Gluten Free Pancake Favourites

It has been a hard run finding good quality gluten free pancake mixes that not only are soy free but taste great and ‘hold together’!  For years I’ve been using the pancake mix from ORGRAN, suitable for individuals with a range of common food allergies and intolerances as this used to be the only gluten free pancake mix that was also soy free.

Another option was to make them from scratch.  I sometimes made buckwheat and pancakes using the relevant flours along with buttermilk, which were more palatable than any premixes I could find.   As life got more and more busy for me, I found I had less time to bake from scratch, pancakes became a rare treat.  Most days I’d have gluten free cereal or toast using Country Life Bakery‘s gluten free low GI, yeast free, or sunflower and linseed (which is my favourite! YUM!) loaves (all of which are also corn free, something an increasing number of individuals seem to be reacting to, for possibly a variety of reasons one of which can be found on a friend’s hub on corn gluten).

CASALARE PANCAKE MIX

In the past couple of years living as such has become so much easier.  About a year ago, Casalare released a great-tasting quinoa pancake mix that is allergen friendly!  The cassia flavour that comes out complements the unique quinoa flavour making it the perfect treat for one’s breakfast.  (Did I mention it’s corn free, too!). This was a great find, yet it still remains quite difficult to locate in many parts around the country. Which is a shame because it actually is a very good quality product for what it is, so I always get a hold of one of these mixes whenever and wherever I can!

 

BASCO BUTTERMILK PANCAKE SHAKE

Finally, though, I have to admit my favourite gluten free pancake mix out of all these is the BASCO buttermilk pancake shake! Unfortunately this has always contained soy (which I, of course, cannot have) so I was only able to really enjoy it for the first two years of being gluten free (before having been diagnosed with the soy issue when I had to eliminate many gluten free favourites from my diet).  Until RECENTLY, when many products under the Green’s General Foods (including some of the BASCO Gluten Free range) were recently re-formulated.  At this time, the soy ingredient (soy flour) was removed from the Gluten Free Buttermilk Pancake Shake along with many cake mixes and other products. 

(N.B. Cake Mixes may contain traces of soy due to shared equipment used to manufacture products containing soy-derived ingredients, however the pancake mix appears to be completely free of soy based on the ingredients.  The pancake mix still contains milk, egg, and maize starch.)

I was so excited to find that I could safely eat their pancakes again and they’re at least just as good as, if not better than, than before!

 

Sadly, we see very little of this product, except for at a couple of IGA stores around the country – much of which has occurred in recent years after the introduction of the Woolworths Freefrom product range. (Virtually all products within the range are laden with SOY, of all allergens.) This particular range was developed by Woolworths after having carefully watched and observed which gluten free products were the ‘best sellers’!   Such an act has sent an awful lot of fire up many of the original gluten free brands driving some close to receivership.  I shall add that the quality of the products *imitated* by Freefrom is considerably lower!  A more comprehensive view on this subject can be found HERE.

I personally feel it is extremely important that we try and support these original brands that are committed to providing us with quality gluten free products where, and if, possible!

Gluten Free, Soy Free Bread – Australia/New Zealand

Bread is such a simple basic food that everyone ‘needs’ to be able to live a fulfilling lifestyle.  Many who do not believe that bread could be harmful or allergenic are mistaken.  Two potentially harmful allergenic proteins, wheatand soy, are present in just about all made bread around us.  Many gluten free breads also contain soy flour , making finding alternatives a more tiring and tedious task.  Below I have a list of great tasting gluten free, soy free breads available in Australia and New Zealand.

AUSTRALIA:

Country Life Bakery currently produce two gluten free loaves that are completely free of soy; including the 100% Yeast, Gluten and Wheat Free loaf and the Yeast and Gluten Free Sunflower & Linseed.  The other gluten free loaves (White, Multigrain, Fruit and Low GI) do not contain additional soy, however are manufactured in a plant that processes these products.  All GF loaves contain egg and the only loaves with no additional dairy include the Gluten Free Fruit and Low GI loaves (which both may contain traces of both dairy and soy).

Maker of great-tasting gluten free bread.  Unfortunately, most loaves and all rolls have soy flour in them, which make them a ‘no-no’ for myself, however they make a rice loaf which is free from gluten, soy, corn, dairy, eggs and yeast – which has quite a good taste as well (requires slicing).

The good news is that they are also about to release some new delicious gluten free cakes (which will be available at some of the IGA stores later in the year), all of which will also apparently be soy free.  I have yet to try them and write about it.

NEW ZEALAND

Venerdi Make a large range of gluten free products endorsed by the Coeliac Society of New Zealand.  Everything they make is soy free and a vast majority of gluten free selections are also dairy free.  They are very mindful of individuals with multiple intolerances and their bread is to die for.  It’s a shame there is no retail distributor here in Australia at this point in time, however due to much positive customer feedback on their products and many people lobbying for their products in Australia the team at Venerdi are looking for takers to produce their style of loaf in the land Down Under!

These are some of the most commonly seen bread brands all around Australia and New Zealand as indicated above (and best tasting, in my opinion) that do not contain either gluten or soy.

Keep me up on any others you find you like in the comments.  It’s only my second entry so forgive me if I get mixed up!  I’m sure you’ll understand, you were all in the same boat here at WordPress.com once!!