Product Review: Gluten Free Pantry Chocolate Chip Cookie & Cake Mix

Remember how I mentioned in a previous post that the awesome folks at Gluten Free Pantry sent me a box full of goodies to try out? Well, now that I finally have some free time on my hands, I'm finally getting a chance to go through it all. First was the pizza crust, now the good stuff - cake! Specifically chocolate chip cookie & cake mix. 

As was the case with the french bread & pizza crust mix, the instructions were easy to understand and very few extra ingredients were needed. I opted to make the cake version of the mix, which called for:

• Box o' mix (duh)
• 5 tbsp softened, unsalted butter
• 2 eggs + 1 egg white (I used three eggs because, well...I'm lazy. And I hate seperating eggs. So sue me.)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tsp vanilla

As I mentioned in my little preview of this baking extravaganza (at my house this is as extravagant as it gets these days), I decided to be different and use half of the batter to make cupcakes and half to experiment with cake balls. See how trendy I am?

First up: cupcakes. 

Ta da! 

Please excuse the lack of a cupcake tin that would potentially differentiate this from a muffin. In typical fashion, I was half-distracted and totally forgot.

Isn't it pretty? It baked up perfectly in the time it recommended on the box (not the case for pretty much everything else I bake) and popped right out of the pan looking all brown and glamourous. I decided to try out Cherrybrook Kitchen Vanilla Frosting on this one...which ended up being more of a glaze once I got it on there. Looks pretty, but didn't taste the way I wanted it to. 

At The Hubby's request, I topped the rest of them with Betty Crocker chocolate frosting right out of the can. It made him very happy.

Between the two of us, we decided that the cake tasted like a chocolate chip cookie (understandable, right?) and had a fluffy, almost spongey consistency. The addition of the sour cream was a great touch - it seems to hide the gluten-free taste that a lot of mixes and flours have and it added another layer of richness. Yum.

I cooked the other half of the batter in an 8x8 brownie pan at the same temperature for my very first experiment with cake balls.

If you haven't had a cake ball, you HAVE TO TRY ONE. The Hubby and I first heard of them several years ago at one of our cake tastings for our wedding (pre-gluten-free days). I'm convinced that's how our "cake lady" lured us into choosing her to make our cake for the big day. It's like a truffle...but cake...but brownie-like...but better...covered in candy coating. Oh. My. God.

And if you've never made them before, the process is slightly time consuming but incredibly easy. People will think you slaved...and really, that's what it's all about here at Gluten Freendly. :)

Anyway, The Pioneer Woman has great little tutorials here and here. I got the basics from her instructions and pictures and went to town.

Well helloooo. 

I can't even describe to you how great these turned out, but I CAN tell you that my small batch made around 30 of these bad boys and we had them annihilated in less than a week. 

I used just plain old vanilla icing (again, Betty Crocker - gluten-free baby!). Oddly (and awesomely), the chocolate chips melted while I was mixing in the icing, resulting in a more chocolate-looking cake than chocolate chip. It was perfect, though! 

I'm finishing up another batch of these tonight, this time using Betty Crocker's gluten-free Devil's Food cake mix and a mixture of leftover chocolate and vanilla icing. Don't worry -  I'll share pictures and let you know how those turn out. 

I have eaten lots of fruit and veggies today just so I can oink out on cake balls when I get them finished. Pathetic? Yep. Do I care? Nope.

So, product review short story? Awesome. Try this mix.