Random Acts of Udi’s

A box of Udi’s gluten-free products, some new and some old favorites.

Recently, the folks at Udi’s sent me a box of gluten-free goodies as part of their “Random Acts of Udi’s” promotion. They sent bloggers different sampler boxes of Udi’s gluten-free treats to use or to give to friends and then to describe their experiences.

Although we were initially tempted to keep the goods to ourselves, it was a lot of fun to share them with our gluten-free friends. I always feel an instant bond with anyone who has celiac, so we were thrilled to be able to share the love.

Because I divvied up the products — giving friends baggies of different items, instead of giving them a whole box to take home — it was hard for them to keep track of what was what. If I had to do it again, I would have given them the whole box and not divided it into “bits and bobs,” as my British friend would say. That’s our fault for being greedy and wanting to try a little bit of everything.

In the box were some new Udi’s products, like boxed cookies with a gourmet flair, like Salted Caramel Cashew Cookies (one of my younger daughter’s favorites), Maple Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies and Coconut Peanut Butter Cookies (the coconut taste really comes through). The cookies say “soft baked” but they were a regular crisp cookie texture, which was fine with us. In the plastic tubs of cookies (usually found in the freezer section of the grocery store), we enjoyed the Snickerdoodles, Chocolate Chip Cookies (another favorite among friends) and the Dark Chocolate Brownie Bites. My daughter liked the surprise of finding mini chocolate chips in the moist brownie bites — another of her faves. The tubs of cookies say “soft and chewy,” and they were.

Our kids and our friends also liked the new Udi’s chips, with ancient grains like millet, amaranth and quinoa and fun flavors that pop in your mouth. The Jalapeno Cheddar chips were quite spicy and flavorful, and we also liked the Aged Cheddar ones. The new “Active” granolas were good, too, with a few added nutrients (missing from some gluten-free diets) like zinc. I have to say, though, that the Mighty Bagel with millet, flax, dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds didn’t appeal to most people. I am a traditionalist when it comes to bagels — even gluten-free bagels.

Overall, it was fun to share the items, and our friends had fun testing them out. As my father-in-law noted (thanks, Pop), the exciting part is how much more tasty and complex gluten-free foods are getting. Udi’s has added some fun flavors, ancient grains and nutrients to spice up gluten-free products, giving them more pizzazz, for which we are thankful.