Top Three Worst Gf Products

[JNBunnie1]

I hear the Pamela's mix made with the "fudgiest" recipe (about halfway down the list) is quite good, though I like Betty Crocker so much I may never try it. I'd love to hear your homemade recipe! I just want them to be just like Duncan Hines Fudge Brownies.

And the Kinnikinnick K-toos Oreo-type were terrible -- but crushed and mixed in with vanilla ice cream, they totally work!

I'm also not a fan of Glutino's in many categories. I am weird in that I don't like the pretzels (most do), and I just tried the crackers -- yuck. The Golden Oreo-type Dream cookies are good though. Bought but haven't tried the regular chocolate Oreo-type ones yet but am hopeful based on stuff seen here.

Don't! don't try them! You will regret it for the rest of your life!! You will eat endless packages of them and hate yourself for having no willpower against the chocolate cookie!!!!

[Ewilson0215]

I'm fairly new to the gluten free lifestyle but I did try a glutino frozen pizza and thought it tasted really gross. It was supposed to be a BBQ chicken pizza. I had my mouth all set for eating it and then was disappointed at the actual taste.

[Coolclimates]

Glutino cheese crackers: awful! My friend and I think they taste like dogfood!

[vegiac980]

@KaitiUSA

The glutino bars are my absolute fav!!!!

I dont like then peanut butter but the others are great

[vegiac980]

Really? I love glutino. Have you tried the 'oreos'? Or the wafer cookies? Or the pretzels?

I agree! My favorite brand is glutino:wub;! Haven't found anything bad yet, well except the bread. YUCK . But i find kinnickinnck has great bread

[aaw-in-santarosa]

I live in Northern California and the Whole Foods in this area do have the gluten-free bread and lots of other gluten-free products in their freezer section. I also think the best quality gluten-free bread I've eaten is the Whole Foods brand. I like the seeded loaf the best. Yum!

[kschauer]

Uggh I just had CAESAR'S gluten-free Manicotti...

Worst. thing. ever.

I will 32nd the EnerG white rice bread - gag.

I do, however, like the Pecan Pie Larabar - they are great. The other flavors do leave A LOT to be desired!

HIGH RECOMMENDATION: Hail Merry lemon tarts at Whole Foods - FABULOUS!!

[kschauer]

Came back for another good one:

Enjoy Life Soft baked Snickerdoodle cookies - Greatness.

[Coolclimates]

Ok, most of the gluten-free products I've tried have been surprisingly good. But I tried one of these today and had to throw the rest out:

Enjoy Life Sunbutter crunch bars

They tasted like sweetened compressed dog food! Ugh! Maybe I'll feed the rest of these to the geese and fish in my pond. Also wasn't very impressed with the Enjoy Life chewy choc chip cookies.

Both of these products also tasted quite stale and were very chewy and rather bland.

Also, the Glutino cheese flavored crackers. Totally nasty!

[Coolclimates]

Wow, it sounds like Ener-G products are best to be avoided. The woman at the grocery store also told me that their products are nasty. All the stuff from this company sounds like bad news.

[Juliebove]

Wow, it sounds like Ener-G products are best to be avoided. The woman at the grocery store also told me that their products are nasty. All the stuff from this company sounds like bad news.

My daughter LOVES the rice starch bread. You can not get it in the stores though. Only from them. We also like the Wylde pretzels, either with salt or poppy seeds. Daughter likes some of their cookies, donuts, and cinnamon rolls. She also likes the cinnamon crackers. So they're not all bad.

[Juliebove]

Ok, most of the gluten-free products I've tried have been surprisingly good. But I tried one of these today and had to throw the rest out:

Enjoy Life Sunbutter crunch bars

They tasted like sweetened compressed dog food! Ugh! Maybe I'll feed the rest of these to the geese and fish in my pond. Also wasn't very impressed with the Enjoy Life chewy choc chip cookies.

Both of these products also tasted quite stale and were very chewy and rather bland.

Also, the Glutino cheese flavored crackers. Totally nasty!

Any sunbutter products I've tried have been nasty.

Daughter loves the Enjoy Life chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookies. She also likes the Happy Apple and the Lemon. But keep in mind she does have other food allergies. So when it comes to cookies there aren't many others she can eat.

[Nor-TX]

I live just north of Dallas and we have a HUGE market called Central Market. It is the size of about 5 or 6 Whole Foods stores. I called and asked about fresh bread and asked if they would carry Katz Gluten Free bread because it is so delicious and so much better than the Udi brand at Whole Foods.

Well the manager told me that they carry the Ener G brand and she gets 4 dozen loaves a week and it is always sold out and she would not carry any other brand since everyone seems to love the Ener G brand.

I've only tried the Udi, Katz and other brand with a blue wrapper - can't remember the name but it turned to sawdust as I tried to take each slice out of the bag.

