When it comes to baked goods, I have little to no will power. I have an insatiable sweet tooth and I’m always happy to indulge it. It’s been excruciating to pass bakeries, inhaling the aroma of cupcakes, knowing that I can’t dive in for a taste. What’s more, gluten-free baked products are more like baked bads than baked goods.
So when I heard about Mr. Ritt’s, a gluten-free bakery in Philadelphia, I packed up the car and set off on a road trip.
The bakery is exclusively gluten-free. Meaning I could go in and load up on anything I wanted. I was a bit skeptical - I’ve noticed that gluten-free is frequently synonymous with dairy-, nut-, flavor-, and texture-free. Would Mr. Ritt’s disappoint? Hell no.
They bake their own products, including rolls, muffins, cakes, coffee cakes, cupcakes, and cookies (linzer hearts, chocolate chip, peanut butter). The cookies are sold from the counter in packages, but the rest of the goods are stored in freezers unless you place a special order. They also sell flour mixes, including an all-purpose baking mix, pizza dough, and tempura batter. 
My favorite find was the brownie. Rich and fudgy, it was spiked with instant coffee to deepen chocolate flavor. I never missed the gluten and only wish I’d gotten at least a dozen. (Rest assured that I’ll be working to recreate their recipe.)
The store stocks an array of gluten-free commercial products, including black licorice ropes (a favorite), crackers, pasta, rice and cereals.
My big disappointment was the muffins. They stock tons of flavor combinations, like banana walnut, apple cinnamon, and blueberry. I opted for the lemon raspberry and never could get the texture right after thawing. I tried letting it thaw overnight, baking it, nuking it and just slathering it with lemon curd, but the muffins were chalky and too-sweet. Muffins are supposed to be mindless.
Not that I’m complaining. I bought a bucket of flour, some pizza dough, and enough licorice to last until next trip, which shouldn’t be too far into the future. If you’re too far to trek to the bakery, they will ship less delicate goods (ie: no cheesecake for you) most anywhere.
Mr. Ritt’s Bakery 709 E. Passyunk Ave., Philadelphia (215-627-3034 or mrritts.com).
Try: cookies, brownie, cheesecake
Skip: muffins, overpriced cereal
3 responses so far ↓
1 Cait H. // May 2, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Don’t forget to mention that there is always a parking spot open in front!!
You should leave the muffins on the windowsill for a squirrel
2 Coolest Cookie: Orange Walnut Chocolate Chip | Gluten Freebird // May 18, 2008 at 2:57 am
[...] 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 1/4 cups gluten-free baking mix (I use Mr. Ritt’s) 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (if not included) 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped 1 [...]
3 melissa // May 22, 2008 at 6:09 am
zomg! you reminded me! i have the bestest brownie recipe and you can do it with only rice flour, babe! will share as soon as i find it. yay!
Leave a Comment