Finding And Rating New Gluten-Free Foods For Fall
This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s fall editorial intern Elizabeth Miller. Find them on Instagram at @Lizzy_7979. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Living with Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) can be pretty frustrating, especially if it develops later in life. I started with this sensitivity after I moved to college, but getting a diagnosis helped me regain control of my life. I miss so many of the foods I used to be able to eat, and finding gluten-free substitutes and foods can be a time-consuming struggle. But, there is a pretty big online community of people who are gluten-free, and we share our thoughts on the gluten-free foods grocery stores release. Since it’s fall, there have been lots of new foods out, so I took a trip to a few of my local grocery stores to find and try some of these gluten-free fall foods.
Finding The Goods
The stores I was most interested in going to were Trader Joe’s and Aldi, but I also stopped at Target and Wegmans to see if they had any other products mentioned online. Trader Joe’s has a whole line of new gluten-free fall foods, including pumpkin ravioli, bread, pancakes, and muffins. Aldi’s gluten-free brand, Live G-Free, has some gluten-free fall dessert options like snickerdoodles. Brands like Sweet Loren’s and Goodie Girl also have ready-to-bake cookie dough and ready-to-eat cookies. Sweet Loren’s has pumpkin spice cookie dough and Goodie Girl has pumpkin pie-flavored cookies at stores like Wegmans and Target.
For my shopping trip, I was sadly only able to find some of these fall foods at Traer Joe’s, but more should be coming to stores soon! I got the gluten-free pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin streusel muffins, and the pumpkin cornbread and pumpkin pancake mixes.
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Ravioli: 6.5/10, but it has potential!
This ravioli was super easy to make. Alone I would rate the ravioli a 6.5/10. But, there is a lot of potential for them. They are the perfect flavor to make a dish that is either sweeter or savory. I love breakfast for dinner, so I would absolutely remake the ravioli with breakfast sausage and cinnamon sugar. But, the ravioli would also be good with cheese or alfredo and basil. Overall, it is a very versatile ingredient, but it does need something else to spruce it up. It has the potential to make a 10/10 dish, but by itself it is a solid 6.5/10.
Pumpkin Streusel Muffins: 8/10
These mufins were really good, but in my opinion I think they are more of a dessert than your average muffin. Overall, though, these muffins were really good considering they’re gluten free. They are not dry and crumbly at all, they are insanely moist and they keep their structure pretty well. They are very flavorful and there is also a sweet streusel topping that makes these muffins even better! I rate these a solid 8/10, loosing points only because they are a bit too sweet in my opinion to be a breakfast muffin.
Pumpkin Pancake Mix: 9/10
I really liked these pancakes. I will say, at first I thought they were undercooked, but I realized it was the natural coloring. I prefer thin pancakes because they are chewier. These pancakes do puff up nicely, but they also squish nicely to be thinner as well. Initially I was worried that I wouldn’t like them if they were cakey, but squishing them down did the trick and I really liked them. I didn’t even feel like they needed butter or syrup, the flavor was super balanced already. I give them a 9/10, I definitely want to go back for more.
Pumpkin Bread Mix: 9.5/10
This box mix was also really good. The bread did not turn out dry at all. The reason I rate it a 9.5/10 is because it took a lot longer to cook than the box said it would, which I know is not entirely the company’s fault but it did make me nervous. It is sweet, but not too sweet. If someone iced or glazed it and said it was a cake I would believe them. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Still, it is very good, and I have eaten most of the loaf by myself. I would also go back to get more of this mix.
All in all, I would go back for any of these foods, but especially the ravioli and box mixes. While it was disappointing that the other stores I shop at didn’t have the gluten-free fall foods and desserts I was looking for, I’m going to keep my eye out for more!
Do you agree with our ratings? Tell us your favorite gluten-free fall dessert in the comments!