Diving into the gluten-free section at Trader Joe’s is a bit like entering a culinary lottery – you never know if you’re going to hit the jackpot or end up with a dud. This time, my gamble was on their Gluten-Free English Muffins. Let’s be real: gluten-free bread products often have the appeal of cardboard, and I half-expected these muffins to follow suit, crumbling away my hopes for a decent breakfast. Armed with my toaster and a hefty dose of cynicism, I prepared to either be pleasantly surprised or to add yet another name to my ever-growing list of gluten-free letdowns. Buckle up, we’re about to see if these muffins can actually muster the courage to be more than just glorified, edible coasters.
I loves me some Thomas’ English Muffins in the morning. All others are a distant second in my mind. They are the perfect amount of sourdough tang and as they say “nooks and crannies” to capture all the delicious butter or jam you put on them. The Thomas’ English Muffins really are the gold standard. I have reviewed the Trader Joe’s regular English Muffins here before and I only gave them mediocre ratings. They just didn’t have the nicely browned exterior and the big nooks and crannies and of course, the flavor was a pale comparison to the Thomas’ ones. I only buy them in a pinch.
Just recently, Trader Joe’s introduced some Gluten Free English Muffins that caught my eye. You know I like to branch out and try as many different things at Trader Joe’s as possible.
Trader Joe’s attracts a lot of people that have specific dietary requirements from Gluten Free to Vegan to Kosher. So, I like to try a lot of stuff out of my comfort zone because I’m an adventurous eater and I know many of my followers are Gluten Free.
I’ll just say this upfront. I would probably never buy these if I wasn’t doing this blog. Full disclosure, I eat everything (well almost everything) but I don’t generally try to avoid gluten.
First, off these Trader Joe’s Gluten Free English muffins are a little strange looking. They are snow white with some yellow grains on them that can only be cornmeal. They look like an albino hamburger bun dressed up as English muffins.
They are pre-split so you don’t have to cut them. I looked at the ingredients before I put them in the toaster and not to my surprise, they are made mostly of rice flour. That’s probably why they are so white.
I smelled them before I put them in the toaster and they had a bit of that sourdough tang, but it can’t be because of yeast. I don’t think these have any yeast in them. You will need a good toaster like the one below to get them to the right color.
I put them in the toaster on a darker than normal setting because if you know about regular English muffins they take a long time to toast and these aren’t any different, so set your toaster to a darker setting.
When they came out, I was pretty surprised at how nice they looked. I quickly put some butter on them to taste. First, you’ll see there aren’t a lot of nooks and crannies like Thomas’ but it’s not half bad. I do like the way they toasted up though. They look much nicer after you toast them.
The flavor wasn’t half bad. There seemed to be a bit of tang that I would expect. The texture was decent but acceptable. A little gummy, but then so are most gluten free bread in my mind. It’s the lack of gluten that does it, but I’m not complaining too much.
My Rating
Currently, they are $3.99/10.8 Oz for four English muffins. They are about 150 calories each and spot checking other English muffins, both with gluten and without, these have a similar calorie count and sodium so nothing too weird here, just a little pricey. Compared to regular English muffins they are expensive, but compared to other brands of Gluten Free, they are much cheaper.
I don’t think for me personally, I would go out of my way. But that is just me and it’s just because I am not gluten free, but if I didn’t have that choice, the Trader Joe’s Gluten Free English Muffins are a perfectly acceptable option. I could see making a nice big egg and cheese breakfast sandwich with these. So, if you are gluten free go ahead and get them. They aren’t all that bad!
I am going to rate them 8 out of 10 Bells!
1 English muffin(77g)
CALORIES PER SERVING: 150
| SERVES 4 | AMOUNT | %DV |
|---|---|---|
| Total Fat | 1 g | 1% |
| Saturated Fat | 0 g | 0% |
| Trans Fat | 0 g | |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0% |
| Sodium | 340 mg | 15% |
| Total Carbohydrate | 30 g | 11% |
| Dietary Fiber | less than 1 g | 2% |
| Total Sugars | 3 g | |
| Includes | 3 g Added Sugars | 6% |
| Protein | 4 g | |
| Vitamin D | 0 mcg | 0% |
| Calcium | 10 mg | 0% |
| Iron | 0.6 mg | 4% |
| Potassium | 100 mg | 2% |
NOTE: Since posting, the details of this item may have changed due to fluctuating market
Ingredients
WATER, STARCH AND RICE FLOUR BLEND (MODIFIED TAPIOCA STARCH, RICE FLOUR, RICE STARCH), TAPIOCA STARCH, CHICKPEA FLOUR, DRIED EGG WHITES, CANE SUGAR, YEAST, DEGERMED YELLOW CORNMEAL, CANOLA OIL, SALT, GUAR GUM, GLUCONO-DELTA-LACTONE, VEGETABLE GLYCERIN, SODIUM CARBOXYMETHYLCELLULOSE, HYDROXYPROPYL METHYLCELLULOSE, BAKING POWDER (SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, SODIUM BICARBONATE, CORNSTARCH, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), BAKING SODA.
- CONTAINS EGG.
You’re very lucky if you don’t HAVE to be gluten free, many of us do. It gets very frustrating and depressing trying to eat like a normal person, searching for and trying various GF products. Many of them, (perhaps even most of them), just can’t measure up. I have found Trader Joe’s bread and English muffins to past the “better than most” test on flavor and similarity to “normal” products. I will go out of my way to get their bread just so I can have a freakin’ sandwich! Trader Joe’s understands GF is not always a choice, but a necessity for some of us, and they try harder than most to make their products beyond palatable.