Udi's Gluten Free Pizza Crust

Udi's Gluten Free Pizza Crust
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Finding the perfect slice of pizza is a noble pursuit and that venture is made infinitely more difficult when someone must avoid gluten as it's much harder to see a beautiful pizza crust rise as it should without that perfect combination of wheat flour and other ingredients. 

One tactic that those with allergies might take is that of the homemade pizza and after looking around, the average gluten-intolerant individual is likely to find that quite a few different companies offer plain pizza crusts and each company has quite a different approach to their recipe.

Udi's Gluten Free Pizza Crust
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

The universal factor uniting most gluten-free pizza crusts is that they generally do not rise or change size inside the oven while being cooked and if they're a dense product when they're uncooked, they'll remain so even after they've been given toppings and a short ride in the oven.

For Udi's Gluten Free Pizza Crusts, the crusts themselves are rather thin to start so people who like thin crust pizza would likely want to try these crusts as they do seem to be the thinnest on the market at the present time. There are a lot of bakery type entries from Udi's and as one of the major players in the gluten free bread racket, Udi's does tend to have a good recipe for their items.

Regarding the calories and fat within the crust, as is to be expected the nutrition facts on the back of the package of their pizza crusts try to put one over on you by suggesting that a "serving" is only 160 calories and four grams of fat. This really isn't bad, but remember that nobody is going to eat just one serving (which happens to be a quarter of the pie). Just about everyone is going to be able to down an entire pie. So plan your calories accordingly when you make one of these pizzas since you'll be getting calories from toppings as well.

Udi's Gluten Free Pizza Crust
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

The crusts used for this review came out of the freezer section at the local Sprouts and this seems to be the way with a few of the Udi's products so if you're unable to find these crusts in the bread aisle of your local grocery store, it's probably because they're in the freezer.

The size of the crusts is fairly respectable and filling one crust up with toppings is an appropriately sized meal for a single person. It's doubtful many people who were staring a pizza in the face would be able to enter into any sort of conservation and eat just half of one of these. A fresh, hot pizza from the oven just begs to be scarfed down in its entirety.

For the purposes of this review, I just slapped some sauce and cheese onto the crust before popping it in the oven for about twenty minutes or so, but the rigidity of the crust is sufficient to hold any sort of toppings you might want to throw on.

Udi's Gluten Free Pizza Crust
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Taste-wise, which is really the most important part of any pizza, Udi's has done well with their crust and one of the better elements of these crusts is the consistency of the finished pizza once it's been cooked. 

A higher temperature is recommended (on the middle rack because you don't want it to burn before the cheese melts!) to ensure that the crust is cooked in its entirety.

(I likely should have left my pizza in the oven a smidgen longer as the cheese could have been a bit more well-done for my tastes, but I was worried about burning the crust itself)

Udi's Gluten Free Pizza Crust Report Card

The Good Stuff:

Overall, this crust is an easy way to make pizza as someone who can't eat wheat or needs to stay away from gluten and the taste, while not likely to knock your socks off, will definitely satisfy your need for pizza.

Udi's Gluten Free Pizza Crust
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Another interesting factor for these crusts is that they're not ferociously expensive. Here in California they cost between three and four dollars so they might be even less expensive in other locales (and that's the price for a double sack of crusts since they come in pairs).

Overall, these crusts are definitely worth a try as their recipe is solid and the texture of the crust is great. And the good price can't hurt either, right?

To Be Improved Upon:

It might be nice to see a larger pizza in the works as most gluten-free pizza options are always so small. It's kind of a pain to have to cook two separate pizzas if you're cooking for two. The strength of the crust seems as though it would hold up fine with a larger circumference.

NuGo FREE Carrot Cake Bars

NuGo FREE Carrot Cake Bars
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Way back in the dark ages known as the 1980s, there were many efforts by food manufacturers to make foods that were labeled as "healthy" and "nutritious." These generally sawdust inspired meal options were often found in health food stores where it was usually best to go in, get some vitamins and run out of there before you were seduced into purchasing a Tiger's Milk Bar on accident.

(those folks might bill their food as the "first" nutrition bar, but that isn't always something that warrants acclaim... let's hope they've improved their recipe over the past several decades)

NuGo FREE Carrot Cake Bars
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

And it's not hard at all to find various types of bars that are meant for everything from increasing energy to weight loss to nutritional boosts and for the most part, the majority of manufacturers of these things have accepted the idea that if something doesn't taste good, nobody will eat it. Notice the word "majority" in the last sentence since it would seem that not everyone has caught onto the wisdom that food needs to taste good.

Even if someone is staring at a bowlful of beets, those things better have been prepared in such a way that they will end up being tasty. For the folks who are in charge of making the recipes for NuGo FREE Carrot Cake Bars, it would seem as though they missed the mark a bit not only with the actual recipe, but also with the labeling on the exterior packaging. One might even suggest that a small amount of false advertising was at work here.

On the packaging, one might think that this bar was supposed to taste approximately like a piece of carrot cake, albeit in some sort of bar form. But interestingly, in examining the overall packaging, it's rather easy to notice that there really isn't anything of note said regarding the fact that this is anything other than a piece of carrot cake hidden beneath a solid plastic wrapper.

