A Gluten Free Flap Jack Stack Off
I personally love the Betty Crocker Bisquick Gluten Free Pancake and Baking Mix. The only down side is the small but pricey box, 16oz will cost you a bit more than 4 dollars. This product passed the ultimate test; our house guests didn’t notice they were eating gluten free pancakes.
A few weeks ago several friends of my son were sleeping over. During breakfast and after eating a stack of pancakes it dawned on one of them that our house is gluten free. He then asked if the pancakes were gluten free and continued to eat another stack. I went through two boxes of mix that day so in my book this mix is a true winner.
Just last week I tried a different gluten free pancake mix developed by Maple Grove Farms of VT. It was a dollar cheaper than the Bisquick and I do like several products produced by this company so I wanted to give their pancake mix a try. Sad to say I didn’t like the pancakes. I felt the pancakes had an odd taste, I think this was due to the soy flour in the mix but I can’t be sure all I know is my taste buds were not happy. I would describe the pancakes as somewhat heavy and while chewing had what I would describe as a dry texture. I had only one pancake from the stack and won’t be buying this mix again.
The old saying; “you get what you pay for” rings true for me in this battle of flap jacks. I will gladly pay more for a mix that no one can tell the pancakes are gluten free.
To the readers of this article; I review products on my own and the views are just my personal take on products. I do not receive compensation from any company so for what it’s worth these reviews are my opinion and I hope they help make your life easier by saving you money and time.
KS
7:16 pm on Monday, July 16, 2012
Janice - the King Arthur chocolate chip cookie mix (gluten free) is really good as well! Gave them to 11 year boys and their moms and they thought the cookies were made from scratch and NOT gluten free! Great article, btw!
Janice Fournier
7:05 am on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Hi KS,
Thanks, I will give the King Arthur CC Cookie mix a try. I usually make my cc cookies from scratch so a mix will be a fun experiment. I have used the King Arthur gluten free flour mix, it worked well in my corn bread recipe.
Kirby
1:16 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Has anyone tried the Wegman's brand GF brownie mix? I did and the brownies were delicious. I made them a bit drier, but they can be made moist. I am sure nuts could be added also.
I am one of those GF people who also has to avoid corn based products. Most of the pasta products are made with corn flour except for Bionaturae (rice flour based). It is in aisle 2B at Wegmans, 1 aisle over from where most of their GF pasta is located. Love this GF info and recipe exchange...keep it coming...!
Kirby
1:26 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Question..where does one get the Betty Crocker GF Bisquick pancake mix? I have the Maple Grove and have no problem with it, but wouldn't mind trying the BC brand.
Also wondering if it has cornflour or rice flour as the main ingredient.
BTW, the new Coco Bene (sp.?) bakery near Rocky's Hardware sells some GF goodies as does Davidian's. I bought GF brownies and whoopie pies at Davidian's today...sooo good.
Janice Fournier
9:06 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Hi Corrine,
Main Ingredients BC GF mix: Rice flour, Sugar, potato starch you can find it at Wegmans in the baking goods section. One row over from cereal.
Tinkyada pasta joy makes a good brown rice Grand pasta shell. They make other pasta products (hint: cook using the energy saving cooking instructions and test a few minutes before the end cooking time. After you cook the pasta rinse to get the starch off. Have reviews of the Wegmans brand mixes on my personal blog. http://theglutenfreehelperbee.blogspot.com/
Kirby
3:42 pm on Sunday, March 10, 2013
Hi Janice, I recently discovered I can no longer eat the Betty Crocker GF mix for my pancakes because of the baking soda and xanthan gum, both of which can sometimes have corn starch in them. Anyway, I have another question.What should I substitute for a GF Irish Soda bread recipe I recently discovered that
contains the following.
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons xanthan gum.
I sure hope you are still doing a GF "column" for the Northborough Patch. You are my life line.
Corrine aka Kirby P.S.
The sooner the better...St. Patty's Day is next Sunday... : )
Janice Fournier
9:44 am on Monday, March 11, 2013
Hope you received the email from The Gluten Free Helper Bee's blogger's blog but if not see info below:
I have never had to substitute for Baking soda. I did find a web site that may help you. www.kraftrecipes.com/cooking-tips/chartsguides/substitutionguide.aspx
As for xanthan gum, I never use it. If you like more info on xanthan gum or any food product use the FDA web page or PubMed both have great information.