Gluten-free Giveaway and Review: Kinnikinnick Foods

Kinnikinnick asked me to review 6 of their newly repackaged gluten-free mixes. However, before I get to the review there are a couple of things you must note. Kinnikinnick is one of the largest gluten-free manufacturing facilities in the world! In addition, Kinnikinnick won the Every Day with Rachael Ray’s March 2011 gluten-free baking mix taste test in the pancake and waffle mix category! That says a lot!  They make many gluten-free products, besides mixes. One of my friends raves about their products every time she passes by them in the Whole Foods’ refrigerator section!

Gluten-Free Bread & Bun Mix

I used their all-purpose gluten-free flour for a bread, using their recipe on the box.  It turned out more of brioche. You southerns will absolutely love this bread! It’s very moist, on the sweet side and you never have to worry about it drying out if left out. This mix would make a wonderful all-purpose flour for baking cakes, cup cakes and muffins, as well.

Gluten-free All-Purpose Flour

Their bread and bun mix made wonderful dinner rolls, yellow in color, just like those rolls you buy that are all stuck together, on the sweet side, but a little heavier in weight. The texture on the outside was perfect, just like those gluten filled dinner rolls! If you are having any trouble with a bread recipe that is on the dry side, a little bit of this mix may do the trick!

Mixes are so foreign to me that I found them a breeze to make! I whipped out 2 in no time! However, with a packed schedule I asked Dr. Danielle West-Stellick if she would review the remaining mixes and she so graciously accepted. Thank you Danielle! See her review of the pancake and waffle mix, along with 2 cake mixes below.

Having your cake and eating it too!

A review of Kinnikinnick Cake and Pancake mixes

By Dr. Danielle West-Stellick

What you can you say about Kinnikinnick Foods, Inc.? When it comes to Gluten-Free frozen breads, rolls and donuts (yes, glazed donuts!), they take the cake… Speaking of cake, these wonderful folks now have cake mixes available: Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake, Gluten-Free White Cake and Gluten-Free Angel Food! And they’re what I consider “pet rock easy!” Even the Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake was just that, a piece of cake to make! Let me explain:

For the gluten-free chocolate and white cake mixes, you take 4 eggs, ¾ C vegetable oil, ¾ C water and whisk. No serious measuring of ¼ or ½ teaspoons of this or that, here or there. Then add the cake mix gradually, mix and voila! You have amazing cake. I was also surprised at the on package estimates. Most will be scant, for example, I’ve yet to yield the same number of cookies from a recipe stated, always FAR short. Kinnikinnick stated 18 cupcakes and there were in fact, a yield of each cake mix of 18 cupcakes.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Mix

I tend to get creative and added lime zest to half of the chocolate batter and chopped fresh mint leaves to the other half and they were literally flying off the plate. Moist and delectable beyond what you might have experienced before in a Gluten-Free cake mix.

Gluten-Free White Cake Mix

Similarly, I decided to modify a standard Boston Cream Pie using the white cake and added citrus zest (orange, lemon and lime) to the white cake batter and used a chocolate custard before the chocolate/lime ganache. But the cake was exceptional! One 6 inch mini-cake and 12 perfect cupcakes!

Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake Mix

The Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake mix was stellar! This is one of the easiest cakes I think I have ever made and it overjoyed me as I have been craving an Angel Food Cake with fresh strawberries now that spring has sprung. Beat 12 egg white, add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (yes, here it does get to the teaspoons), beat more (but not much really required to get the egg whites to stiff peaks) and then gently fold in the cake mix! That’s it!!! And it truly comes out of the oven just like a picture.

Gluten-Free Waffle/Pancake Mix

Kinnikinnick also graciously included their new Gluten-Free Waffle/Pancake mix. What piqued my curiosity even further than wanting pancakes was the crepe recipe on the back of the box. Again – very very simple. So, I made dinner and dessert crepes. They were wonderful! Thus the next day, instead of the pancakes my husband was expecting for breakfast we had gluten-free cheese blintzes!!! Can we say a short trip to a gluten-free heaven? What is noteworthy about the Gluten-Free Waffle/Pancake mix is the sweet taste of the batter. The directions to state the option of using club soda which I know is often used in making Belgian Waffles. If you have a Belgian Waffle maker, this mix would make absolutely amazing Gluten-Free Belgian Waffles… I have a feeling that’s going to be one of my next appliance purchases just for that reason. You just can’t get Gluten-Free Belgian Waffles – or so I thought. Now even that’s possible with Kinnikinnick.

THE GLUTEN-FREE GIVEAWAY

Disclaimer: Kinnikinnick provided us with a free samples of their products to review, and we were under no obligation to review them. Nor were we under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free products.

And the winner is…

Julie R!

Julie has until 11:59pm PST on June 6, 2011 to reply to the winner’s notification email to supply us with her U.S. shipping address, phone number and email.  If she does not respond within that time period of time, a new winner will be chosen.

The winner was chosen at random using random.org: