Cookies: Glutano Lemon Cream Filled Wafers

Glutano’s Lemon cream filled wafers are wheat free and gluten free, perfect for Celiacs and suitable for vegetarians. Three layers of crispy waffle wafers surround a lemony cream which meld nicely together on the palate. These cookies are surprising light, not too sweet and refreshingly lemon infused. They are almost like little cakes- and you would be hard-pressed to tell that they are gluten free! Rob and I highly recommend them.

Ingredients:

Lemon cream 69% (unhydrogenated vegetable fat (palm and rape oil), sugar, sweet whey powder, emulsifier (soya lecithin), acidulant citric acid, natural lemon flavour), maize flour, potato starch, emulsifier (soya lecithin), salt, thickener (guar gum), raising agent (ammonium hydrogen carbonate), antioxydant (ascorbic acid). May contain traces of nuts and eggs. This product does contain soya and milk.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 3 wafers (27 g)

Servings Per Container: 4.6

Calories: 150

Calories from fat: 80

Total fat: 10 g

Sat. fat: 6 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 60 mg

Total Carb: 16 g

Dietary fiber: 0 g

Sugars: 7 g

Protein: 0 g

Cookies: Glutano Ginger Cookies

Well, Rob keeps bringing home the Glutano gluten free celiac products- so here is another review to add to the collection.

Glutano’s Ginger Cookies are wheat free, gluten free and suitable for vegetarians. As Glutano is based in the U.K., the products tend to have a decidedly European slant. The ginger cookies are no exception. I certainly don’t bring this up as a criticism- it is purely meant as a guide in the world of gluten free! These cookies are fairly small and come about 20 to a package, are less sweet and more like a tea biscuit than a big snacking cookie.

Taste:

The gluten free ginger cookies are a rich molasses color. On first bite, I noticed a ginger tang within the crumbly inside. I was hoping for a crisper, crunchier cookie instead of the one I was eating. At first I thought maybe the cookies were stale- but the end of the box was stamped fresh until August, 2007. So what can I say- the ginger cookies just aren’t that good. Perhaps they sat on a hot shelf somewhere. Though I would say the gluten free ginger cookies do resemble a gluten cookie of sorts, they are decidedly more like a ginger shortbread cookie with a whopping 4 g of saturated fat and 60 of the total 130 calories from fat, per serving. That’s steep for a not so great tasting cookie!

Ingredients:

Raw sugar, unhardened vegetable oil, rice flour, maize starch, maize flour, lupin flour, caramelized sugar syrup, spice (ginger), raising agent (ammonium hydrogen carbonate, sodium carbonate), sea salt, thickener guar gum. May contain traces of nuts, eggs, and milk products.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 4 cookies (25 g)

Servings Per Container: 5

Calories: 130

Calories from fat: 60

Total fat: 7 g

Sat. fat: 4 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 60 mg

Total Carb: 16 g

Dietary fiber: 0 g

Sugars: 7 g

Protein: 1 g

Chocolate: Glutano Chocolate Hazelnut Bar

Glutano’s Chocolate Hazelnut bars taste a bit like creamy hazelnut heaven. The bar is pure decadence with its rich milk chocolate coating, and crunchy wafer interior filled in with nutty cream. I do believe it will satisfy even the most discerning chocolate palette.

On first bite, the chocolate just melts in your mouth giving way to the multiple layers of cookie. It’s very similar to an elevated Kit Kat candy bar. Certainly Glutano’s Chocolate Hazelnut Bar tastes too good to be good for you, but this is definitely for any Celiac who needs to satisfy a gluten-free chocolate craving.

Ingredients:

Fructose whole milk chocolate 37% (fructose, dehydrated milk product, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, dried skimmed milk, emulsifier (soy lecithin), natural flavour (vanilla), unhardened vegetable fat (palm oil, rapeseed oil), sugar, maize flour, hazelnut paste (10%), potato starch, maize starch, sweet whey powder, emulsifier (soy lecithin), salt, thickener (guar gum), raising agent (ammonium hydrogen carbonate), antioxidant (L-ascorbic acid).