So it seems that even though there are so many people here saying the Ener G brand is yucky, it proves that when you are left without any choices.. you will buy whatever these companies try to sell us.

I for one, prefer to order the Katz Gluten Free challah online rather than eat any of this stuff!

[Coolclimates]

Ok, this one tops them all:

Soy Delicious unsweetened coconut milk

Dreadful! I tried some on my cereal yesterday. It doesn't taste remotely like coconut, rather like Elmer's glue or some nasty liquid paste. I felt like throwing up! Needless to say, I ditched my cereal and the entire carton of coconut milk.

Is this what they serve as a drink in a Russian prison?

[Kelly&Mom]

Let's see, my daughter's a lot more picky about gluten-free alternatives than I am but we both agree:

Any store bought bread except Udi's is like eating cardboard (buy either Pamela's mix or frozen Udi's)

Every mac n' cheese boxed mix we've tried (using quinoa noodles and a pkg of the Kraft cheese sauce works OK)

most nutrition bars.....

Favorites:

Just about anything by Pamela's, Kinnickkinnick, Udi's. Got some carrot cake bread out of the freezer section of Sprouts the other day that was amazing-we ate the whole little $5 loaf in about 1/2 hour! My daughter's friends liked it too. Gonna have to stock up on that for her to take to slumber parties!

[gfreegirlie]

I can't remember brand names, but I have had NO success in the arenas of gluten-free/soy-free/dairy-free

*pasta

*cookies.

I also tried to make some pancakes, and man, they were horrible.

Given these experiences and the fact that I have multiple allergies, I have given up trying to replace wheat-based products, pretty much. Instead I am eating mostly veggies, fruits and meat.

However, when my body wants a splurge:

*my saving grace is the great cranberry-walnut dessert posted in the recipes section at this site. I omit the flavoring (worries about gluten if alcohol-based). I use olive oil and bake it in a 9x13 pan because the texture is more crispy, like a cobbler/pie then. And YUM, I have been known to eat the whole thing myself in 24 hours !

Also, I love Enjoy Life chocolate chips. I have yet to use them in baking because they are so good I snarf them down as snacks.

I don't mind giving up the breads, cookies, etc., because it gives me more caloric room for the above two snacks every now and then. I pray to God I don't develop allergies to chocolate or cranberries. If I did, I would cry.

you should try pamelas products pancake mix. It is incredibly delicious!

[sa1937]

you should try pamelas products pancake mix. It is incredibly delicious!

I'll vouch for Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix. I made the blueberry muffins and also a really delicious banana-nut bread. There are a lot of recipes on their website as the package only has a few. Open Original Shared Link

[i-geek]

I'll vouch for Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix. I made the blueberry muffins and also a really delicious banana-nut bread. There are a lot of recipes on their website as the package only has a few. Open Original Shared Link

I'll second that. I haven't been able to make a from-scratch pancake batter that is as good as Pamela's. You can also use it to make Open Original Shared Link. I'm not a huge cake fan but I do like carrot cake, and this was really good. My gluten-eating husband and parents also gave it a thumbs-up.

[sa1937]

I just printed out the carrot cake recipe. It sounds so yummy. I'm not much into baking cakes but occasionally need to provide a dessert and this would fit the bill nicely.

[scarlett77]

1) I'm with the person that said all bread except Udi's. My husband went to the store and came back with some other brand recently and man that thing was heavy as a brick!

2) I tried Kinnick's bagels and while they weren't inedible they tasted nothing like bagel. They tasted more like biscuits.

3) Bob's Red Mill pancake mix. Terrible.

Fave's:

1) Pamela's Pancake & baking mix (use it for just about everything from making a rue for mac & cheese to making muffins).

2) Udi's bread. Can eat it fresh out of the bag without even toasting it.

3) Tinkyada. Without it I cannot make my myriad of pasta dishes like lasagna, mac & cheese, or plain old spaghetti with meat sauce.

[Coolclimates]

I was just in Iceland, Finland and Estonia. Finland is much more advanced in celiac disease research and gluten-free foods than the other 2 countries. Also, the gluten-free products in Finland, overall, were much tastier than those in the US. I noticed some of the products were imported from Sweden, England and Germany.

The cookies and rolls were some of the best.

[wheeleezdryver]

Any sunbutter products I've tried have been nasty.

I've had regular 'ole sunbutter, & I liked it (but it did take a little getting used to), but I gotta agree with the Sunbutter Bars... they taste burnt or something to me....nasty...

I've never been very picky as far as breads, but after reading all these comments about the Ener-g rice bread, I've got to agree!! I didn't know until last time I went to our Kroger store that they had a bunch of gluten-free bread in the freezer....I will try some of those sometime, rather than getting the Ener-G brand again...

Those are the only things I've tried but not liked so far.

Have tried the Hodgson Mill Apple Cinnamon Muffin & pancake Mix a couple times...When I get the sweetner right, it's good, but for some reason, I don't always get it right...

