I Tried a Montana-Made Gluten Free Brownie Mix. The Results Were Surprising

I love gluten. This substance is found in wheat, rye, barley, and triticale - a wheat/barley cross - and it's what helps make bread so darn delicious. Gluten is found in many foods that you wouldn't expect (it seems to be in EVERYTHING) and for most people, it doesn't negatively affect your life... unless you have gluten intolerance or celiac disease.

Until recently, gluten rarely crossed my mind. When it did, it was usually when I'd overhear friends ordering at restaurants and asking servers for gluten-free requests. "Really?", my internal monologue would say, "Stop being a baby and order your burger with a bun like a normal human."

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Then we learned that one of my kids has gluten issues.

My teen had been complaining about stomach issues after almost every meal. Like many families, we eat a lot of pasta and bread. Mainly because both are inexpensive and filling, but also because they taste good.

We're awaiting further tests to see if she has celiac disease or gluten intolerance, but in the meantime, we've started buying a few gluten-free products for her. Recently I visited a fun shop in Billings that carries a variety of Montana-made products and picked up a bag of gluten-free brownie mix.

Made with chickpea flour from the Circle, MT based 41 Grains Company, I think I paid around $9 for the bag of brownie mix. The directions were simple: add eggs and oil and pour into a pan.

My family loves the "nothing-but-corners" brownie pans (I think we got ours from Pampered Chef) and I like to customize our brownies by placing bite-sized Reeses Peanut Butter cups in the bottom of the pan.

I'll be honest... my expectations for these gluten-free brownies were low.

Would these be "weird" like some gluten-free foods? The raw dough had a slightly different consistency than a box of Betty Crocker mix, but otherwise, it looked good and smelled chocolatey.

I let them cool in the pan for a few minutes, before placing them on a cooling rack to relax for a bit. The texture appeared the same as any traditional brownie mix. But here's the big question... how do they taste??

They were delicious!

My skepticism was unfounded. These gluten-free brownies - made in Montana -  are very, very good. While I was making this batch from 41 Grains, I also made a batch of "normal" brownies and I couldn't tell much of a difference, nor could my family.

The company makes a variety of gluten-free snacks, including a cookie mix, a batter/breading mix, a banana bread mix, and other tasty snacks like Lentil Crunchers. Browse their items HERE.