Celina Djikhuizen looks on as her friend Darien Slater samples a gluten-free cookie.Psychology major Celina Djikhuizen looks on as her friend Darien Slater samples a gluten-free cookie from the Leddy Library Brown Gold coffee shop.

Gluten-free muffins and cookies meet need for campus coffee shop customers

Gluten-free foods are a growing segment of the market and one that campus outlets want to serve.

Now gluten-free baked goods are available for purchase from the Brown Gold coffee shops in the Leddy Library and the Toldo Health Education Centre, as well as in the Bru location in Alumni Hall.

“We want to meet the needs of those patrons who can’t consume gluten,” says executive chef Paolo Vasapolli.

The products—chocolate chip or double chocolate cookies and blueberry or chocolate chip muffins—are made with rice flours. It’s a choice she appreciates, says Darien Slater, a second-year business student that avoids gluten where possible.

“Sometimes bread hurts my stomach,” she said Wednesday as she ordered a gluten-free cookie from the Brown Gold outlet in the Leddy Library.

Fortunately, the new products mean she doesn’t have to give up on treats: “It tastes good!” she exclaimed as she took her first bite.