OK - I'm not much of a WM shopper so when a close gluten-free friend of mine told me I HAD to try the delicious gluten-free cookies and muffins she found at the WM over in Cobb county, I said yeah yeah...and promptly forgot about it. First of all, these days I have to choose my carbs very carefully. If something isn't amazing, I stop eating it after the first bite. Secondly, as mentioned above, I rarely go to WM.
Several weeks pass and I'm offered a chance to taste the WM goodies. Clearly, based on my very picky (like me) friend's comments about this product line, I had to take advantage of this great opportunity! Not only was my friend dead on in her review of the FRESH treats sold in the regular WM bakery, everything was better than I could have imagined! Oh, and everything is VERY affordable to boot ;)
Starting with the
cookies, they are VERY large and VERY soft! Aside from cookies made in a gluten-free (walk-in) bakery or ones I've baked myself, I've never had delicious, soft and chewy gluten-free cookies like these. They taste like homemade cookies...seriously! If you heat them up for a few seconds, I'm sure they'll taste like they just came out of the oven. Now, for the sad party of this story, the cookie monster in our house (who can eat any cookie on earth!) ate every cookie in two packages in less than two days! I wanted to make an ice cream sandwich with them, but that will have to wait.
On to the
brownies. I'm not sure why, but I've always been a huge fan of brownie bites - very small mini-muffin sized brownies. The WM Bakery gluten-free brownies are the perfect size! They're also just chocolaty and sweet enough without being too much of either. I ate one of them at room temperature (remember, they're in the bakery at WM - not in the freezer!) and it was really scrumptious! Then after giving ONE brownie to the husband, I froze the rest to insure they would still be there the next day.
Eventually, I thawed out several brownies and made ice cream sundaes with them. Making that treat called for slightly heating the brownies in the microwave (one for me and three for the husband!) and topping with vanilla ice cream and Trader Joe's Midnight Moo (the only chocolate sauce we'll eat now). OK - we topped the sundaes off with a touch of canned whipped cream...lol! The only thing missing was a cherry on top - but we didn't miss the gluten one bit!
Lastly, we have the
blueberry gluten-free muffins. These amazing soft and moist treats are my new go-to ready-made blueberry muffins! They come in a 2-pack which is perfect for us! One thing I could not figure out was how the blueberries tasted like someone had picked them that day and made a batch of muffins with them... Seriously - the best blueberries I've had in any muffin ever! We didn't get a chance to freeze these, but based on the ingredients, they'll likely freeze well. Aside from enjoying at home, they're a nice item to keep stocked for trips to the in-laws' (or friends') house where you need to take your own b'fast breads.
Here is a little more info on this great new option for FRESH gluten-free baked goods - sold only at Walmart under the brand 'The Bakery, gluten-free'.
- Certified gluten-free
- Certified Kosher
- Contains soy, dairy and egg
- Made in nut-free facility
- NO artificial flavors or colors
- NO trans fats
- NO hydrogenated oils
- Naturally flavored
Now I know most of us have trained ourselves to avoid the bakery at any store like the plague. Why torture ourselves looking longingly at all the fresh, gluten-filled goodness? But it's time to reprogram our brains to enjoy going to the FRESH bakery section again - at least at Walmart! ALL U.S. locations should have these wonderful products by now, but if you can't find them, be sure and ask the bakery manager at your store to get them in STAT!
To keep up with all the news from this exciting line, be sure to follow the WMBakeryGlutenFree Twitter page!
