The 7 Best Store-Bought Gluten-Free Sweets, According To Reddit

It's a good time to be gluten-free. At least, it's a better time than it was a decade or so ago, when many brands were first starting to offer alternative products for the gluten-free community. Whether you're avoiding gluten due to a sensitivity or a full-blown autoimmune disorder, there is now a wide variety of products available to sample. To determine which gluten-free sweets are most worth purchasing, we turned to the plethora of suggestions and opinions on Reddit.

Unsurprisingly, Redditors have plenty to say about some of the most widely available, store-bought gluten-free sweets. It's not rare for folks to give gushing reviews of gluten-free cookies and donuts, saying that practicing restraint around these products is difficult. Redditors who aren't gluten-free also describe how they have to stop themselves from eating the treats that were originally meant for their gluten-free family members.

This list contains a wide variety of sweets — including muffins, cookies, and donuts — that Redditors have recommended multiple times. Some of the following products do contain gluten-free oats, so proceed with caution if that is a problematic ingredient for you. Additionally, not all gluten-free foods are produced in facilities that are allergen-friendly, so it is essential to conduct research beforehand as necessary. Finally, a few of the sweets we have suggested are gluten-free alternatives to products offered in brands' classic product lines, so make sure you add the right package to your cart. You can find more notes on methodology at the end of this article.

This dessert had our attention at "flourless," but the words "chocolate," "truffle," and "torte" sealed the deal. GreenWise is the brand responsible for the Flourless Chocolate Truffle Tortes at Publix, which many Redditors have generously praised. This 16-ounce dessert is like a cross between a mousse and a cheesecake. It's so dense that folks often seem to be satisfied with its smaller size. One Redditor described their wife's experience, claiming that she enjoyed the most decadent, rich treat she'd eaten in a long time, savoring it over eight days.

Instead of flour, this torte is made with eggs, butter, sugar, and chocolate. This isn't just any ordinary chocolate, either. It's imported Belgian chocolate, a designation that promises plenty of cocoa and a correspondingly richer flavor. The layers of this torte tend to meld into one another, but there is enough structure to it that it holds up well when sliced. The criss-crosses of chocolate on top make this dessert look elegant enough to serve at a celebration, perhaps alongside sliced strawberries. Another Redditor suggested plating it with raspberries and whipped cream.

If your Publix doesn't carry these Flourless Chocolate Truffle Tortes, put in a request with the bakery staff. Then gather the ingredients for this homemade flourless chocolate torte to satisfy your cravings in the meantime.

Frequently, gluten-free cookies nail the sweet flavors we're craving, but fail dismally in the texture department. They might be either too gummy or too crispy. However, that doesn't seem to be the case with the Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies With Sea Salt from Trader Joe's, which one happy Redditor noted are soft and don't disintegrate into a crumbly mess. Another Redditor commented that they couldn't keep more than one of these cookies in their possession. Concurring, yet another Redditor said that they devoured half a box in a single evening.

Make sure not to place a package of Trader Joe's regular Sea Salt Chocolate Chunk Cookies in your cart by mistake. The light teal label, rather than the sky blue label, is what you're looking for. In place of wheat flour, the alternate gluten-free version features oat, tapioca, and brown rice flours. A few other ingredients help adjust for texture, such as brown rice syrup and xanthan gum.

These aren't the only noteworthy cookies at Trader Joe's beloved by the gluten-free community. Redditors also admire the store's Gluten-Free Joe-Joe's, which sometimes come in seasonal variations. As a matter of fact, we named the Gluten-Free Candy Cane Joe-Joe's as one of the best gifts for hosts this holiday season.

It's a complete and utter myth that gluten-free food tastes inferior to that which is filled with wheat, barley, and/or rye. For proof, just consider the fact that we ranked Katz among the top three store-bought donut brands. This brand offers an entirely gluten-free product line that is also free of dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, and sesame. Many of Katz's products are also devoid of eggs and soy.

Redditors agree that Katz's donuts, which can be bought online as well as at brick-and-mortar stores, are nothing short of phenomenal. One Redditor called them "happiness in a box," while others mentioned that they could down a whole box of the powdered sugar donut holes in a jiffy.

A Katz donut relies on corn starch, white rice flour, and tapioca starch instead of wheat flour. Other key ingredients include xanthan gum and agar, as well as the sugar, oils, baking powder, and salt typically found in generic donuts. Cinnamon, apple cider, glazed, glazed chocolate, powdered, pumpkin spice, and triple chocolate are several other flavors of donuts that have received stellar reviews on Katz's website. But why restrict yourself to just donuts when there are also creme cakes, apple fritters, rugelach, and more up for grabs?

While there aren't yet any Soft Baked cookies from Tate's Bake Shop that are gluten-free, many flavors from the classic Crispy Thin range have been adapted to meet the community's needs using rice flour and xanthan gum instead of wheat flour. The chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, double chocolate chip, and lemon flavors all come in both regular and gluten-free variations, and even the bite-sized chocolate chip cookies (branded as Tiny Tate's) have a gluten-free alternative.

