Betty Crocker Gluten Free Giveaway!!!!

Okay, folks, this is my first giveaway and I am quite behind in doing it. A deal was made between BlogSpark and myself and while they held up their end of the bargain, I am embarassed to admit that - due to an inkling of ignorance on my part about which I won't go into detail - I have not kept up my end of the deal.....until tonight. Thank you to BlogSpark and Betty Crocker for providing me with this opportunity. At the same time, I offer my apologies to BlogSpark and to Betty Crocker....but enough of the formalities, let's get on with it.

BlogSpark provided me with a wonderful Betty Crocker gluten-free "Sweet Treats" prize pack and in exchange for it, I agreed to give reviews of the products and - the best part - hold a contest where the winner will receive one of the same prize packs I received. It's a win-win! My contest winner will get to read reviews of the products and then have the chance to try them for free. The rest of you, well, you just get to read the reviews - you will have to go buy the products if you want to try them. More details on the contest later though, so keep reading!

The prize pack I received and the contest winner will receive consists of the following:
Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix
Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil’s Food Cake Mix
Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie Mix
Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
Betty Crocker grocery tote
magnetic grocery list and pen to make shopping easier!
(For more details on the mixes, check them out Betty Crocker)

To date, we have tried all but the Devil's Food Cake Mix. With any luck, I will be making that one this weekend.

When we made the yellow cake mix, it mixed up, baked up, and looked just like a regular yellow cake mix from a box. Knowing what I know of some gluten-free products on the market though, I was skeptical as to how this cake would taste. Looks can be very deceiving....and sometimes in a very bad way.

Luckily, the Betty Crocker Yellow Cake Mix was awesome. If I didn't know it was gluten-free, I would not have guessed. It had a little different taste and texture than a regular mix but not different in a bad way - just that, different. It was probably one of the moistest (is that really a word?) cakes I've had from a box mix. Of the three mixes we have tested so far, this was our favorite one.

About a week or so after making the yellow cake mix, we tried the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie Mix. The mix yielded a small pan of brownies - I wanna say 9x9 is what we made ours in. The brownies themselves took longer to bake than the box directions indicated. However, to Betty's credit, my oven has been acting a bit nutty so I'm not certain whether the problem was with the time indicated on the box or if it was just my oven rebelling against me.

We baked (and baked and baked) the brownies and the results were a gooey-chewy center and crunchy-chewy edges. If you have people in your family, like we do, who have different texture preferences, this is a very good thing. Overall, I give this product a thumbs up. But having said that, at the price the grocery stores are charging for these gluten free mixes, I would really like to see the mix make a larger pan of brownies. Without a coupon or sale, you can expect to pay about twice the price of a regular mix and only get about 2/3 the amount of baked product.

Finally, I will forewarn anyone reading that I am not typically one who sugar-coats things and although I greatly appreciate BlogSpark and Betty Crocker providing these products to me at absolutely no charge, I do feel it would be a disservice to my readers and Betty Crocker if I talk up the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix with a glowing review. Simply put, it would not be how we truly felt about this product.

The chocolate chip cookie mix was, for us, a flop. The mix yielded very thin, flat, flimsy cookies that practically fell apart with a touch of the hand. Now if that's something you prefer in a cookie and you are eating a gluten free diet, I wholeheartedly recommend this mix. Was it so bad that we threw the cookies out to the birds? Of course not! That would be wasteful and we were able to resolve the problem by stacking and squishing two cookies together and eating them in such a way that did not allow them to fall apart.....very much. The cookies themselves tasted pretty good but baking isn't just about taste. It's about eye appeal, texture, anticipation and so on.

Will I buy any of these mixes again?

I can certainly visualize buying the yellow cake mix (actually, I have already done so probably four times!) and the brownie mix again but I'll stick to my favorite "from scratch" recipe when it comes to gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.

Now, for the giveaway.....

Simply comment on this post and tell everyone why you would like to try these products....and preferably not just because they are free. No need to give your full medical history or any private details you prefer not to share but you get the point. If you'd like to share a favorite gluten-free recipe, even better.

Sunday, October 11th at 12PM (that's noon - NOT night-time!) Eastern Time will be the cutoff for comments to be considered as "entries" for this giveaway. All comments after that time will be just that, comments (but appreciated just as much!). At some point after that time on Sunday, I will draw and announce a winner. The winner will be required to provide his or her email address to me (if you don't already have it on your profile) so that I may provide it to BlogSpark. The winner will then be contacted by a representative at BlogSpark requesting a mailing address.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask by commenting to this post or by emailing me at the address listed on the bottom left of your screen when you float your mouse over "Email" on my profile page.

The contest begins now...............Good luck to all!!!!