Erin McKenna Bakery for gluten free

[julie t]

Would love feedback on the gluten free bakery items. Future son-in-law has celiac and will be traveling with us to WDW at Christmas. Trying to locate GOOD gluten free items.

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

They are pretty good! You can have their items delivered to your resort but be prepared for sticker shock if you aren't used to gluten free bakeries (about $45 for a single loaf of their quickbread). You can have their cakes delivered to restaurants on property or stop by their lication in Disney Springs and stock up. We've had their teacakes, cupcakes and donuts and enjoyed them all. You can also find Kinnikinick and Enjoy Life products some restaurants although that gets boring after awhile. Enjoy Life items can also be found at many resort quick serve spots.

 

[Dug720]

I've had her stuff in NYC and have been underwhelmed. But I know down there there is not a lot of choice.

 

[Hounster]

My mom and sister are celiac as well and we found the Erin McKenna Bakery was awful! A much better option is Sprinkles (also at Disney Springs) - they have cupcakes and cookies that are gluten free and tasty. We have had great experiences all over Disney World, they are so careful with food allergies and there are a lot of GF options. Be sure to check out Raglan Road, the gluten free fish and chips are awesome!

 

[mckennarose]

Add me to the list of those unimpressed with Erin McKennas. Very overpriced and mediocre at best.

 

[Denine]

My teen daughter has enjoyed the cupcakes she has gotten there. We have not purchased anything else. They are pricey.

 

[Dis703]

To be honest, I would not classify the treats there as "good." But what you have to realize is that they aren't just gluten free. I've had some amazing gluten free desserts, cakes, etc. but Erin McKennas is also egg free, soy free, dairy free, and refined sugar free. As someone who has been free of all those items before, when you find a donut you can eat it doesn't matter all that much what it tastes like, it's still exciting to be able to eat a donut. But if you are only avoiding gluten you are probably used to much tastier options.

I have heard great things about the gluten free beignets at POFQ. May be worth a trip. And the last several times I have been there all of the food courts (and many park QS locations) had chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and cupcakes. The cookies and brownies they were serving were OMGItsglutenfree brand and they were pretty good. I know a few places like 50s Prime Time will make a gluten free brownie sundae.

Always ask what your options are as many of the restaurants/food courts don't list everything they have.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I've made it known here, that Erin McKenna isn't my favorite.

There are two reasons. One, she uses bean flours. For me, they leave a terrible aftertaste. Two, everything is gluten free, egg free, soy free, and dairy free. Also, vegan. You can truly only take so much out and replace it before it doesn't taste like what it is suppose to be. I believe that she has done that.

I don't buy anything there. To me? Yuck.

 

[Marina Clark]

I'm celiac and have been for almost 4 years, and Erin McKenna has been ok every time I go there, it's a hit or miss with some of the baked goods. Last time I went there, the chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, and cinnamon rolls were good. However, Sprinkles has way better cupcakes. In the parks, there's a bunch of packaged gf things in the candy stores/bakeries. Also, any table service restaurant usually has a dessert menu or option for people with a gluten allergy and those are usually pretty good.

 

[Miffy]

I'm not really sure why Erin McKenna's is getting so many bad reports here, but vegan me likes many (not all) of their items. They're not all fantastic, but they're not all awful either. Many are quite good. Depends on what you're looking for, what you like, and what they've got when you're there. Everything there is gluten-free as well as vegan, so for someone who wants either or both of these, it's great, since you don't have to ask about every single item or ask for something special or leave because the one thing they have has an ingredient you don't care for. Perhaps there's a bakery (vegan, not vegan, gluten-free, whatever) somewhere that has only delicious items that everyone who goes there loves without exception. Yet I doubt it.

 

[disfan07]

I'm not really sure why Erin McKenna's is getting so many bad reports here, but vegan me likes many (not all) of their items. They're not all fantastic, but they're not all awful either. Many are quite good. Depends on what you're looking for, what you like, and what they've got when you're there. Everything there is gluten-free as well as vegan, so for someone who wants either or both of these, it's great, since you don't have to ask about every single item or ask for something special or leave because the one thing they have has an ingredient you don't care for. Perhaps there's a bakery (vegan, not vegan, gluten-free, whatever) somewhere that has only delicious items that everyone who goes there loves without exception. Yet I doubt it.

