King Arthur Flour, America’s Oldest Flour Manufacturer, Goes Gluten-free With 8 New Mixes!

 

For over 200 years, King Arthur Flour has built an impressive reputation for its consistent, high-quality, all natural baking flours.

Now the company has entered the gluten-free market with eight new gluten-free mixes: Pizza Crust Mix, Cookies Mix, Bread Mix, Brownie Mix, Multi-Purpose Flour Mix, Pancake Mix, Muffin Mix and Chocolate Cake Mix.

King Arthur Flour boldly states the following message on their website, “Our award-winning gluten-free mixes are the best you’ll ever taste.”  Their tagline is “King Arthur Flour gluten-free mixes – a taste the whole family will enjoy!”

We tested them.  The verdict?

These gluten-free mixes are as good as advertised. Both children and adult tasters agreed they are spectacular.

The Mixes

We received two boxes each of the eight different varieties. (Hint to all you gluten-free bloggers and support group leaders out there – request yours now!)

The mixes are packaged in attractively designed boxes, incorporating blue, tan and pumpkin colors in an appealing design supported by scrumptious-looking pictures.  The boxes are clearly labeled gluten-free in multiple locations and sizes on the front, top, sides and back panels. They even state “made in a dedicated gluten-free facility” which is BIG for allaying fears of cross contamination.

Easy-to-follow preparation instructions with helpful illustrations are found on the back of each box.

Observations

We baked the mixes following the recipes exactly as stated on the boxes.  All the mixes were easy-to-prepare and the final products were excellent.  Details from the first four mixes we tried are included in this article.  The others will be added in the future.

Bread

You will get your money’s worth because this is a BIG loaf.  The box recommends either a 9 x 5 or 8 ½ x 4 ½ pan, but we recommend the 9 x 5 pan unless you like your loaves spilling over the sides for an artisan look. This is the one we used and the loaf rose and baked perfectly.  The slice sizes are excellent for sandwiches.  Speaking of sandwiches, we found the bread was soft, but robust enough to hold together ham, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and mayo. Mouth feel is superb and the bread is easy to swallow.

Gluten-free and non-gluten-free tasters enjoyed the bread equally well.  In fact, non-gluten-free friends couldn’t tell the difference.  Comments included “great, tastes like white bread but better, tastes like real bread without an “eggy” flavor.”

We found the bread to be easy to mix and forgiving in raising.  We raised it in a closed microwave (off!) to avoid drafts. That the bread did not require a heated oven to raise was a plus. The top was easy to smooth using a spatula or butter knife. Raising time is 60 minutes and baking time is 50 minutes.  If that sounds like a long time, then do as we did and make the muffins while you wait.  You’ll be happy you did.

Muffins

The muffins are sweet, moist and YUMMY. Kids will love these as they have almost cake-level sweetness. We baked six blueberry muffins and six raisin, walnut and cinnamon muffins.

Comments ranged from “delicious, moist, taste like real to you’d never know it was gluten-free, taste like cake and wonderful.” One taster who does not eat sugar thought it was very sweet, too sweet. The non-gluten-free taster loved it…and took 3 home with her.  One taster made a point to note the muffins are so good, she would eat them every day.

Whether due to the summer humidity or egg amount (eggs vary in size), the recipe made according to the instructions was wet, maybe too wet, and poured like pancake batter or cake rather than muffin batter.  We recommend adding the last 2 tablespoons of water a little at a time until you achieve the proper consistency.  The tasters didn’t even notice, but the blueberries and raisins settled to the bottom of the muffins.  The muffins baked equally well in single and double walled aluminum pans.

Pizza Crust

You know you have something special when the Roman student visiting from Italy declares your pizza “Delizioso!” Especially when he isn’t gluten-free!!  These crusts are EXACTLY like regular pizza.  The mix makes two 16 inch diameter crusts, but since the crusts are about ½ thick, you could make three if you like thin crust pizza.  We piled on veggies, sauce and cheese with abandon.  The crusts held up, but were still soft and pliable.  They resemble a Sicilian pizza crust in taste and texture.

Can you freeze them?  You bet.  We cut a whole pie while it was on the sheet and covered it with aluminum foil. Reheating in the microwave brought it back to just-baked goodness.

Pancakes

Crispy edged, soft and moist with a memorable flavor, these pancakes are the real deal.  First of all, they LOOK like pancakes with their rich golden appearance.  We noticed a maple syrup like taste to the pancakes which we had not expected but really liked.  Do they freeze well?  No idea.  We ate them all at one sitting.  You will too.

Preparation is foolproof, so even the kids can get in on the fun.  The pancakes are easy to prepare as the mix works just like regular pancake batter.  One box makes 16 round pancakes that are 4 inches in diameter. Directions on the box are for half the mix, or 8 pancakes.

About King Arthur Flour

Based in Norwich, Vermont, King Arthur Flour is America’s oldest flour manufacturer.

Founded in 1790, only months after George Washington was elected president, it has been family-owned and operated since its beginning, and employee-owned since 1996.

For more than 200 years, King Arthur Flour has contained absolutely no chemical additives, a commitment the 100% employee-owned company stands by today.  King Arthur Flour produces the highest quality flour in America and is the third largest seller of flour in the country.

King Arthur Flour conducts baking classes and free seminars around the country and has educated more than 1 million bakers. The company is the single largest educator of bakers in the world.  Six million copies of The Baker’s Catalogue are mailed out each year. It is the largest circulation catalogue for home bakers in the nation.

King Arthur Flour takes baking seriously and spent considerable time and effort in creating their new line of gluten-free baking mixes.

“We created King Arthur Flour gluten-free products to meet the same exacting standards as all our products. In fact, they taste so good everyone will enjoy them – whether you’re on a gluten-free diet or not. “No compromise” was our credo in developing the recipes for our gluten-free line. There is something here for everyone to enjoy, from basic sandwich bread, pizza crust and pancakes to decadent chocolate cake, brownies, muffins and cookies.

We’ve even created a flour blend for use in any gluten-free baking recipe. King Arthur glutenfree mixes are certified by the Gluten Free Certification Organization. And they’re Kosher, too.”

King Arthur Flour’s new gluten-free baking mixes were selected from among 200 entries as a Sofi Silver Finalist, Outstanding Product Line, by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade. The annual sofi awards recognize outstanding innovation in specialty foods.

Gluten-Free Safety

King Arthur Flour’s gluten-free mixes are gluten-free and also free of the seven other top allergens (peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, eggs, and dairy).

How can a flour company be absolutely certain no gluten gets into its gluten-free products? By producing its products in a dedicated gluten-free facility. Using a dedicated facility removes the potential for cross contamination during manufacture and demonstrates a company is serious about gluten-free safety.

King Arthur Flour produces its gluten-free products “offsite, at a dedicated gluten-free facility. This facility processes only gluten-free foods, and all personnel are carefully trained in practices and procedures that support gluten-free manufacturing of food products.”

Where to Buy

King Arthur Flour’s gluten-free mixes are available in grocers nationwide.  You can also order on their website.

Company Contact Information

King Arthur Flour, Inc.
Norwich, VT 05055
Kingarthurflour.com
Telephone: 800-827-6836

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Author Information: John Libonati, Philadelphia, PA
Publisher, Glutenfreeworks.com.
Editor & Publisher, Recognizing Celiac Disease.
John can be reached by e-mail here.