NuGo FREE Carrot Cake Bars
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

The picture, the description and the title of the item on the front of the bar say nothing about the fact that what's inside doesn't bear any resemblance to carrot cake either in form and appearance or regarding taste. 

The subtle hint that the bar is "made delicious with cinnamon" is simply the company's way of trying to cover up the fact that they've pulled a fast one. There is not carrot cake here!

The company should be given a "thank you" regarding their attempt to offer some sort of snack bar (or nutrition bar? energy bar? who knows what this bar's purpose is...) to people who have gluten allergies, but it's hard to do with the current recipe. Really, the bar does seem as though it would be appetizing even though it sort of looks like a Rice Krispy Treat with some odd stripes of frosting on it, but the taste is just odd.

The nutritional content of the bar isn't that shocking and while the calories seem  ten or twenty above where they should be, the fat content and sodium shouldn't scare anyone away. The sugar in the bar is a tad bit high and if someone is actually worried about their calorie consumption and their daily dose of sugar and other ingredients, this particular bar probably isn't the right snack to eat.

NuGo FREE Carrot Cake Bars
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

NuGo FREE Carrot Cake Bars Report Card:

The Good Stuff:

Drawing a blank here. It's honestly not something this writer would recommend to anyone whether they needed a gluten free snack or not. In addition, suggesting that someone who was a fan of carrot cake try this bar might put them off carrot cake forever. This bar is best left on the shelf. Perhaps the company's other flavors would be a better choice.

Things to Improve:

Essentially, the entire recipe for this bar should be tossed and a new recipe should be created. The contents of this bar just don't remind one of carrot cake and while the advertised cinnamon is certainly apparent, this spice is hardly enough to cover up the fact that the bar tastes like a failed 1980s energy bar experiment and not a delicious slice of carrot cake.

There are certainly other gluten free bar options that are leagues better than NuGo FREE's carrot cake flavor and it shouldn't be that hard to find a suitable replacement for a gluten free snack.

Schär Gluten Free Hazelnut Wafers

Schär Gluten Free Hazelnut Wafers
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Dessert wafers are meant to be a lightweight and delicate sort of treat when they're eaten and while companies used to sell these wafer treats primarily in flavors of vanilla, vanilla or vanilla, there have certainly been some expansions on the classic treat with just about every sort of flavor put into the wafers themselves or into the powdery, sugared filling in the center.

Schär Gluten Free Hazelnut Wafers are a nice step in a creative direction by the company as they not only offer a light style of dessert to people who require gluten-free food, but they also do it in such a way that it's a bit different from the standard vanilla wafer setup. Hazelnut is an intriguing choice for a wafer candy since it's pretty subtle and is a great compliment to the overall weight of the treat itself.

The best way to describe these little treats is that they taste like a less substantial version of a Ferrero Rocher chocolate ball. They are a great flavor to put in a wafer and like vanilla, hazelnut is a particular type of flavor that doesn't require any accompaniment and stands just fine on its own.

The texture of the wafers is appropriate although like most wafer treats, they do seem to be rather prone to leaving crumbs absolutely everywhere. 

It's likely that the best time to eat these isn't going to be while sitting on the couch wearing black pants because everything just gets covered with wafer dust and crumbs whenever someone takes a bite.

As long as someone isn't worried about the crumbs in these things or has a suitable place to eat the wafers (outside is a good place. you'll really, truly never get all those crumbs out of the couch cushions!), the only things to be concerned about with this treat are the calories and fat in them. For such a feathery and dainty type of treat, they sure do pack a punch when it comes to the nutritional content. 

Just a single, small package weighs in at 260 calories and a rather hefty 13g of fat (the picture at the top of this blog post is a small, snack-size pack and should probably be as much as anyone should eat in a single sitting). For as light as the wafers are, it's amazing that much fat is in there somewhere.

Overall, these wafers are exactly what you might expect from any sort of wafer treat and the fact that they're gluten-free seems to be a bonus as they wouldn't look out of place amongst the rest of the bagged cookies and dessert offerings on the shelf at the grocery store.

Schär Gluten Free Hazelnut Wafers
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Schär Gluten Free Hazelnut Wafers Report Card

The Good Things:

If you like hazelnut and would enjoy an airy sort of treat, these little wafers will fit the bill. The flavor of hazelnut is a terrific choice for this type of dessert and Schär has done exceedingly well with their recipe. 

Another tasty element of these little wafers is that they don't taste like they're gluten-free and this means that someone could probably put these little wafers out at a party or share them with a friend without having to preface the offering with "well, they're gluten-free, but they're still good."

What Could Change:

As noted above, these little things might be delicate as far as weight and taste are concerned, but they're certainly not fragile when it comes to their calorie and fat content. It's best not to eat too many of these little treats in one sitting.

In addition, they are ferociously messy and even though Schär has conveniently offered them in a small, snack-size bag, they probably should still have a plate under them unless they're going to be snacked upon while walking around outside where the crumbs won't matter.