We have one of the babycakes NYC (what it was called before Erin McKennas) locally and because I have a peanut, egg, dairy, wheat, soy allergies (at the time not tree nuts) it was the only option. For the most part it was okay...I liked the banana chocolate chip loaves, the waffles, donuts, and cinnamon rolls. One thing I did NOT like was the frosting. Its coconut based and very desne. I would usually just get the cupcakes without frosting. But some of the products did seem unusually dense...but that was not something I really noticed until I started going to a different bakery.

I had to stop eating there when I developed tree nut allergies because Bobs Red Mill flour is not free from possible cross contamination. Right around that time I developed a coconut allergy as well.

BUT....as far as a gluten free, vegan, allergy safe bakery that only has delicious items....we have one nearby. Do I like everything they have there...no. But that has nothing to do with the product itself...its just not liking the flavor of something. Donuts, breads, cupcakes, pizza dough, breadsticks, pies, cookies, truffles, brownies, etc. It is all Gluten, egg, soy, tree nut, peanut, coconut, dairy free. All gluten free and vegan. For my graduation party, we ordered a cake and brownies from that bakery....The entire cake was eaten and people kept asking if they could take the extra brownies home. None of my friends who eat there have food allergies and none are vegan. The only negative comments I've ever heard has been in relation to a product that they don't like the flavor of (ex: lemon cupcakes, strawberry poptarts, etc). We spend at least $200/month there. Even if I could still eat the baked goods from Erin McKennas, I would not go back unless it was my absolutely only option.

 

[clm10308]

My son,who was 14 at our last visit and newly GF, liked the cookie sandwiches there, but he thought the GF cupcake from Sprinkles was a much better cup cake,

 

[MomtothreeEs]

It's kind of cool to take my two celiac boys to a bakery and tell them that they can pick out ANYTHING they want, but I personally prefer my own GF baking at home in which I use butter and nuts. I can pass off much of my GF treats as normal everyday treats to non-gf eaters. I'm pretty sure everyone knows Erin McKenna products are allergy safe just by the taste.

We actually have a bakery nearby that sells the same GF, DF, NF, PF, etc stuff, but it's all sold frozen unless you special order something ahead of time. I think the local allergy safe bakery does a better job.

Anyway, I still think it's great to have an allergy safe option. I will definitely be taking advantage of the option if it's offered at a TS restaurant for dessert, but it's not something I'd order to take home. It's really hard to take out ALL of the allergens and still produce something tasty. I think they do a decent job all things considered.

 

[alltwelve]

Agree with most of the group on here: Sprinkles has way better tasting GF options that Erin McKenna! It wasn't that Erin McKenna was bad; it was okay, but comparing it to the Sprinkles GF cupcake it was like night and day!

 

[mckennarose]

I'm not really sure why Erin McKenna's is getting so many bad reports here, but vegan me likes many (not all) of their items. They're not all fantastic, but they're not all awful either. Many are quite good. Depends on what you're looking for, what you like, and what they've got when you're there. Everything there is gluten-free as well as vegan, so for someone who wants either or both of these, it's great, since you don't have to ask about every single item or ask for something special or leave because the one thing they have has an ingredient you don't care for. Perhaps there's a bakery (vegan, not vegan, gluten-free, whatever) somewhere that has only delicious items that everyone who goes there loves without exception. Yet I doubt it.

You hit the nail on the head; " depends on what you're looking for". I'm gluten-free for medical reasons, not by choice , and I'm definitely not vegan. I can see how when you add more to the list of things a person is avoiding, for whatever reason- medical or personal choice, the list of places that can accommodate gets very short.