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 bar (25 g)

Servings Per Container: 3 bars

Calories: 140

Calories from fat: 80

Total fat: 9 g

Sat. fat: 5 g

Trans fat: 0 g

Cholesterol: 5 mg

Sodium: 0 mg

Total Carb: 13 g

Dietary fiber: 0 g

Sugars: 3 g

Protein: 2 g

Wafers: Glutano Wafers

Another celiac product to taste-test was Glutano Wafers. These are an interesting food item that are certainly crunchy and light, but left me wondering how I would use them. They come packaged in a large stack. Each wafer is a flat rectangular stamped with a waffle pattern. The wafers are quite bland and don’t have much going for them, save for their high crunch factor. They aren’t sweet, salty, bitter or savory, and have no fat, no sugar, no protein and no fiber. Not surprisingly, the wafers don’t really taste like anything. Though they did remind me of crisp bread, the wafers looked more like dessert crackers. I can’t imagine using them for ice-cream or as a garnish however. If anyone out there can find a recipe for them, I would love to have it to try out.

So while, these certainly are gluten free and wheat free, I’m not sure what to do with them. They aren’t too satisfying on their own!!

Ingredients:

Maize flour, potato starch, emulsifier lecithin (soy), salt, thickener guar gum, raising agent (ammonium hydrogen carbonate)

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 3 wafers (9 g)

Servings Per Container: 11

Calories: 35

Calories from fat: 0

Total fat: 0 g

Sat. fat: 0 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 25 mg

Total Carb: 8 g

Dietary fiber: 0 g

Sugars: 0 g

Protein: 0 g

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!

Cookies: Glutano Custard Cream Biscuits

Eh Voila! Here is a review of Glutano brand Custard Cream Biscuits. These are gluten-free sandwich cookies with vanilla cream filling.

The cookies contain: Vanilla cream (unhardened vegetable oil, sugar, sweet whey powder, whole milk powder, lactose, emulsifier (soya lecithin), natural flavour, maize starch, sugar, maize flour, unhardened vegetable oil (palm oil), lupin flour, fructose, sea salt, thickener guar gum, raising agent (ammonium hydrogen carbonate).

Nutrition Facts:
Serving size: 2 biscuits
Calories: 180
Fat Cal: 80
Total fat: 9 g
Sat. fat: 4g
Cholest.: 5 mg
Sodium: 110 mg
Total carb: 23 g
Fiber: 0 g
Sugars: 9 g
Protein: 1 g

My first thought on these custard creams is that they seem so European -(which of course they are). After tasting, they seem like a cookie intended to be eaten occasionally, and not in large quantity. They certainly could not be consumed like say, a handful of oreos with a glass of milk- though that's probably a good thing. Appearance-wise, the custard creams are much lighter than they appear on the face of the package. After sinking my teeth in, I was met with a rather unexpected rush of sugar.

I instantly thought cavities!

Seriously the custard cream is a thick slab of pure sucrose-flavored vanilla. Once into the cream, I realized I had a second cookie to get through to finish the biscuit. The cookie wafers themselves also seemed to be denser and heavier than necessary. Perhaps if the wafers were lighter in taste- or even half as sweet, the cream wouldn't seem so overwhelming. But then again, maybe it's me. I'll check to see what Rob thinks. He's the one who's craving the sweets!

Update: Rob tried them and they were too sweet for his taste, but then again we both try to eat healthy.

Cookies: Glutano Chocolate Cream Filled Wafers

This weekend Rob brought a veritable feast of gluten-free products to try. He must be in a Thanksgiving-kind of mood.

