Food Crush and Giveaway – Udi’s Gluten-Free Bread

Really good toast.  That’s it.  That’s what I am soooo excited about.  You may be thinking, “but most gluten-free breads taste fine once they’re toasted.”  You’re right, they do, they ’taste fine’   – but do they taste light and crispy and provide the perfect balance to your melting butter or soft scrambled eggs?  No, they are just ‘good enough’ in a world without gluten.  

My latest food crush is something simple – gluten-free toast, and I have Udi’s Gluten-Free bread to thank for it.  I tried a couple of Udi’s Gluten-Free products at the Fancy Food Show this year, but it was such a blur I hardly remembered.  When I received a sampler pack in the mail last week, I was excited to try them.  Allergic Girl had given the bread a big thumbs up and I remember Gluten-Free Steve was all hot and bothered over their products. 

The gluten-free White Sandwich Bread is so soft I could hardly believe it.  I could squish it down just like the gluten-y bread I grew up on.  I liked it without heating it up or putting anything on it.  This was amazing.  The gluten-free Whole Grain Bread is just as soft.  I didn’t like the flavor as much as the gluten-free White Bread but I also lurved white Home Pride bread growing up rather than any of that ‘whole wheat’ stuff, so who am I to say? 

But here’s where the amazing thing happened.  I was in the mood for something warm and buttery, so I decided to make some toast.  Not to cover up the flavor/texture (which is why I usually toast gluten-free bread) but just because toast was what I was craving.  Once I tried it, I realized I hadn’t had really good toast in the five years since I started eating gluten-free.  I’ve had some great gluten-free breads and rolls and baked goods, but I hadn’t had that light toast with the pockets and crunch and…can you tell I’m getting hungry just writing about it? 

I started to wonder if it was just in my mind, maybe I just liked it that much because it had been a while since I’d had ANY toast or that I was just REALLY in the mood for toast.  So I decided to do a side by side comparison with the Whole Foods Gluten-Free Prairie Bread, my previous favorite. 

But the Whole Foods toast didn’t begin to compare – the texture is heavy and more like an artisanal bread which is fine in its own right but not what I crave with my breakfast. 

With all of the controversy lately about bloggers being paid to post about products, I will clarify that I have never been paid to write about a product and I only write about items that I feel are worthy of sharing – and I will warn you if something tastes like cardboard.  I just love the toast that much.  Right now it’s only available through a few distributors so I took that info directly to my local health food store to request that they start carrying it.  Fingers crossed I can get my hands on some more soon.  I’m not sure how long the shelf life is since I finished it off before it had a chance to go bad….

Well now that I’ve built it up so much I am sure it can’t possibly live up to your expectations, but Udi’s has offered to give a sampler pack to one lucky ready of A Gluten-Free Guide, so you can be the judge. 

Udi’s sampler pack also includes gluten-free Lemon Streusel and gluten-free Blueberry muffins.

They are tasty, soft, moist and you would never know they are gluten-free.  Udi’s makes gluten-free cinnamon rolls and gluten-free pizza crusts but I haven’t tried those yet.  The really exciting thing is that Udi’s is looking to expand their gluten-free product offerings.  So to be eligible to win the sampler pack, leave a comment with your request for their next gluten-free products.  What are you interested in seeing more gluten-free versions of? Bagels? What flavors? Pretzels? What kind? Granola? Cake Rounds?  Different varieties of muffins or breads?  What should they focus on next? 

US residents only, deadline to enter is 11pm EDT on Monday August 24, 2009. 

 

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