New pops, chips, puffs and bars -- all gluten-free

When the Girl Scouts get into the gluten-free game, you have to figure it’s going mainstream. And in the gluten-free world, we’re also finding products with fewer ingredients and better taste these days.

If you haven’t heard, the Girl Scouts have a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie in 20 test markets this season. We liked it: It’s a bite-size chocolate chip shortbread.

Another new gluten-free snack has come out of the New York kitchen of actor Wendy Makkena.

Ruby’s Rockets is a line of ice pops in three flavors that aside from being gluten free also have no dairy and no added sugar. Rocket Red contains sweet potato, strawberry, carrot and beet; Orbit Orange is made with sweet potato, carrot, strawberry and banana. And Galaxy Green contains kiwi, spinach and avocado. (My family and my kids’ friends liked the green and orange best. They are all more subtly flavored than many pops and less sweet.)

The pops began with the green one, after Makkena and her daughter Ruby, now 14, came up with a green smoothie that was kid-friendly. It kept spilling, so they made frozen pops.

Makkena said the “aha moment” came when Ruby’s friend Aiden wanted a pop and Ruby told her, “Don’t tell Aiden what’s in it.” And Aiden asked for seconds, then thirds. Makkena soon was bringing pops to the school car line and selling them out of her kitchen, she said.

When she shopped for snacks, Makkena said, she often found foods that were “almost there,” but always had something she didn’t want to feed her family. Her pops boast that they have no artificial colors or flavors, sugar or GMO products. They are 25 to 35 calories apiece. They’re for sale at some stores and online for about $6 for a box of six.

Three new flavors – Makkena wouldn’t say what they are – are on the horizon.

And here are some other gluten-free foods we liked:

Larabar has two new flavors of their uber brand, which have fewer ingredients than many bars. That doesn’t mean they’re low-calorie. But the Dark Chocolate Turtle bar has almonds, pecans, cashews chocolate chips, brown rice syrup and a couple of other familiar things. For 220 calories in a 1.42-ounce bar. The other flavor, Dark Chocolate Peanut, has 210 calories.

Real McCoy’s snacks – airy rice puffs and rice chips —got good reviews around the office. They’re vegan as well as gluten-free, made by Warnock Food Products, a company based in Madera, Calif. We tried the puffs flavored with Hatch chilies and the chips flavored with Worcestershire and chives. There are a few other flavors too. (The puffs are $40 for 12 six-ounce bags online.)

They use California-grown organic brown rice, and the chips had 140 calories in an ounce. They also contain corn, sesame, oils and flavorings. The puffs, also 140 calories for an ounce, also have oils, cheese and flavorings.

We also tried some new products from Van’s, some chips and some bars.

The PB&J bars, in strawberry and blueberry, had a good peanut flavor. Each is gluten-free, with 160 calories ($4.49 a box of five). They made from oats, sugar, peanut butter, fruit and more – nothing you can’t pronounce. The chips – nacho and barbecue flavors – were light and crunchy ($3.49 a bag).

ALSO:

Gluten-free dinner ideas
Ideas for gluten-free desserts

Three chickpea salads if you don’t eat gluten

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Twitter: @mmacvean