Woolworths Gluten Free Lamingtons are Perfect!
Posted: July 14, 2023 Updated: March 27, 2024
Woolworths is one of the only places you can find gluten free lamingtons in Australia. It’s kind of terrible really, given it’s probably Australia’s national cake? We do have the pavlova, but I understand that was likely stolen from the Kiwis.
Some older gluten-free folk might recall that Coles was the original seller of gluten free lamingtons. I’m talking about 2013 / 2014, so yikes – 10 years ago! Happily Woolworths has taken up the market gap and given the people what they want!
Traditions respected through ingredients
There’s two nice things about these lamingtons when you look at the ingredients.
- They didn’t make it vegan to capture more of the market.
- They didn’t make it low fat to catch those ‘gluten free is healthier’ folks.
It’s a dessert, a treat, it doesn’t need to be healthy! And when it comes to baking gluten free, eggs are very useful in achieving a lighter, more airy texture.
However, I will note one non-traditional ingredient which is beef gelatine. I’m not sure why it’s there, it is part of the chocolate coating. I looked at the other lamingtons (wheat-based) offered by Woolworths and noticed the raspberry lamingtons also use gelatine in the coating.
The taste
These lamingtons are ready to eat straight out of the packet, there’s no need to heat them to soften them up. Like a regular lamington they drop coconut everywhere, so get a plate ready.
Because these are lamington fingers they have a higher ratio of chocolate and coconut to sponge, which is not a bad thing.
The sponge is delicate and soft, without being crumbly or falling apart. The chocolate coating is thick for its size, allowing the cocoa taste to come through. As you can see from the photos its fully coated with coconut – as it should be.
If you’re the jam lamington type you could do what I’ve done a few times and sandwich two lamington fingers with your favourite spread. You could even go the whole way and add whipped cream in the middle!
If you’re wondering about the flags, my husband and I were celebrating Finnish Independence Day on our first year living in Australia together.
No cake shaming
I read on a Facebook post recently someone saying they never tried these gluten free lamingtons at Woolworths because of how they looked! It is true they are a bit irregular at times, with some lamington fingers a little more chonky than others. But who here is perfect, and why should we expect our GF treats to conform?
My thought is that these mini lamingtons end up a bit irregular due to their delicate structure. I am guessing the manufacturer limits the handling of them so they don’t break. Which means no smoothing out the icing to make it look perfect.
But you know what, it means some have way more chocolate and coconut than others – this is a good thing! Just check out these two I snapped a picture of, chalk and cheese.
The verdict
It’s an easy yes for me, at $5.50 they are more expensive than the regular lamingtons, about $2 per 100 grams, compared to $1. However, I usually only eat one at a time (and maybe one for my husband) so they do last us a little while.
I’d definitely buy these if I was dropping by someone’s house for a cuppa. There’s nothing gluten-free about them, so no one is going to ‘suffer’ for your dietary needs.
Hot tip! These lamingtons freeze really well, so if you’re the only coeliac in the house or you buy them marked down know that the freezer is your friend.
You can also eat them pretty much straight from the freezer as they don’t go fully solid. Otherwise just wait five minutes or around the time it takes to make yourself a cuppa.
I usually freeze them in the packet and when it runs about half full I transfer them to a small tuppaware to save freezer space.
Where to find gluten free lamingtons
It might seem silly, obviously these gluten free lamingtons are available in Woolworths. However, it can actually be tricky to locate some gluten free items in the supermarket. Especially when stores move products from the gluten free aisle out into the regular aisles.
Typically the lamingtons are in the regular shelves in the supermarket aisle with other cakes (i.e. regular folk cakes). Most often I’ve seen these nestled amongst the other lamington options.
However, I have also spotted them in the following locations at other stores
- The gluten free bread section in the aisles
- The gluten free section in the bakery
- The discount area in the bakery
For whatever reason often when baked gluten free items are marked down they put them in the bakery section of the supermarket. Someone needs to tell them that’s the one area gluten-free folk get to skip in the supermarket!
So it’s definitely worth the occasional detour, I’ve also got the gluten free croissants heavily discounted from the Woolworths bakery department.
PRODUCT DETAILS
Gluten free: Legit, nil detected.
Vegetarian / vegan: No, contains gelatine (from beef).
Allergens: Egg, soy, sulphites. May contain: Milk.
Serving size: 12 lamington fingers.
Wondering what other gluten free wonders are at Woolies? Gluten free naan bread arrived mid-2023 and Woolies have some of the very few fresh gluten free ready meals.