Notably, there isn't a regular version of the ginger zinger cookies available; they stand alone as a uniquely gluten-free product. This flavor has been recommended on Reddit, as well as by one of our taste testers who felt that, out of the 16 Tate's Bake Shop cookies she tested, they were among the top five. The flavor that has received even more traction on Reddit, though, is chocolate chip. One customer joked that a bag of 14 cookies should be considered a single serving because they can be inhaled so quickly. Another Redditor mentioned using these cookies in place of graham crackers for s'mores.

Here is another brand where you should be careful to pick the correct packaging from your grocery store's lineup. To make matters simpler, Tate's Bake Shop color-codes its bags of cookies; most of its standard lineup is packaged in green, while the vast majority of its gluten-free products are dressed in white.

Delizza is not a gluten-free brand, but the company's Mini Cream Puffs and Mini Eclairs do come in gluten-free variations. Though you might associate these desserts more often with Italy and France, Delizza proudly advertises its Belgian heritage. Indeed, both the brand's Mini Cream Puffs and Mini Eclairs are rooted in Belgian recipes.

However, instead of enriched wheat flour, the Gluten-Free Mini Cream Puffs make use of rice flour, as well as guar gum. Similarly, instead of the enriched wheat flour in Delizza's standard Belgian Mini Eclairs, rice flour and other ingredients such as dried egg white and guar gum work magic in the gluten-free version. Judging from the glowing feedback from one Redditor, you might need to keep the eclairs safe from those in your household who do eat gluten. As they noted, the gluten-free eclairs bear a shocking resemblance to the original recipe, and they are not the only customer to hold this opinion.

Several Redditors have recommended both the cream puffs and the eclairs, with one user saying that they had consumed a box of the eclairs all at once, without even letting them thaw. Another user observed that the Mini Cream Puffs can likewise be eaten semi-frozen. Redditors often report that these products can be difficult to find in stores, but a common consensus is that Sprouts Farmers Market should be the first place you check.

Craving muffins, but not ones that are gummy or carry a strange aftertaste? Enter the Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins from Trader Joe's. These sweet treats come highly recommended by plenty of Redditors, which doesn't surprise us considering how well-known Trader Joe's is for its spectacular gluten-free desserts. In fact, we named these muffins the best gluten-free dessert at Trader Joe's in a ranking. Although muffins are frequently categorized as breakfast items, with 29 grams of added sugar per muffin, these treats could certainly be called desserts.

There are other gluten-free muffins at Trader Joe's worth trying, but because they vary in flavor and texture, the Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins should be your first. One user observed that these muffins are moist, and we'll clarify that they retain an airiness, preventing them from coming across as excessively sticky. Buttermilk and sour cream are partially responsible for their rich crumb, while rice flour, potato starch, cornstarch, tapioca starch, and xanthan gum are mainly responsible for making these muffins gluten-free.

After trying the Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins, Redditors suggest sampling the blueberry and strawberry varieties as well (the latter is a seasonal product). But beware: These muffins are in high demand. One user recalled driving two hours to reach a Trader Joe's, only to find that all the muffins had been snagged by other customers. Play it safe and call ahead to check on availability.

Whether you're a boy or a girl, and whether you've been good or bad lately, Goodie Girl cookies are there to satisfy your sweet tooth. We ranked Goodie Girl cookies among the absolute best gluten-free cookies at Whole Foods, but you can also find the brand online and at stores like Walmart. These cookies come in several flavors, divided into three categories: sandwich cookies, crunchy cookies, and breakfast biscuits and bars. They are made with ingredients like rice flour, gluten-free whole-grain oat flour, tapioca starch, and xanthan gum.

The Chocolate Creme Sandwich Cookies might be what you reach for when you want an alternative to Oreos; there's even a Double-Stuffed version of these cookies, which one Redditor claimed is superior to those offered by the Oreo brand. Another Redditor stated that Goodie Girl's Magical Animal Crackers top the competition, too. Yet another Redditor compared the brand's mint-flavored cookies to Girl Scout Thin Mints and gave the birthday cake flavor a strong recommendation as an alternative to birthday cake Oreos.

S'mores, brown sugar, chocolate chip, and confetti sugar are four other cookie varieties you might wish to sample. If you're in the mood for more of a breakfast item, however, pick up a box of the breakfast bars that come in flavors like strawberry and cinnamon brown sugar.

In curating the items on this list, we sought to represent a wide variety of sweet treats, including cookies, donuts, cakes, and more. Each item needed to have a fair amount of buzz and multiple recommendations on Reddit to receive a place on this list. We looked for products that Redditors claimed were flavorful and texturally sound, and we often chose products that allegedly bear a resemblance to classic gluten-containing treats. 

We avoided including products that are reportedly gummy or too crumbly, and when possible, we shared flavors that Redditors specifically recommended. Finally, not all the products listed are produced in allergen-friendly facilities, and some of them are even sold by brands that carry products containing gluten.