Trader Joe's Cupcakes

Photo stolen from here.

I went Trader Joe's yesterday for the first time in ages.  I forgot how amazing it is.  Minus the really long lines, which is a huge factor.  Almost a deal breaker for me.  But if you can deal with it then they have really great food.  They also have a lot of gluten free options.

I'm writing this post because I want to tell you about their gluten free cupcakes.  I had read about them online but hadn't really thought about them since.  Then I saw them in the store and they had my favorite flavor: chocolate with vanilla frosting.  I told myself I didn't need them.  I told myself I didn't even really want them.  And then I bought them anyway.  Classic me.

I got their Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting.  Guys, these are amazing.  Like almost some of the best gluten free cupcakes I have ever had.  Which says a lot because I have clearly had a lot of gluten free cupcakes in my day.  However, because they are prepacked cupcakes they have their nutrition facts on them.  Let me tell you, these cupcakes are REALLY bad for you.  Like, disgustingly bad.  But taste so good.  This is a real conundrum.  I'll let you make this important life decision on your own.

Crumbs Gluten Free

Cupcakes, as a rule, should be delicious.  I think we can all agree that cupcakes are the world's compromise on what kind of cake to eat.  Why choose one flavor of cake for a gathering when we can get a few of these, and a few of these, and a few of those?

However, as another harsh slap in the face to those of us with Celiac, sometimes gluten free cupcakes are down right bad.  A bad cupcake may sound like an oxymoron, but let me tell you, it's possible and they are lurking out there.  Even on the glossy streets of New York City.  I won't name names, because that's not my style, but they are there.

Crumbs cupcakes, also as a rule, are decadent and delicious.  But until this week, they were way off limits to those of us with Celiac as they were basically baseball sized hunks of gluten rolled in sugar and pretty colors and fairy dust.  Lucky for us, on October 3rd Crumbs opened it's first dedicated gluten and peanut free store.  Crumbs Gluten Free is located in New York City at 37 East 8th Street between Broadway and University.

I went on Thursday and was really impressed.  They had samples and I was able to try the vanilla coconut, red velvet, and some chocolate something or other.  I got a small carrot cake cupcake to take with me and it was really good.  So were the samples.  They have all their regular flavors and some other baked goods available that I did not try.

Thanks for making this happen Crumbs.  I'll definitely be back.