Flour Bakery is what a GF pastry-lover’s dreams are made of! I mean seriously, they have merengues that legitimately look like a cloud, and that cloud is where I would like to live forever. With multiple locations throughout Boston and Cambridge, Flour Bakery provides a multitude of options for gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan and vegetarian diners and it’s not just desserts – they also have savory foods made fresh daily. Score!…
For my visit, I focused on the dessert menu (because, duh!). Personally, I am a huge chocolate lover, and it is not always easy to find quality, gluten-free items that please my foodie palate when craving chocolate. Enter, Flour Bakery’s Oreo cookie. I’m sure everyone feels nostalgic about the perfect Oreo and milk combination from their childhood. This was like that, but BETTER. Not only was the cookie giant, it was chocolate on chocolate, and that’s pretty much an automatic win in my book. The nice thing was that it wasn’t too rich so the chocolate wasn’t overwhelming. The cookie itself was crispy and crunchy while the inside layer was smooth and creamy. Ah, sweet perfection!
I had the opportunity to meet with the pastry chef who was kind enough to give me a little background on the gluten-free menu. Their main menu indicates all allergy-friendly options to make it easy to order at a quick glance. The chef also pointed out they have certain items, like their honey nut nougat packaged with all ingredients listed out. I asked about savory gluten-free options and nearly every sandwich can be made on GF bread or turned into a salad making it GF. Also, since their dishes are made to order, it’s easy to swap out ingredients.
Now, back to the sweet stuff! Admittedly, I wasn’t sure how much the raspberry merengue would appeal to me, only because it’s not something I would typically order, but when I heard that it was their most popular (and beautiful) item, I decided to give it a try. Such a good decision – go me, go me! It tasted like biting into cotton candy! The inside jelly layer melted in my mouth and I realized I was discriminating against certain deserts for no reason. I would definitely order one of these again – it doesn’t hurt that they are super Instagram-worthy either.
I rounded out my feast with the hazelnut almond dacquoise, almond cookie, power bar, and blueberry maple muffin. Yep, just a typical Saturday. Don’t worry I only had a sampling of each (and a to-go box, obviously!).
Like me, you may favor certain dessert tastes over others but I am happy to report, it’s close to impossible to go wrong at Flour. The hazelnut almond dacquoise was like a snickers bar, but fancy! It had a nougat layer accompanied with dreamy chocolate hazelnut filling. I may have had more than a bite of this one (shhh, don’t tell my trainer).
The blueberry muffin was actually screaming at me to eat it, so I followed orders and went right for the glazed topping. I loved how you could taste the fresh blueberries in each bite, yum! Not to mention, they looked like mini bread loaves. So cute!
The Cookie Monster would have been honored to chow down on the almond cookies. They really hit the ball out of the park for all cookie-lovers with a chewy center and crispy outside. As a huge chocolate chip cookie enthusiast, I can assure you this flavor was just as good.
Finally, the power bar was starting me down, because clearly I went for the chocolatey, decadent options first. You might be thinking, “If I’m going to a pastry shop, I am not ordering an energy bar!” No, just me? That’s fine, I’ll be the gluttonous one in this relationship. The energy bar is a great option for anyone who is being a little more health-conscious but still wants to indulge. It was delicious and you could tell this was homemade because you could literally see all the ingredients, which is a great thing in the GF world. It was soft and chewy and had a great sweet flavor but the nuts gave it a nice balance. You won’t be sorry you went for the “healthy” choice this time.
If you are searching for a GF treat to satisfy your sweet tooth, I highly recommend Flour Bakery. Also… take me with you?