As far as the gluten-free part of Erin McKenna's, there are far better options IMO. The OP's question was in regard to gluten free only and she didn't mention other allergies or personal choices. Speaking as a gluten-free-only person, I did not like the items that I tried from Erin McKenna's. It could be the bean flours, which I don't like or ever use, or the fact that I love my butter, eggs and milk in baked goods. I would much prefer to eat an OMG, Its Gluten Free fudge brownie that you can find at several Disney quick restaurants over items at E M's. Aside from the taste I found the items quite pricey.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I'm not really sure why Erin McKenna's is getting so many bad reports here, but vegan me likes many (not all) of their items. They're not all fantastic, but they're not all awful either. Many are quite good. Depends on what you're looking for, what you like, and what they've got when you're there. Everything there is gluten-free as well as vegan, so for someone who wants either or both of these, it's great, since you don't have to ask about every single item or ask for something special or leave because the one thing they have has an ingredient you don't care for. Perhaps there's a bakery (vegan, not vegan, gluten-free, whatever) somewhere that has only delicious items that everyone who goes there loves without exception. Yet I doubt it.

Why? Because, for me, the stuff just doesn't taste good. If I eat a cupcake, I feel like I need to scrape the coating out of my mouth. The bread, seems to weigh a ton. And that is if I can get passed the bean flour flavor.

That doesn't mean that other people have no problem with it. Maybe bean flours don't bother you. And maybe because you are vegan, you are used to stuff make with coconut oil. Or without eggs and dairy.

And to totally honest, I make stuff that tastes better.

I've had to learn, I have celiac and I have to be gluten free.

 

[Dis703]

I'm not really sure why Erin McKenna's is getting so many bad reports here, but vegan me likes many (not all) of their items. They're not all fantastic, but they're not all awful either. Many are quite good. Depends on what you're looking for, what you like, and what they've got when you're there. Everything there is gluten-free as well as vegan, so for someone who wants either or both of these, it's great, since you don't have to ask about every single item or ask for something special or leave because the one thing they have has an ingredient you don't care for. Perhaps there's a bakery (vegan, not vegan, gluten-free, whatever) somewhere that has only delicious items that everyone who goes there loves without exception. Yet I doubt it.

We have a cupcake bakery by us that offers a line of gluten free and vegan cupcakes. You would have no idea they were either of those things. They taste AMAZING! So yes, when you are used to eating really delicious treats that are gluten free and/or vegan and then you taste the stuff at Erin McKenna's it can be quite a disappointment. But like I said before, if you normally don't eat all of the things EMs excludes you tend to get used to going without. For OP who only mentioned gluten free there are much tastier options out there.

 

[ALK$Disney]

Is it just me or was Baby Cakes better? I am not sure about the story behind it changing from Baby Cakes to Erin Mckenna. All I remember is when we were at WDW in 2011, we had some items at Baby Cakes, and they were amazing. Even made a second trip to then Downtown Disney to eat there again. Last year we went to DS and I heard that it now goes by Erin Mckenna. Ate there and was highly disappointed.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Is it just me or was Baby Cakes better? I am not sure about the story behind it changing from Baby Cakes to Erin Mckenna. All I remember is when we were at WDW in 2011, we had some items at Baby Cakes, and they were amazing. Even made a second trip to then Downtown Disney to eat there again. Last year we went to DS and I heard that it now goes by Erin Mckenna. Ate there and was highly disappointed.

I believe that Baby Cakes was Erin McKenna.

I will admit, I ate her stuff before and considered it okay. But that was before I had tried many gluten free items. There is just stuff out there that is so much better. And some of it comes from my own kitchen.

 

[mckennarose]

I believe that Baby Cakes was Erin McKenna.

I will admit, I ate her stuff before and considered it okay. But that was before I had tried many gluten free items. There is just stuff out there that is so much better. And some of it comes from my own kitchen.

You brought up a good point. When I first had to go gluten-free years ago and had no idea what was good and what wasn't, I tried all the " usual suspects " in gluten-free foods. Udis, glutino, enjoy life, etc. and none of them were great but they were edible. After lots of experimentation I know there are better things out there including recipes to make my own.