I asked on Facebook recently about food products people miss as a Coeliac. While there were a few almost impossibilities on there, there were also a lot of items mentioned that are actually available gluten free - it just means looking a little further a field than the local supermarkets.

There are so many small gluten free businesses out there that can be supported (look out for another blog at some point shouting out about some of those businesses, they won't survive without our help!) who offer a lot of what is missed. Don't rely on the local supermarket to have everything. Corporate businesses will go for the most cost effective products they know will sell, so the basics really. You need to look about to find other places who are better catered to supplying gluten free products as usually it is all they deal with, which when you think about it is actually a fairly niche area

Some of the products mentioned as being missed can be found in supermarkets too so it is worth checking, shopping round different ones too as these days there are some really lovely gluten free products about. It is just knowing where to look and shop for them!

So what foods were mentioned the most that you miss and where could you look to buy the best gluten free alternatives in the UK? Let's have a look!

Top 12 Most Mentioned Missed Foods
Sausage Rolls

• From a supermarket you have Genius frozen sausage rolls, which have improved over the years but aren't the best admittedly.


• M&S have some in their fridges but again, not the best around.


• For me, I would choose to order from Roys Cakes and Bakes as these are definitely the best sausage rolls I have had - these can be frozen too so can order in batch. Roy also does things like Scotch Eggs and Pies so worth having a look at those too!


• There are other bakeries around too, check local markets and things like that, No Gluten Baker is a good one who does a market in Northwich and other places in the North West and also does sausage rolls and pies. Off The Wheaten Track in Altrincham also sell them and ship nationwide. There will be others round the country too, just keep an eye out. All of these are 100% gluten free.

Doughnuts
The most asked for when it comes to gluten free!

• Asda do mini frozen ones so that is always a start!


• There are so many Doughnuts you can order online, my personal favourites I would go for are two 100% gluten free bakeries, Borough 22, based in London but ship all over and do both baked and fried doughnuts or Wildcraft Bakery based in Leeds but again ship all over the UK. Both do some amazing flavours!


• The Rock Shop in Skegness also do amazing gluten free doughnuts and churros when they are open for the season, they also sell their mix via Facebook to make yourself.


• There is also Wheat Free Bakery who do ring doughnuts which are also lovely, again they ship all over the UK and are 100% gluten free - these are great for different breads too.

Bread
Granted no gluten free bread is ever going to match the gluten filled stuff, however it has improved a lot over the years! Be thankful you don't have the canned stuff anymore!

• Straight off the supermarket shelves the best options are definitely Promise or Warburtons tiger or sourdough


• If you want to shop around though, Wheat Free Bakery do some incredible loaves, as do Wildcraft Bakery.


• There are also so many gorgeous bread mixes or bread flours such as Caputo of Juvela white mix which make amazing loaves.

Eclairs
Eclairs are so easy to make yourself if you want a go - here's my recipe.

But if you don't want to make them, again Wheat Free Bakery or Wildcraft Bakery would be the go to for these.

Battenberg Cake
While not readily on the supermarket shelves, Lovemore do a fantastic one which you can buy direct off them or can be found in some farm shops.

Soup
A lot of soup is gluten free you just need to check! Soup is also easy to make yourself too, just chuck anything in you want - I do this a lot with veg about to go off and them freeze it.

• Check the chillers as you will find a lot of the fresh ones are gluten free, M&S in particularly, most if not all are gluten free. Co-op usually have a good range too and a lot of Covent Garden ones are also safe.


• For canned check own brands, a lot of tomato and vegetable ones are fine, watch out for any with pasta though. Some Baxters are also safe.

Malteasers
There is nothing that is really close to Malteasers there are some ok alternatives but nothing that really properly matches up.

Here are some similar choccies to Malteasers.

