Product Review: Hungry Jack Gluten Free Funfetti Pancake & Waffle Mix

Product: Hungry Jack Gluten Free Funfetti Pancake & Waffle Mix – $3.99+

Who doesn’t love sprinkles?!

I mean, be honest here!  Who in the world doesn’t love sprinkles?!

Sprinkles make the world go ’round.  Sprinkles bring happiness and joy.  Sprinkles are what smiles are made of.  Sprinkles…totally rule!

And pancakes…who doesn’t love an amazing, buttery, soft, amazing pancake?!

Pancakes are awesome.

I mean…seriously…they are one of life’s most perfect food.  Don’t argue this with me.  It’s true.

So…imagine my glee…my elation…my “I MUST BUY THIS NOW AND EAT THIS” attitude when one day, while in Louisville and shopping the aisles of the Walmart Neighborhood Market (because, hey, it’s less skeevy than the regular Walmart), I spotted a gluten free mix that involved both sprinkles…and…pancakes.

It wasn’t a dream.  Nope.  It was a reality.  And this very special (and happiness-inducing) product is brought to your grocery store shelves by the one and only…Hungry Jack.  Yes…the Hungry Jack known for potatoes and syrup and regular amazing pancake mixes.  That Hungry Jack.

Turns out they now offer a Gluten Free Funfetti Pancake & Waffle Mix.

Yep…you read that right…Hungry Jack Gluten Free Funfetti Pancake & Waffle Mix.  How many different ways can you say, “Get in my belly!”?

I purchased this box of pancake and waffle mix back in…October.  I had every intention of making them while my parents were visiting, but, instead, my dad requested lemon poppyseed muffins…so this had to wait.  However…good things come to those who wait.  And patience is a virtue.  One I don’t normally have when pancakes and sprinkles are involved, but, hey, I can be an adult.

I ended up bringing the mix with me to Columbus, Ohio, over the New Year weekend.  It’s tradition to spend said holiday with my friend Jenn…and Jenn is quite open to gluten-free foods.  She even has gluten free foods stashed in her kitchen for my visits.  She eats said gluten free foods with me.  Well, since Sunday we traditionally cook the breakfast, I told her I’d bring the mix and we could have some pancakes that morning.  She upped the carb-fest with the promise of using up some more of the Magners Syrup we made when we made boozy waffles the last time I visited.

And so…game on.

The pancakes are super easy to mix up.  The box says that 1 cup of the mix and 3/4 cup of water will make enough batter for 6-8 pancakes.  This is false.  Since there were 3 of us, this is what I made, thinking we all could have 2 pancakes, but I ended up adding more mix and water just to get the last necessary pancake for 6 pancakes each made from about 1/4 cup of the batter.  So…trust me, you’ll need a slight bit more for those 6 pancakes.  8 isn’t happening.

All that being said, when these were browning on the skillet, they not only puffed up beautifully, but they got that rich, golden color too.  The pancakes had that nice crisp outside, but were cake-y and soft and fluffy on the inside.  And…they had sprinkles.  Seriously…so, so, so good.  Kind of like eating a slice of cake for breakfast, because…sprinkles!

All that being said, I am only now getting around to typing up this review.  But in that time, I have also decided to give the waffle recipe a try.  This just involved 2 cups of the mix (lots of sprinkles), 1-1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I substituted unsweetened applesauce), and 1 egg (or egg replacer).  Just stir it up until you get rid of any large lumps…pour into the waffle iron…and let them cook to that perfect golden brown.  This made 6 large Mickey Mouse waffles…but the box claims it will make 12 (4×4-inch) waffles.

The waffles were even better than the pancakes.  And for the first time, my gluten free waffles got to a perfect golden brown on the outside.  I was so impressed.  And when I served them up (with a splash of real raspberry maple syrup from Michigan), it was like…a food epiphany.  I mean…cake.  Cake all over the breakfast plate.  Not only were my waffles Mickey Mouse shaped, but they had sprinkles in them…and looked and tasted like an indulgent treat.  Oh yeah.

So…I had the mix as pancakes…and then as waffles…so…how was it?

The product that the Hungry Jack Gluten Free Funfetti Pancake & Waffle Mix produces is fantastic in either form.  From the splattering of rainbow sprinkles to the rich, buttery flavor that comes from the buttermilk base…it’s pancake perfection.  A rainbow of pancake perfection. These are the unicorns of gluten free pancakes.  The pancakes and waffles are soft and fluffy on the inside, golden and crispy on the outside.  And that…it pancake and waffle perfection if you ask me.  In addition, this mix actually is a good source of calcium.  And a nice way of having candy (or sprinkles) for breakfast.

I might still be a little (or a lot) excited about these.

Anyway, as always, let’s take a look at what goes into the Hungry Jack Gluten Free Funfetti Pancake & Waffle Mix.  This mix is made from rice flour, sugar, dextrose, leavening (baking soda, calcium phosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, candy bits (sugar, vegetable oil [palm and palm kernel], modified corn starch, confectioners glaze, soy lecithin, colored with [yellow 5, red 40, blue 1, yellow 6]), potato starch, pea fiber, buttermilk, tapioca starch, canola oil, and contains 2% of less of: salt, potassium bicarbonate, hydroxypropyl, methycellulose, xanthan gum, calcium carbonate, eggs, artificial flavor, cellulose gum, yellow 5, and red 5.  Yeah…not a very clean eat, but nice for a treat every now and again.

As far as nutrition goes, the mix isn’t too bad.  The serving size is 1/3 cup of the dry mix (or about 3 4-inch pancakes) and the box contains about 11 servings.  This serving will dish up 190 calories, 1.5 grams fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 0 grams trans fat, less than 5 mg cholesterol, 540 mg sodium, 40 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 10 grams sugars, and 3 grams of protein.  Despite being a pancake and waffle mix with sprinkles in it…the fiber and protein is higher than most to make you feel full longer.  So, there is that.  There is also 15% calcium and 4% iron in each serving.

So, yeah…delicious, amazing, fun, and fluffy…it’s everything pancakes should be.  It’s everything waffles should be.  And it is what so many gluten-free pancake mixes fail at being.  I loved these.  I have no shame in admitting it.  It’s nice to change things up and have a bit of a treat every now and again.  This mix was a fun, and also delicious way of brightening my breakfast plate…and my morning.