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The last time I had gluten free brownies was over 10 years ago. I do not have food allergies, so avoiding gluten, dairy, wheat, etc is not on my radar. But who says no to brownies?
I was really nervous about tasting the pack of Wholly Wholesome's Wholly Gluten Free Fudge Brownies I was sent to review, I'm not going to lie. Giving up sweets for Lent gave me an additional avoidance tactic. Being the amazing mother I am, I had my girls, ages 9 and 10, taste them first. They both enjoyed the brownie, but did not come back for more, but there were Cadbury Cream Eggs in the house, so it makes sense.
I finally bit the bullet, closed my eyes, took a bite and....
It's a BROWNIE! Didn't I mention that? Of course it's good.
All joking aside, gluten free has come a long, long way. If I didn't know what was not in them, I would never guess these brownies are dairy-free, gluten-free, peanut-free, and GMO-free.
But not having the allergies, the second bite was a different experience. In my defense, not only am I an avid baker, the last chocolate brownie/cake like anything I had was boxed cake mix with two boxes of pudding, sour cream, extra oil and chocolate chips in it, so death by chocolate is probably not the best comparison.
I could taste the flour difference, the bitterness of the chocolate (since there's no milk), and they are on the dry side. Nothing a cup of almond or coconut milk or even hot chocolate wouldn't fix.
Have I quit on bakeries for less, absolutely. But what it comes down to for me, is that Wholly Wholesome got it right. The flavors, the textures all work in this context. If someone gave one to me and didn't tell me they were gluten-free I would never have guessed. I would have wholly enjoyed the brownie for what it is - a solid chocolate fix.
Find them at your local all-natural market, including Wild by Nature and Whole Foods. If you're not near a shop like this, which I am not, you can also find their gluten-free pizza and pie crusts on Amazon.com.