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Granola, in general, is a pretty calorie dense food.

To me, that means it has to be “worth it.”

Here’s a few examples to illustrate my perspective on “worth it.”

• Really good dark chocolate-Worth it
• Hershey’s-Not worth it
• Chocolate ice cream-Worth it
• Vanilla ice cream-Not worth it
• Homemade Baked Goods with lots of carby and fatty goodness-Worth it
• Storebought, Dry, Crumbly Baked Goods-Not worth it

Granted, everyone’s scale of what is worth it and not worth it is going to be different.  I know there are those in the world who like vanilla ice cream.  I don’t understand it, but I know it happens, and I forgive you for that.  (KIDDING!!)  Keeping that in mind, here is my take on two very different types of gluten free granola.

I was recently very fortunate to sample granola from both Bakery On Main and PaleoWomen.

Bakery On Main

As I mentioned previously, (in the post that wasn’t supposed to go up yet) the original samples I had received from Bakery On Main tasted stale. They promptly apologized and sent me a fresh batch, which definitely were crunchier.

I like a chunky granola, the kind you can eat with your hands.  Bakery On Main’s granola is not very chunky, it’s more cereal like.  I did mix it into yogurt, which was good, and on top of my oatmeal. (I was hungry.) It’s definitely not a eat with your hands kind of granola.  The granola bars I did not like at all.  The texture was just not appealing to me.

Overall, a really good effort.  I like everything about the company, incredible customer service, and great involvement in the gluten free and celiac community.  The products just don’t mesh with my personal taste.

PaleoWomen (soon to be PaleoPeople)

PaleoWomen Granola

I happened across this company on Twitter.  I was following the #paleo stream when I was researching for my “Paleo Diet for Celiacs” post. The company tagline is “No Wheat. No Gluten. All Natural.”  At the time, they were offering free sample packs which I eagerly signed up to receive.  At this time the sample packs are $2.50 to cover shipping and handling.  Even though there were no gluten containing ingredients, it’s important to remember that gluten free doesn’t necessarily mean safe for celiacs.  So I emailed to get the details.

Laura the owner was very prompt in getting back to me.  Here was her response:

“As for gluten free, none of my ingredients have gluten in them.  The facility that manufactures the product has been audited numerous times and follows cross contamination rules. They just got Costco approved so that’s good news because they are very particular.  I will get my product tested for gluten  though.  Hope this helps.”

Works for me.  I look forward to seeing the results of the testing posted on her site.

These granolas are VERY chunky.  Very easy to eat out of hand.  Also easy to eat a lot of calories very quickly, as with most granolas.  All the nutritional facts are available on the website, but it is a Flash website and so I could not copy them for you to see here.  Each 2 oz portion is packing at least 300 calories.  Granted, these are all healthy ingredients, but calories matter, even with good food.  Be smart about portion control.

There are 4 flavors available:

Apple Crisp, Banana Nut,Cappuccino, and Cacao Nut.  These all were fabulous by my taste, very distinctively different for each flavor.  I would eat any of them again.

On my Worth It scale, the PaleoWomen granola wins.

Thanks to both Bakery On Main and PaleoWomen for the samples.  Thanks again to Bakery On Main for all you offer the celiac community.

If you need some pointers on how to make these fit into a healthy gluten free diet, check out my free guide.

Have you tried these?  I’d love to hear your thoughts!  Share up in the comments-there is no wrong answer when it comes to your personal scale of worth it!

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