Product Review: Annie May’s Sweet Café Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese

Product: Annie May’s Sweet Café Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese – $8.00

The weather is getting colder.  In fact, tomorrow, here, it isn’t even supposed to crack 0°F.  No joke.  That’s not common around here, not as of late anyway…but that is so freakin’ cold.  And that makes me an unhappy girl.  Trust me.  I. HATE. COLD. WEATHER.

But with the cold weather comes those warm, hearty meals that fill you up and leave you feeling nice and cozy from the inside out.  This includes a vast array of foods, but for me…it’s soups and casseroles…

…and macaroni and cheese.

Yes.  Simple.  Straightforward.  Macaroni and Cheese.

But no ordinary macaroni and cheese will do.  I do eat the kinds out of the box…but they are just for those quick meals I need to eat before rushing off somewhere in my hectic and busy schedule I keep.  But on these days where I’m hibernating…or simply have some time on my hands…I will always choose a good old-fashioned homemade macaroni and cheese.

Here’s the thing though…I make a damn, damn, damn good gluten-free macaroni and cheese.  My roommate will ask for it every now and again and beg and plead for me to make it.  And, naturally, I will.  It’s my mom’s recipe, which I have tweaked only slightly to fit into my dietary restrictions and to spice it up some.  I love my homemade mac and cheese and I do love making it.  But shredding the cheese and making the white sauce…it all takes a lot of time.  Even if I have it…I sometimes can think of 100 other things I need to be doing.

Lucky me!  Yes…once again…lucky me.  Lucky me for having Annie May’s Sweet Café practically in my own backyard.  Sure, this little bakery offers cupcakes and brownies and cookies and cakes and…all those other delictible naughty treats.  But…sometimes…you get take-n-bake specials.  I have previously blogged on Annie May’s Take-N-Bake Cinnamon Rolls and have tried (but obviously forgot to blog about…and will remedy that immediately) the Take-N-Bake Crescent Rolls.  The take-n-bake options at Annie May’s Sweet Café make all those foods you crave that much easier to make yourself.

And she recently added Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese to that list.

Pardon me while I do the happiest little dance of joy.

Of course…I had to try it.  I absolutely had to.  I mean…I was heading home soon after dining there on Saturday morning for breakfast so…it only seemed logical, despite not really being in the budget, to give it a go.  I was getting breakfast treats to go for Sunday…why not add dinner to the mix too.  Just make Sunday (a busy day with everything needing to be done before Monday strikes) that much easier to slog through.

I was beyond excited the day I pulled this out of my refrigerator, preheating my oven to 375°F, per the instructions on the container.  It looked so amazing and that was before I even popped it in the oven to bake.  Go figure.  Once the oven heated, I removed the plastic wrap and set the tray inside for about 20 minutes…the gluten-free breadcrumbs on top were golden and the cheese around the edge was bubbling.  Oh yeah…done.  And it looked and smelled so good.

Once again, Annie May’s Sweet Café really delivers.  One bite and I looked over at my roommate, who was also enjoying half of this tray, and I said, “I think this is better than mine!  And I make really good mac and cheese!”  What makes it so amazing?  Hell if I know.  I don’t know what magic Annie May’s puts into their products, but this macaroni and cheese baked up creamy and cheesy, with that nice toasted crunch from the breadcrumbs.  It was fantastic.  So comforting to the soul, spirit, and body.  I had wished I had bought them out of the trays they had.  And I intended to do that this past weekend…but they only had  one tray left by the time I got there so…I luckily snagged it before anyone else could.  I think it might have been a near thing.  Anyway…creamy, dreamy goodness in one simple dish.

I mean, right on the label, Annie May’s lays it all out as far as the ingredients: Brown rice flour, water, whole milk, cheddar cheese, and butter.

This is, in no way, a light meal.  It’s hearty, it’s warm, it’s filling…but it makes you feel good as you eat it.  And in the end, the food you eat should make you feel good.

I can’t say enough good things about Annie May’s Sweet Café in Louisville, Kentucky.  They keep expanding their menu…which is soon to include bagels (and I can’t WAIT for that to happen)…and I have enjoyed being able to try these new additions as they are placed in the case.  Yes…we, the food-allergic and even the non-food-allergic of Louisville, Kentucky have one really sweet place on Frankfort Avenue…which I make a point to visit often.  It’s that good.  The people are amazing.  The food continues to get better and better.

No one would even guess it was gluten-free.

Comfort yourself on these cold winter nights with a little bit of gluten-free comfort food.  Go to Annie May’s…and get the macaroni and cheese.  You can thank me later.

And trust me…you will.