For the chocolate and yellow cake, Krusteaz uses a blend of whole grain sorghum and rice flour. The chocolate chip cookie mix also uses this recipe.
A confetti pancake mix – a spin off the brand’s popular wheat-based confetti cake mix – adds brown rice flour.
Gluten-free since 2014
Krusteaz first introduced its gluten-free mixes in 2014 – for buttermilk pancakes, blueberry muffins, honey cornbread and double chocolate brownies. In 2018, the brand added a gluten-free version of its ‘consumer-favorite’ Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake and Muffin Mix.
“Cake, cookie and an expansion of pancake mixes were obvious next products to offer,” brand manager Colleen Leveck told BakeryandSnacks.
Consumers have been “happy to find gluten-free versions of the baking mix products they love,” she said of the bigger gluten-free lineup.
The mixes, which are also free from artificial flavors and preservatives, are ready-to-bake with the addition of eggs, vegetable oil or butter, and water. Krusteaz now offers nine gluten-free baking mixes.
Not just for cake and pancakes
In 2015, Krusteaz introduced a gluten-free flour to its lineup that matches the weight by volume of standard all-purpose flours found on the market.
“This was our first foray into flours, and we saw an opportunity for gluten-free, just like we did in baking mixes,” said Leveck.
The flour gives consumers the choice to make gluten-free baked goods at home according to their own recipe, she added.
Last year, Krusteaz also debuted an almond flour, but the package does not explicitly claim it to be ‘gluten-free,’ Leveck noted.
Krusteaz was formed in 1932 by a group of Seattle women who developed an ‘easy crust’ mix to simplify the pie-making process. The company spread outside the Northwest US in the 1990s.
The four new gluten-free mixes are currently available in 18oz boxes for an RRP of $3.98 at Walmart.
Is gluten-free better for you? It depends.
The gluten-free honey cornbread from Krusteaz, which combines sorghum and millet flour with cornmeal, contains more dietary fiber and protein than its glutenous counterpart. The gluten-free mix also provides more calcium and iron – and two fewer grams of sugar per serving.
The regular pancake mix from Krusteaz offers 4g of protein per serving, compared to 2g in the brand's gluten-free version. The classic whole wheat pancake mix from Krusteaz also packs a more nutritious punch with double the calcium and iron, compared to the gluten-free mix.