The bestselling author’s new gluten and dairy free breakfast range has landed - is it as tasty and healthy as it sounds? We had our spoons at the ready to find out...
When it comes to breakfast, many of us can be too tired and/or rushed to think about what to eat in too much detail (*raises hand up sheepishly*). Convenience, speed and cost factor highly in deciding how healthy to be first thing, considerations that all appear to be reflected in Deliciously Ella’s new breakfast range.
Priced at just £3.99, the products are influenced by Ella’s best-selling books and popular London delis and consist of an Original Granola, a Nutty Granola and an instant Bircher Muesli. Vegan-friendly and gluten and dairy free, they are a follow-up to her hugely popular Energy Balls . Should you pop them into your shopping trolley? We started our days with the trio of morning treats to find out.
Deliciously Ella Original Granola, £3.99 for 500g
Ayesha, Senior Features Writer says: “First things first, this granola is pretty delicious. Containing toasted oats, raisins, almond flakes, pumpkin seeds and coconut chips, it was a treat texture as well as flavour-wise early on in the morning. Granolas can often be chock-full of hidden nasties however, the nutritional breakdown of this one was a pleasant surprise (especially for a ‘free-from’ cereal) in terms of simplicity and content, meeting (or nearly meeting) a good deal of the requirements laid out by our expert in our ‘Is your cereal healthy?’ feature . Very low in salt (0.02g per 45g serving) and saturated fat (1.1g), and relatively high in fibre (3.1g), its stats certainly stick out, and while it’s the sweetest in the range (containing 7.2g of sugar per serving - nearly two teaspoons), I wouldn’t say it’s ludicrously laced with the stuff in comparison to its counterparts. Its use of date syrup, maple syrup and cinnamon gently enhances its taste, for a sweet start to the day that kept my hunger pangs at bay until lunch. Plus, its squashable re-sealable pouch packaging ensures everything’s kept suitably fresh and crunchy (without encroaching too much on shelf space like a box would). I’ll certainly be having it again, but perhaps alternated with something savoury during the week. I popped blueberries on top on this occasion, but I’d quite happily have it without them next time as it’s sweet enough on its own.”
Deliciously Ella Bircher Muesli, £3.99 for 500g
GTG Digital Editor Judy says: “This ready-to-eat bircher muesli is both a time saver and a saintly alternative to cereal; while traditionally you’d soak bircher muesli overnight, the oats in this are so finely milled that there’s no need - simply add your milk and go. For a ‘fast’ food you might worry that the nutritional benefits could suffer, but the breakdown is nothing but impressive; it’s high in fibre (4.7g a serving), low in sugar (2.9g a serving), very low in salt and is also gluten- and dairy-free. With tiny chunks of apple and raspberry combined with the rolled oats, sunflower seeds, raisins and chia seeds it has a very subtle flavour; I added fresh raspberries to liven it up, and I’d recommend mixing with almond milk or coconut yoghurt as Ella herself suggests for a stronger taste, rather than cow’s milk. Either way, it’s a satiating breakfast that impresses on all counts.”
MORE GLOSS: How healthy are our breakfasts?
Deliciously Ella Nutty Granola, £3.99 for 500g
Senior Features Writer Anna says: “Even a cursory glance at the back of the packaging of the very sunny hued Nutty Granola bodes well - there are just 11 ingredients (some similar cereals have reams of text telling you what’s in the box), all of which I recognise as ‘real food’ with no unintelligible chemicals, E numbers and the like. Orange juice, date syrup and maple syrup are added as sweeteners, but at just 5.1g of sugar (a bit more than one teaspoon) per 45g serving it’s definitely not too sweet, while the toasted nuts and seeds (cashews, flaked almonds, roasted hazelnut pieces, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds) make it taste toasty and moreish. I was expecting a bit more crunch from a nut-based granola - the texture is surprisingly soft and reminded me more of a muesli, but that wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of breakfast. I teamed mine with plain Greek yogurt and a handful of Seasonal Berries goodies that arrived in the office yesterday."
With thanks to British Summer Fruits, for the berries as part of its Seasonal Berries campaign.