Take gluten out of baking mixes

Life, liberty and the pursuit of a perfect pizza crust. The inalienable American right to oven-warm brownies with crunchy corners and oozy insides. The freedom to breathe deeply the almost-edible aroma of bread baking in your kitchen any time you want. And the opportunity for children of all ages to indulge in one of the world's finest pleasures: licking the spoon. For too long, people with bodies that can't handle gluten were second-class citizens of the baking world. They were stuck with a sorry state of kitchen affairs, says Matthew Cox, marketing manager for Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods, "resigned to the fact that things they made with gluten-free mixes would taste a bit off, or weird." "Or disgusting," says Vanessa Maltin, director of programming and communications for the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, who has celiac disease.

But those days are over.

In response to the demands of the growing population of gluten-intolerant Americans, companies have developed mixes that free them from the crumbly shackles of dry breads and from muffins with flavors that suggest more sawdust than flour dust. The bar—or spatula—has been raised.

The gluten-free market is exploding like an overstuffed crème puff. The number of new UPC-coded items with gluten-free claims has more than tripled over the past three years, from 709 in 2005 to 3,209 today, according to the Ambler, Penn.-based National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. One in 133 Americans suffers from celiac disease, and many others are opting for a gluten-free lifestyle for other health reasons. And, apparently, they want their cookies (and muffins and cake and crêpes).

Gluten-free products aren't on the fringe anymore. Even Oprah did a gluten-free cleanse last summer. Walmart offers gluten-free goodies. Anheuser-Busch is poised to launch a gluten-free beer.

Sales of gluten-free baked goods in natural markets grew by 18 percent in the 52 weeks ending Aug. 9, according to SPINS, a Schaumberg-Ill.-based market-research firm. Sales of baking mixes rose like an over-yeasted loaf of honey whole wheat; they grew by 24.5 percent in that time period to reach nearly $9 million.

When it comes to baking mixes, "They want taste. And they want easy," says Ashley Bistrand, consumer and trade marketing manager for Burlington, Mass.-based Cherrybrook Kitchen, manufacturer of fresh, not frozen gluten-free mixes. Now, they have options.