Review: Winning Gluten-Free Bread and Baked Goods

I miss breakfast biscuit sandwiches on the run. And I had about despaired of having a decent biscuit I didn't have to make myself. Well, if I can manage it; it's not something I've tried. 

And I still had yet to find a gluten-free bread I could eat with just butter without it first being toasted. That has changed.

Last weekend, I went to Ann Arbor, hitting both Hiller's Market and Whole Foods Market. I looked anxiously through the baked goods for great bread and/or biscuits and hit the jackpot. 

Rumi's Passion, a gluten-free bakery based in Plymouth, MI, is among the breads featured in Hiller's frozen gluten-free section. Finally, bread that's edible without toasting! It tastes like a cross between challah and Italian bread and makes fabulous sandwiches and bread "pizza."

A second time purchase was the Katz Bakery's gluten-free Chocolate Rugelech, another Hiller's purchase. Liberally spiced with cinnamon, it's good straight out of the box, but I prefer it warmed up for about 15 seconds.

I also tried Udi's Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls. They aren't Cinnabons, but few things are. They are quite acceptable, though a little less pliable than, say, the frosted cinnamon rolls you bake yourself in the oven.

Don't try the cinnamon rolls without using part of the frosting packet, because without it, they are not very sweet at all. With a light drizzle, though, they're quite acceptable. Not only that, but I think they'd make a rather decadent bread pudding.


Udi's Ancient Grains Omega Flax and Fiber Gluten-Free Bread, a Whole Foods purchase, is my preferred sandwich bread. Truthfully, I haven't tried it untoasted, but I like my sandwiches toasted anyway. Another bread I really enjoy is Rudi's Cinnamon Raisin Bread, which I generally buy at Kroger (it's in with the frozen natural foods). I toast it, though.  

Udi's White and Multigrain sandwich breads also are pretty good, and, on average, a dollar a loaf cheaper than Rudi's breads.

Last but not least, there are the gluten-free cheddar biscuits from Whole Foods' GlutenFree Bakehouse®. They're great alone and are probably my favorite of all these bready items; I think I'll be making a breakfast sandwich with them soon. I ate two in one sitting!

These items range in price from $5.29 to $7.99, comparable to goods in a regular bakery. They're mostly found frozen, though Whole Foods apparently does enough volume that I found three types of the Rudi's bread on a shelf adjacent to the bakery. 

If you aren't inclined to have the time, energy, or patience to buy and mix several flours to make your own bread or treats, all of these are good options.