Review: Kimberly's Celiac Bakery

On Saturday, my mom brought over a boxful of baked goods for me from Kimberly's Celiac Bakery.  It's not an actual bakery as the title would suggest, but rather a product line of vegan and gluten free baked goods.  The small factory is located close to where we live, and the owner is more than happy to sell products to the public straight from the factory.  Good thing too, because his prices are much cheaper than retail!  A $5 box of cookies at the factory was listed for $6.99 at a local store.  Quite the mark-up.

My husband and I discovered (as we seem to discover most GF places) it accidentally, driving to my parents' house one day.  We took a back street to avoid traffic, and a small sign with black lettering said Celiac Bakery.  We drove past it that day, but I kept it in mind and about a week later my mom and I went to check it out.  The owner Terry welcomed us with a free chocolate chip cookie and a tour of the facilities.  He states that "Kimberly’s Bakery is a Gluten free & vegan bakery, which does not use eggs, yeast, sesame, dairy products, rice, or nuts."  Instead, they use flax and bake with Romano beans for moistness.

The chocolate chip cookie was soft but not crumby, and absolutely delicious!

Gluten Free/Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Needless to say we each bought a box!  We also tried a slice of sandwich bread, which tasted like a multigrain sliced bread.  It was much better than any other GF bread I've tried, so after watching my son scarf down a slice, I realized that we had something special in this bakery.   We bought a selection of items to try, and aside from the pizza crust which wasn't anyone's favourite, everything else passed the taste test (meaning that not only do I like it, but my 2 year old will eat it too!).

Cinnamon Bun:  A little drier than a traditional cinnamon bun around the outside, but the inside is sweet, moist and full of cinnamon-y deliciousness!  We currently have one in our freezer that I am trying not to eat.

Double Chocolate Loaf/Muffins:  This is a dense, chocolate-lovers delight.  Really great texture, great flavour, perfect as a dessert.

Double Chocolate Muffins

Berry Squares:  My husband enjoyed these more than the rest of us.  He doesn't particularly like sweets, and these mixed berry, flax-topped squares were just the perfect thing for him.  My son didn't hate them, but he didn't love them either.

Pizza Crust:  Probably the only item we won't buy again.  It's a pre-baked crust that actually tastes pretty good, but it doesn't remind me of PIZZA when I eat it.  I like the Bob's Red Mill Pizza Crust, so we'll stick with that.

Flax Bread and Raisin Bread:  Both of these taste good and keep well in the refrigerator.  Perhaps one of the things that I love best about these products is that they don't dry out in a day like many gluten free items.  The sandwich bread lasts about 5 days in the fridge.  Regular bread texture, good taste.  All around a great find.

Photos of the products can be found on their facebook page.  Their website is still under construction.  They also have a product list and prices on the page.  Some items have the ingredients listed as well.  Currently the products can only be found locally in a few stores.

I love finding hidden treasures that are close to home and supporting local businesses.  Hopefully this new company will succeed and grow.  Perhaps their products will be found at a grocery store near you someday soon!  If you live in the GTA, the factory/store can be found at:

Kimberly's Celiac Bakery
415 Oakdale Rd. Unit 361-D
Toronto, On
416 271- 0742