The best places for sweet gluten-free snacks
Are you tired of the same old gluten-free snacks? If you're like me and can't have oats, it can be slim pickings in the biscuit aisle. That is, unless you start looking in new places...
Great variety and award-winning
ASDA! Yep, good ol' Asda has won multiple gold stickers from the FreeFrom Food Awards and for good reason. They're one of the only places to do numerous gluten-free biscuits that actually taste like a decent biscuit.
First up: Lemon Creams. If you've not yet tried these, they're like a custard cream with a lemony taste and a tiny lemon jam spot in the middle. A cousin of the jammy dodger, if you will. And somehow they don't have the grainy texture that many gluten-free oat-free biscuits have. Plus, they don't contain milk or egg, either, which is a bonus if you have multiple allergens to avoid or if you're vegan.
Just one example of other types of biscuit they do that taste good include their own-brand shortbread, which is extremely more-ish; I dare you only to have one!
Got kids? Asda also does a gingerbread man which doesn't contain gluten, milk or oats. You get 6 in a box with 2 in a pack sealed together. I find this really handy if I take my kids out and want to give them both a biscuit - the sealed pack is protected in my bag. The only downer on this biscuit is it tastes quite grainy (although my kids don't seem to mind).
But Asda doesn't just do its own brand. It also offers Nature Valley products like Peanut & Chocolate Protein bars (these taste soooo good!) and Schar goodies like Melto, which is the closest gluten-free replacement you'll get to a Kinder Bueno.
Bargains & unique items
Lidl! Known as one of the 2 supermarkets in the UK to be best value, you can often find gluten-free goodies here that aren't available anywhere else. Although you can't get gluten-free staples like bread, flour & pasta, you can get treats like these 'We Love Cake' bars when the mood takes them. (Lidl's known for having weeks where it has certain foods and then doesn't stock them again for months so if you see it, don't assume it'll be there next time; buy it when you can.)
The 'We Love Cake' range has other flavours but only one I've seen that doesn't contain oats - i.e. the raspberry ripple flavour. But if you can tolerate gluten-free oats you'll be able to indulge in their apple crumble and toffee flavours, too.
Now, although I said Lidl doesn't stock treats year-round, there are some that seem to be there most of the time and that's their protein ball range. This includes cacao & orange, peanut butter and recently lemon & pistachio.
Many of the flavours are also vegan so the only reason to avoid from an allergen perspective is if you can't have peanuts or other types of nut (e.g. cashew).
Sweet dreams
It's Poundland! Annoyingly, most items are no longer a pound, but they're not too much more than that and there's usually something gluten-free at the checkout queue, which recently included these limited edition white chocolate Toffifee pieces.
Unlike some of the other gluten-free treats, the ones you get in Poundland often contain milk and/or nuts. But if you're simply avoiding gluten then you can enjoy every mouthful (and no, they didn't last long once I'd passed them round the family!).
So here's your weekend challenge: go forth and multiply thy gluten-free snack selection. And let me know how you get on!
Meanwhile, do you feel like your favourite gluten-free products are disappearing? Read more here...
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