Other stuff I've tried (and liked)

Glutino breakfast bars, apple & blueberry flavor (can't have chocolate or cranberry). I saw Cherry flavor at our local gluten-free store, i'll try those sometime

pretzels....can't remember what brand, but I think it was Ener-g. Had both the salt & the sesame flavor.

Van's waffles

Bob's Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal (good with honey or fruit added)

gluten-free rolled oats

Mesa Sunrise

Honey'd Flakes

Crunchy Flax (also like the nutty flax, but not as much)

EnviroKids bars (the berry flavor one)

liked all the pastas & pizza crusts I've tried

Burritos (by Glutenfreeda)....actually, I would prefer a burrito that isn't so spicy & doesn't have tomatoes & corn (ya know, how 'bout a plain ole bean & cheese burrito??, c'mon), but since this is all there is right now, I'll take it...

[Tina B]

Oh, man ... you guys are killing me. I just found out I have Celiac. Look what I have to look forward to. UGH!

Actually, this is the best place to ask which is the best without wasting a lot of money on trial and error.

[Doodles]

Ok, I'm in a rare mood tonight so I thought I'd start a thread just for fun.

We've all been there...the gluten-free product that you shelled out half your life savings for, slaved over for two hours in the kitchen, looked forward to trying all week long and turned out to be AWFUL!!! Let's vent about our *least* favorite gluten-free products and get a good laugh out of it.

Of course there should be a disclaimer somewhere here...something like "the following opinions are only opinions and as opinions mean absolutly nothing when it comes to actual products. Everyone's tastes are different and the top three nasty gluten-free products on one person's list may well be the top three yummy items on another's...yaddah yaddah yaddah".

That said........drum roll please..........

<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>~~My All Time Top Three Nastiest gluten-free Products List~~</span>

3. Ener-G white rice bread. With twice the half-life of a twinkie (but none of the taste) this loaf of styrofoam strongly resembled bread but tasted like whatever my alergy-free pillow is stuffed with. So dry I wondered if it had been dipped in Decon before packaging. Inedible unless saturated with butter and toasted, and only marginally ediable then. My son liked it slightly less than I did.

2. My attempt at gluten-free crepes. "Ah," I thought, "Crepes are mostly egg and should be easy to substitute flours!". Little did I know. Followed the regular recipe but used gluten-free mix instead, turned out way too thick. Added milk. Put whole mess in blender and added more milk. Blended. Added more milk. Burned motor of blender up with still-too-thick batter. Opened windows to clear smoke. Tried to use batter anyway by smearing it around on the hot pan with a spatula. Crepes puffed up to pancake size, managed somehow to be burned black on outside but completely raw on inside. Tried to eat them anyway. Dumped the whole mess in the sink and prayed that the motor in the disposal would win the battle.

1. All-Time-Worst gluten-free purchase EVER: Nana's gluten-free cookies. Spent $10.00 on nicely packaged, moist looking, big round cookies. Bought lemon, chocolate, and chocolate crunch. Drooled all the way home. Opened cookies, sat down with the kids and dug in. When we opened the packages and tried to take out the cookies we ran into the first problem: Cookies disenegrate upon touch. Suddenly we each held a bag of crumbs, peppered here and there with a dime-sized chunk. Ok, I think, so they're a little crumbly. Then I tasted it! It was like eating chocolate flavored sand. But not as nice. The cookie stuck in my throat as if I had been eating cotton batting! Not only that, but my throat hurt after eating it, it felt all scratched up! The kids, who will eat nearly anything if it is sweet, were having similar experiences. All three of us instantly wanted to drink at least a gallon of water, there were crumbs all over the place (looked like a cookie factory exploded) and my toddler hated it so bad she started crying and trying to wipe her tongue off. No kidding! I kept the extra cookies in the pantry as incentives for eating a good, healthy dinner...."eat all your peas or you'll get a Nana's cookie for dessert!"

Anyone else want to share? I could use a good laugh!!!

I am cracking up as I read your post while at work. Your descriptions of hilarious and I just wanted to say thanks for the laugh. I am new to the gluten-free products and so far have not found anything worth buying again. So true about the bread. I've only been at it for about 3 weeks and would love to find bread that does not weigh a ton and is tasty. Otherwise I've been substituting rice cakes for bread but I gotta tell ya I am dying for a slice of toast with my eggs. Thanks for the laugh!

[mbrookes]

The worst ever was some kind of gluten-free frozen pie crust. Just awful taste and grainy. Must have been made of sand.

Another bust was Pamela's biscuit mix. Just bore no relation to a biscuit!

Several of you slammed the Midel cookies, but I love their ginger snaps.

A new treat I just found is Kind Plus Cranberry Almond bar. Also, the Atkins Endulge candy bars are safe (at least I haven't had a problem and the ingredients sound all OK)