Reviews: Udi’s Cinnamon Rolls & Annie’s Deluxe Mac and Cheese

I’ve had a little time lately to try a few relatively new gluten free products — one– a vice of mine — a good old-fashioned Cinnamon Roll, courtesy of Udi’s Gluten Free and a kids’ lunch staple — Mac and Cheese–  in this case called: Annie’s Creamy Deluxe Macaroni Dinner.

Udi's Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls; Photo courtesy: udisglutenfree.com

Udi’s Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

I was so delighted to finally be able to try Udi’s Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls.  It sort of happened as a fluke. I’d been looking for these for a few months every time I went shopping in the Twin Cities (at least where I was looking) I couldn’t find them. But low and behold, my mother-in-law was shopping in Park Rapids, Minnesota at J & B Foods (which, by the way, has a great selection of Udi’s gluten free foods) and she happened upon them.  I asked her to buy a package so we could try them when we came up to their lake place for the weekend.

The packages come with four, good-sized rolls — about the size 0f a jumbo muffin you might get at a restaurant.  The rolls are not glazed with an icing, but instead it comes in a package of icing for you to drizzle on when you’re ready.  Emma and I tried the rolls plain first.  MMMM. Both Emma (my gluten-free daughter) and I thought they were very good!  Then we put the icing on it.  Now let me preface this with the kind of icing it is — it is a cinnamon/sugar icing.  We put it on..and didn’t care for it as much.

The icing, we thought, was too “cinnamony”.  Both of us would have liked a plain frosting or a cream cheese frosting.  With that said, I haven’t found any other kind of  gluten free sweet roll that is comparable to date.  We would totally buy them again.  Cost was about $6.50 for four cinnamon rolls.

Annie's Creamy Deluxe Gluten Free Macaroni Dinner

Annie’s Creamy Deluxe Gluten-Free Macaroni Dinner

Many of us already know Annie’s for their regular gluten-free  macaroni and cheese, but more recently they’ve created a Creamy Deluxe version.  What’s different?  The “cheese” is already creamed and in a package that you pour/squeeze onto the cooked rice noodles.  Emma doesn’t like her mac and cheese too cheesy. So I only added about a third of the sauce (I usually add about 2/3 of the cheese powder with a traditional mix), and then I had her taste it.  She said that was enough. If you used the whole mix, that would be pretty cheesy!  Bottom line: The girls loved it and ate it right up!  However I don’t think they liked it any better than regular Annie’s or Trader Joe’s gluten free mac and cheese, or even the plain old mac and cheese I mix at home with gf noodles and Kraft shaker “popcorn” cheese (same as the cheese inside the Kraft Mac and Cheese boxes without the gluteny noodles).

I received this box free from the Linden Hills Co-op which carries it in Minneapolis.  I am not sure why you would purchase this versus the regular powder version,  maybe it would be good for a hotel room with a kitchenette if you didn’t have the milk and butter handy.  The Deluxe is 9.5 ounces and versus the powder version is 6 ounces. On the Annie’s Website, one package of the Deluxe version is $4.69.  The non-Deluxe version is $3.19.

Enjoy!

Tags: Annie's, cinnamon, gluten-free, Macaroni and Cheese, review, rolls, Udi's