First off on the list were Glutano Chocolate Cream Filled Wafers

The wafers physically resemble your typical stacked cookie. In between 3 layers of a crisp waffle wafer is a tasty chocolate filling. My first reaction was that there was a bit of an after-taste, though as Rob and I ate our way through the package, the chocolaty treats began to grow on my tastebuds. They are less sweet than the wheat version- which I think is a bonus. My mother and sister-in law were also part of the focus group and they agreed the cookies were light, well textured and just like the gluten version. I tend to be a big fan of Glutano products in general- so I wasn't really surprised by my reaction.

Ingredients and Info
A 4.4 oz. package contains 69% chocolate cream (unhardened vegetable fat (grape & palm), sugar, cocoa powder, 5% extremely defatted soy flour, soya lecithin, maize flour, potato starch, salt, thickener, raising agent, ascorbic acid.

Serving Size: 3 wafers
Servings per container: 4.6
Calories: 150
Calories from fat: 80

Total fat: 10g
Sat. fat: 6 g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 25 mg

Level of realism: high

Glutano Chocolate Cream Filled Wafers are delicious by themselves, or could be an attractive accompaniment to ice-cream. Few would even suspect they were gluten-free!

Bread: Glutano Baguette

Today Rob and I tried Glutano brand baguette. The bread is imported from somewhere in Europe and is packaged in a sealed freezer bag. It is designed to keep for many months on end with no refridgeration.

Level of realism:
Low, Glutano has a smooth exterior with no definable crust. The big drawback to the baguette, however is it's low flavor content. It really doesn't have much of a taste. We even spruced it up with butter and garlic. The baguette visually though looks like a smaller version of the real deal. We kept ours frozen then baked in a 350 degree oven, sliced in half added butter and garlic and baked additional minutes. The baguette never seemed to crisp up- it managed to keep its density regardless.

Ingredients: Glutano Baguette contains no artificial flavoring, colors or preservatives.
Water, maize starch, maize flour, sugar, rice starch, potato flakes, thickener guar gum, unhardened vegetable fat (grape and palm), potato starch, salt, yeast, acidulant (sodium diacetate).

Nutrition facts:
Serv. size: 1 Baguette
Calories: 430
Fat cal: 90
Total fat: 10 g
Sat fat: 3g
Cholest: 0
Sodium: 1,400 mg
Total carb: 82 g
Fiber: 12 g
Sugars: 4g
Protein: 3g
Vit A: 0
Vit C: 0
Calcium: 100%
Iron: 35%
Percent daily values based on 2000 calorie diet

Overall impressions:
The Glutano baguette is fine in a pinch. It has a very long shelf-life, and is a convenient size for a 2 person dinner. With so many other great gluten-free breads to choose from, it might be hard to justify selecting this one again though.

Cookies: Glutano Gluten Free CoCo Cookies

Here’s my second cookie review for the day, while picking up Glutano Chocolate O’s I also picked up a box of their Co Co Cookies. They are coconut cookies covered in milk chocolate. They are quite tasty, I had trouble putting down the box. The chocolate coating does tend to melt in your hand so I would not suggest these for consumption in warm weather.

Nutritional Information:
4 cookies per serving with 100 calories of which 54 are from fat. There are 26 cookies in a box.

Rating:
Excellent, I would recommend them. They have just the right amount of coconut.

Cookies: Glutano Chocolate O's Sandwich Cookies

Continuing on the gluten-free Oreo knock-offs, I picked up a box of Chocolate O's at Wegmans in Dulles, Virginia this past week. As I mentioned in my review of Mi-Del's celiac safe Oreos kids have tough time not being able to eat the same products as their peers.

Glutano makes a cookie that looks like an Oreo, though when compared to Mi-Del they aren't as good. The cookie itself has a worse mouth feel, it has a drier powdery feel. The creme filling is also much softer which allows you to squeeze the filling out with your fingers on the cookies.

The website where you can more information is www.glutenfree-foods.co.uk

Nutritional Information:
4 cookies per serving for 200 calories, 90 of which are from fat. There are about 18 cookies in a pack.

Rating:
Ok copy of the real thing, Oreos. I would go with Mi-Del if I had the choice.