• Moo Free do Malfreesas


• Creative Nature have their Gnawbles


• Schar do Delshios (which don't seem to be as easy to get anymore)

For me, Creative Natures Gnawbles are probably the closest to a Malteaser, but they still really aren't Malteasers. I don't think anyone is ever going to get that malty texture into a gluten free alternative.

Croissants

• You can get Schar frozen ones in most supermarket or M&S and Sainsburys do ones in the fridge, they are all ok but certainly not the best.


• The best gluten free croissants would be from 100% gluten free Manna Dew, available to order online, but believe me when I say they would only be good for a treat as they are VERY pricy - but from tales I have heard, well worth the money (I've not tried myself)

Pies
We all love a pie I think and I am with most of the Coeliac population with my opinion of the Genius frozen ones - they are pretty rubbish.

• From a supermarket, Pieminister are by far the best but very pricy - available in Sainsburys


• For me I would order from Roys Cakes and Bakes, Off The Wheaten Track, Mad K Pies or Voakes. They all do fab pies of different flavours! There are other online bakeries that do pies too so worth looking about.

Custard Slice
Almost an impossibility, certainly not in the supermarkets and I've never seen them to order online - purely as they would be so difficult to ship. If you are local to Altrincham/Manchester though, try Off The Wheaten Track as they do them! They do shipping but not on these as they don't transport well, if local you will be able to get them easy.

I also have a recipe for making your own custard slices.

I know they are not the same but you can get Custard Tarts in the freezers of Waitrose made by Gluten Free Kitchen.

Spice Blends/Seasonings
I see this one a lot, the likes of Schwartz chilli con carne mix and that sort of blend. Schwartz discontinued their gluten free range a few years ago but Pureety, Spicentice and JD's all do a whole host of flavoursome spice blends which in my opinion beat Schwartz ones pretty easily. My personal favourite is Pureety but just make sure they are the ones labelled gluten free as they do have some that aren't gluten free too.

Pork Pie

• M&S do a great mini pork pie if you want one from a shop


• Alternatively Roys Cakes and Bakes sometimes do them but more so at Christmas, the other alternative would be Voakes who do them all the time.

Potential Import Foods
Shreddies, Orzo and Strawberry Laces were also popular missed things but I don't have an alternative for any of these within the UK! They are available abroad though so you could pay to import but it's often not worth it.

For Shreddies, US import Chex is the nearest

Orzo can be imported on various websites from Spain and Greece

Strawberry Laces can also be imported from Spain (same as may Schar products which aren't available in the UK as standard)

The Impossible To Buy Gluten Free
Filo pastry, bao buns, Tunnock Teacakes and Lemon Puffs I have no alternatives for either and neither are there any recipes for them - at the moment anyway!

Ones To Try Making Yourself...
There were some products that got mentioned that that I don't have an alternative to buy but you can find recipes for if you want to have a go at making them yourself.

I have recipes for all of these so why not check them out
Vol Au Vents
Fig Rolls
Traditional Trifle
Shortcrust Pastry
Pizza (would recommend using gluten free Caputo flour)
Cheese scones
Twix (also check out Off The Wheaten Tracks giant ones they sell)
Iced Gems
Viennese Whirls
Cheesecake - I have a few different ones for Cheesecake so worth having a search!
Eclairs

I personally don't have recipes for these ones, however there are some other fantastic bloggers who have incredible recipes you could try!
Baklava - Gluten Free Palate
Mini Rolls - Gluten Free Alchemist and Gluten Free Blogger both have recipes.
Egg Noodles - Gluten Free Blogger
Dumplings - Doves and Gluten Free Alchemist both have recipes
Onion rings - Jessica's Gluten Free Kitchen
Eccles Cakes - Glutarama
Belgian Buns - Glutarama
Twiglets - Gluten Free Blogger
Malt Loaf - Gluten Free Blogger, Gluten Free Alchemist and Glutarama all have recipes
Double Deckers - Glutarama and Jessicas Gluten Free Kitchen

Is there any other food product you miss? Or have you found another alternative for any of the above? Let me know :)