Delicious Gluten-free Cookies and Crackers!

This week I found a couple of new gluten-free items to try. I don’t think either product is brand new, but they are both to me and just recently arrived at the store where I buy most of my gluten-free labeled products.  Actually, there are way too many new gluten-free items being brought into stores here for any one person to try them all. However, I do what I can to inform people about the new things I find and think are worth sharing.   

First up were the R.W. Garcia 5 Seed gluten-free crackers. There are three flavors and we tried the Rosemary & Garlic variety. The crackers are made with organic corn and contain no gluten or Trans Fats. Even though soy and dairy are not present in the ingredient list, the allergen statement says: Made in a facility that uses dairy, soy, sesame seeds, tree nuts, and flax seed. Surprisingly to me, I can not detect the taste of flax seed in this cracker. Flax is quite healthy but unfortunately I can’t stand the taste of it. It’s a welcome change to find a product with flax that I actually like.     

Most of the gluten-free crackers that I enjoy are imported, but the R.W Garcia products are made in the U.S. The small 4 oz. box was over $3, which I thought was pricey for a non imported item, but after tasting the light, crunchy and delicious crackers, I decided they were worth every penny! The other two cracker flavors are Garlic, Onion and Chive, and Tellicherry Cracked Pepper. The chips from this company are sold on Amazon.com so hopefully they will add the crackers as well.

There is no other gluten-free cracker that I’ve tried to that compares to this one – except one served at a Napa Valley winery which contains gluten. It is not like a rice cracker, nor a traditional gluten cracker. The taste doesn’t resemble nut crackers or anything else I’ve tried before. The flavor is intense, but not too much so. It had a fabulous texture and is not too hard for people with lots of dental work. It’s kind of like a cracker chip and I simply love it!

The fiber percentage for these crackers per serving is listed at 8% but that is for 16 crackers, the noted serving size. That seems like a large serving size, even though the crackers are quite small. For me a serving size is probably less than half of that, making this snack fairly healthy in terms of calories and fat.

My other find was the Quinoa Macaroon Cookies by Tree of Life. They are soft, chewy, very coconut-y cookies. As cookies go, these are fairly healthy too, with 6% of your RDA of fiber in one cookie. The cookies are sweetened with fruit juice and brown rice syrup instead of processed sugar. In my opinion, these cookies are too delicate to dip in hot tea or pack in baggies for travel. They are however, extremely delicious! Other flavors include Peanut Butter, Ginger, Shortbread and Chocolate Chip.              

Both of these products are sold at Natural Foods Warehouse in Duluth. The new Nature’s Path cereals are on promotion for $2.50 and buying one gets you a FREE large multi-colored Nature’s Path tote bag while supplies last. None of these items are sold at Whole Foods (in Duluth) presently.