I had to go clichéd and add lashings of real butter!

Another one I picked up courtesy of a nice M&S man at the Allergy & Free From Fair. I must admit, I was expecting to be disappointed with these crumpets which is why I hadn’t bought them before. Truthfully, I thought they felt like little heavy sponge-bricks in their plastic wrapping; and I was prepared for another stodgy empty-calorie disaster like the gluten-free pain au chocolat I once tried which would leave me with a weary gluten-craving. However, well played Marks & Spencer.

Despite patchy availability in some stores, their ‘Made Without Wheat‘ range is gradually expanding, now infiltrating the fresh meat and ready meal sections as well as convenience foods. There are some absolute winners in this range, so I put my faith in Auntie M&S and made with the toasting. After all they do look like normal crumpets.

Firstly, the crumpets survived an an encounter with my freezer pretty well (always good as the only coeliac in the house). They took a while to toast up, and I was careful not to overdo it as I  often find gluten free bread products don’t brown up as nicely when toasting. After adding a big block of butter and letting it melt through a little (sorry dairy-free readers – crumpets are only truly ready when you see the butter coming out of the bottom again) I took a bite. I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, these are heavier than BC (before coeliac) crumpets, but they are a pretty faithful rendition otherwise. The outside was slightly crisper and thicker than I remembered, but the inside was fluffy and moist. Perhaps a little cakey and crumby, but holds together well with a gluteny stretch to it, and is altogether quite pleasant. The flavour was faintly sweet and ricey.

All in all, a nice occasional teatime or breakfast treat.

GF Nom-ability: 7/10