Whenever I go to visit someone they almost always apologize for not having something specifically gluten-free for me to snack on. The thing is, I don’t expect them to. I would never expect someone to go out of their way to get gluten-free products for me. Especially, since it is so hard to know what’s good and what’s not. But this got me thinking about how I’m probably not the only person this happens to.

There is a good chance that you know someone who might be coming to visit this Christmas season who can’t eat gluten. And, even though they probably don’t expect you to cater to their needs, you probably feel some level of obligation to create a hospitable environment which includes providing snacks. Or, maybe you just have a friend who comes to tea and can’t eat any cookies.

Whatever the situation is I thought it might be helpful to put a list together of 10 really good gluten-free products that you can get at the grocery store. This way if you do have a gluten-free person that you want to treat, you at least a few options.

So, here in no particular order are…

Schar Chocolix

First of all, Schar makes pretty great products across the board but I had the chance to try these recently and they were beyond expectation. These come in a small box with five individually wrapped bars. The bars themselves are similar to Twix but better. They’re like a high-end version of Twix that just happens to also be gluten-free.

K-TOOS

Just looking at the package you can tell right away that K-Toos are a gluten-free version of an OREO. They’re not quite as good, but they are very good. My wife, who can eat gluten actually prefers these to regular OREOS.

PC Gluten-free Strawberry Cake

Before I get into this next one I should say that I do some work as a private vendor with Loblaws. I mostly just do cooking classes in their cooking schools. But, that in no way shapes my judgement of their products. Having said all that President’s Choice (Loblaws house brand) makes some really, really good gluten-free products. You are going to see three of them on this list because they deserve to be on the list.

This first item is their strawberry cake (strawberry shortcake) is a great example. You would never know that this is gluten-free. There is a spice cake as well that is really good too. Both of these cakes are moist, and flavourful, and would make anyone happy.

PC Gluten-Free Brownies

This is not the first time I’ve talked about these brownies on the blog. I’m bringing them up again because they’re really good. Until last week I hadn’t had one of these in a while, but someone gave me one and it was delicious. Again, you can’t tell they’re gluten-free.

WOW Chocolate Chip Cookies

WOW (without wheat) is a company that specializes in gluten-free baked goods and they do it very well. These cookies are comparable to chips ahoy except they are soft. They also make large single portion cookies. They have a variety of flavours of cookie but their chocolate chip is my favourite.

Mary’s Gone Crackers

I’ve had a bit of a love-hate thing with Mary’s Crackers over the last few years. They are good crackers, I was eating some earlier today with peanut butter and apricots. But I had a bad customer service experience that eventually, months later, became a good customer service experience. Either way, the crackers are good. They come in a variety of flavours and pair well with almost everything. I would suggest having a box of these on hand all the time, but you’ll probably eat them. I would.

MI-Del Ginger Snaps

MI-Del makes a few really good products including ginger snaps and animal crackers. I’ve only had the ginger snaps and animal crackers but I’d be willing to be that their other products are just as good.

PC Blueberry Muffins

Every once in a while I get a craving for a muffin that needs to be satisfied or it will never go away. These PC Blueberry Muffins are what I turn to deal with that craving. They are soft, light and delicious. As good as they are, they are very much store-bought muffins. It is obvious when you eat them that they came from the store. This isn’t really that bad a thing as long as you or your guests weren’t expecting homemade.

Kinnikinnick Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

Okay, here’s the thing about these donuts (or doughnuts) I’ve never had them. I desperately want to try these, but I know that if I buy them I’m going to eat the whole box. The reason I think that they would be good is that the company that makes them makes really good, high-quality gluten-free products across the board.

Breton Gluten-Free

For pretty much my entire life one of my favourite things about Christmas was smoked mussels with cream cheese on a Breton Cracker. Now, these gluten-free Breton crackers don’t taste like the original. They are very much their own thing. That’s not a bad thing. They are delicious and great with just about everything.

Conclusion

It is my sincere hope that this list has in someway set your mind at ease about what snacks to get for your gluten-free friends and family. Anyone of the items on this list will make them happy, actually the fact that you tried at all will make them happy.