Bakery On Main Gluten-Free Granola - Nutty Cranberry Maple

Granola or Cereal?

I recently visited my parents. They have always been extremely accommodating with my gluten-free needs. But they are a granola-loving household.

Canister on the counter, always at hand, ready to fuel that granola love at any time of day.

And normal granola is almost never gluten-free.

I wasn't about to be tempted to eat their granola, but I was bound to find it difficult if I didn't have something safe for a snack!

So, shortly after arriving, on my first trip to the store, I figured I had better pick up something gluten-free to snack on while visiting them.

It is hard enough to not eat things I know will make me sick, but it is far worse to have nothing similar that is safe!

I was pleased to find Bakery on Main products in their local store. I have heard about them and seen advertisements for their products, but I have never encountered any in my own local stores.

Time to find out about their gluten-free granola. Just what I needed to distract me from that canister on the counter.

Bakery on Main Gluten Free Granola - Nutty Cranberry Maple

Maple. That's what sold me. Nutty is good. Cranberries are good. But maple. Oh, I have deep, comforting, wonderful childhood memories of maple.

Maple sugar candies, to be exact.

When I was very young, my dad traveled for work quite frequently. Sometimes his work sent him to Vermont. When he returned from those trips, he always brought back with him maple sugar candies for my brothers and me.

Have you ever had maple sugar candy? You must. It is right up there with supreme indulgence.

Sweet, mind you. Very, very sweet. You only need to take the tiniest nibbles to fully immerse yourself in the deep, wonderful, smooth flavor of maple sugar. Oh, my.

Oh, and very expensive too. You think real, pure, Grade A maple syrup is expensive? Try maple sugar. Even more expensive. Certainly only for true, delicate savoring. You won't be tossing this stuff across the top of your morning cereal. (Do people still do that?)

But oh what a treat!

Okay, back to granola. This gluten-free granola said "maple" on it and that got my attention. I had to try some.

This is crunchy granola made up of cranberries, almonds, pecans, corn flakes, rice crisps, along with sesame, sunflower, and flax seeds.  All of those sound good to me!

It turned out to be rather tasty, but very sweet. Sweeter than I was expecting for a "granola" and sweeter than I liked.

And I couldn't detect any maple.

I did not read the label and check the ingredients while in the store. I had recognized the brand, wanted to try it, and grabbed it.

I was hoping for maple. I was expecting maple. But when I got it back to my parents' house, I couldn't taste any.

Now, in retrospect, I see from the label that there is no mention of maple in the ingredients list. Just "natural flavors".

This is a big disappointment.

And the corn flakes were a bit odd for granola. Crunchy and sweet. More like sweet cereal than granola. Gluten-free oats are available, but they are not part of this product. They chose corn flakes instead.

I still enjoyed having something to snack on, but the super sweetness (evaporated cane juice is listed second in the ingredients list) and lack of maple left me wanting what the front label advertised.

Tasty, but closer to a hyper-sweetened breakfast cereal.

I wanted granola. Not sweet breakfast cereal.

I haven't checked this company's other granola products to see if they are structured with similar ingredient ratios (high on sugar). I fear I don't need to check.

All in all, this was tasty and crunchy and sweet and if that appeals to you, you are likely to enjoy this.

It just wasn't what I was expecting or wanting in my granola. I'll have to keep looking for an ideal, gluten-free granola.

And if I see "maple" on the front label, I might remember to check the ingredients list before making a purchase.