Cookies- Orgran Natural Choc Chip Biscotti

Lately Rob has been on a gluten-free buying spree and voila he surprised me with chocolate chip biscotti cookies by Orgran Natural. The bite-sized cookies are wheat free, gluten free, dairy free, casein free, yeast free, egg free and edible for vegans. They look charmingly tasty, though looks can be deceiving I soon discovered. I wouldn’t say Orgran Biscotti are bad, just confused. On first bite the biscotti seemed stale, even though they weren’t. Perhaps it was because they so resembled a cookie that I was surprised by the airy lightness of a biscotti. But then, I tasted more coconut rather than airy lightness. Was this a coconut cookie or a chocolate chip biscotti? I would have to go with the former. Admittedly Orgran’s biscotti does grow on you, and I found myself popping several into my mouth. So if you do purchase Orgran’s biscotti, just be prepared for a more coconut cookie than a chocolate chip biscotti.

On the very plus side, Orgran’s Natural Choc Chip Biscotti contains an impressive list of non-chemical ingredients (minus the palm kernel oil) including:

Maize starch, water, raw sugar, palm vegetable oil, rice flour, 11% coconut desiccated, choc chips 9.0% (cane sugar, palm kernel oil, soy flour, cocoa mass, emulsifier: soy lecithin), brown rice syrup, pea flour, cocoa powder, emulsifier: monoglycerides from vegetable, natural vanilla flavour, sodium bicarbonate, salt. Made from local and imported materials.

Nutrition Information

Servings per pack: 19

Energy: 36 kcal

Protein: 0.2 g

Carbohydrates: 4.6 g

Sugars: 2.2 g

Starch: 2.4 g

Fat: 1.8 g

Sat fat: 1.1 g

Fiber: 0.1 g

Sodium: 0.01 g

Gluten: 0 g

In summary, though Orgran Choc Chip biscotti is truly a wonderful product simply because it is appropriate for so many with dietary restrictions, there are certainly tastier cookies out there my celiac friends!

Happy Eating!

Diana

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays

Diana and I want to wish all of our readers a happy and safe gluten-free holiday.

Rob and Diana

Beer: Redbridge

My wife and I dined at Risotteria in NYC last night and as I asked for a gluten-free beer with my gluten-free meatball pizza the server mentioned they had Redbridge.

What a coincidence. I just blogged about it's release yesterday, I never expected it to be in the market so soon.

I've tried two other celiac safe beers, Bard's Tale and Ramapo. I would say that Redbridge is my favorite, but I must make the disclaimer that I've never drank regular beer - I have no idea if it is actually like the real thing.

My wife tried some and said it was lighter in texture than a Samuel Adams but the taste was similar. My fraternity brother dining with us thought it tasted good, but not that good.

Please try it out for yourself and let us know.

Happy Holidays!

Anheuser-Busch launches Redbridge - A gluten-free brew (beer)

"ST. LOUIS — People with wheat allergies who have stayed away from beer now have a new option. Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. (BUD) on Wednesday introduced Redbridge, which the company called the first nationally available sorghum beer. Starting Wednesday, Redbridge is available in restaurants and stores carrying organic products."

Read the rest at - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,237799,00.html

What I find so important about this is that a major company that made wheat based products is waking up to the untapped demand for gluten-free versions of their mainstays.

Review to come as soon as I find some in the store.

Happy Holidays!

Crackers: Glutano Crackers

Moving a bit closer to my speed (Rob loves gluten-free chips- I thrive on cheese and crackers!)- I recently had the pleasant experience of tasting Glutano brand crackers.

Packed efficiently in 6 separately wrapped stacks, the Glutano crackers were a wonder to me! Not only were they buttery, light, and crisp- I think I preferred them to one of their gluten counterparts. The Glutano crackers are definitely a lighter version of Carr's butter crackers- minus all the heaviness and density.

My only complaint are that they are too small. I would prefer them a bit larger, and I wouldn't hesitate to serve them with a velvety camembert to my non-celiac friends. I don't think anyone would even notice they taste so good!

Pretzels: Glutano Pretzels

Eager to keep up a hearty appetite of gluten free snacking, Rob recently brought home a pack of Glutano brand pretzels. Right away I was impressed by the smart-sized package which contained 75 grams of pretzels. Not too many, not too few- and perfect for packing in your pocket or purse.

Glutano's pretzels on first impression had a light crunch, a hint of salt and a satisfying texture. Though quite tasty, I couldn't help but reminisce about the gluten free buttery snap of Glutino's pretzels. The Glutano pretzels seemed to lack the freshness too. Now this is not to infer that Glutano's pretzels might have been stale, however the incredibly long shelf-life of most of their products made me wonder. I might have to retry a different package.

In sum, Glutano's Pretzels can certainly hit the spot, are easily transported, and will sate your snacking appetite, but Glutino's just plain taste better.

Cookies: Glutano Tea Biscuits

Wow I think we will have sampled all of Glutano's products before long! Moving right along to the tea biscuits, Glutano makes a tea biscuit that is also suitable for vegetarians. The biscuits are made from maize starch, maize flour, sugar, unhardened vegetable fat (palm oil), lupin flour, emulsifier lecithin (soy), sea salt, raising agent (ammonium hydrogen carbonate, sodium carbonate), vanilla.

As is typical of Glutano packaging, the tea biscuits are efficiently sold in a 4.4 oz box with approx. 20 cookies in the sleeve.

The nutrition facts are as follows:
Serving size: 4 cookies
Servings per container: 5

Amount per serving
Calories: 110
Calories from fat: 36
Total fat: 4 g
Sat. fat: 2 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 50 mg
Total Carbohydrates: 17 g
Dietary fiber: 0 g
Sugars: 4 g
Protein: 1 g

Before I make any taste observations, I should note that I don't normally indulge in tea biscuits- though an afternoon brew always seems like such a good idea. In any case, I don't love these- I know, I know, tea biscuits are not intended to cause a culinary explosion in my mouth- but these are just plain dull. Certainly they are light, sweet and flaky in every way that cookies should be, but there is something lacking. I'm not even sure if it's the butter or salt to be honest. I do believe these tea biscuits would work well with a piping cup of Earl Grey, though I I think I'd rather save my calories for something a bit more decadent!