designed for heating in the oven or microwave. You can use it whole for sandwiches, but considering it requires a lot of toasting, we liked it most when we cut it into slices, toasted them and used them for mini sandwiches. You can also use it for a kind of small bruschettas. 
 
 
Article author: Kult Plave Kamenice, May 2022.