Kev's Snack Reviews

Veganuary rolls on, and with it the many and varied new Meat, Dairy etc Free product launches. One in particular that had to go straight into my basket when I spotted them in Sainsbury's were these New Nakd Salted Caramel Bars. I do love Nakd, and have done for years now, from their Nibbles Range to the Posh Bits and all the various Limited editions like Carrot Cake , Lemon Drizzle , Blueberry Muffin and so on. It seems tradition for them to bring out a new flavour every year and at last it's the trendy Salted Caramel! They've done this before in the Nibbles range, but never in bar form so I was pretty excited. These cost £1.99 for a 4 pack in Sainsbury's and are gluten, dairy and refined sugar free. There's also a new Walnut and Coffee variety - but more on that later! The ingredients are pretty simple like all Nakd bars: dates, raisins, cashews, peanuts, Cornish sea salt and a hint of natural flavourings. I'm glad to say that these live up to ...

So I thought it about time I do a Free From version of Spotted In Shops (with a side dose of Vegan Snacks News), featuring some of the latest Gluten/Dairy/Egg Free & Vegan products, since the demand for these foods is ever-growing. Without further ado, let's take a look at what's come out in recent months... First up - Freaks of Nature, makers of Dairy Free desserts, have launched into the Dairy Free Yoghurt market with Blueberry and Strawberry flavours. These are made with Cashew nuts and are currently available from Sainsbury's for £1.50 a pot. It's not available in the UK yet (Sweden and Finland will get them in September), but a Vegan Magnum now exists in both Classic and Almond varieties! No doubt these will be on sale here soon if they're popular - I personally reckon they'll be on shelves by next year. The Coconut Collaborative are still going strong with their Dairy Free desserts, and have added a Mango and Passionfruit Panna Cotta to...

My first post-Christmas review...hurrah! And in typical fashion it's for something healthy, which is just what the doctor ordered after all the rich food and sweets over the festive season. This new Blueberry Muffin flavour Nakd bar caught my eye in a local Sainsbury's Express only a few days after Christmas, and being a huge fan of their other varieties it went straight into my basket. How would it compare to previous editions like Lemon Drizzle and Carrot Cake ? The bar cost 85p and consists of a mixture of dates, cashews, raisins, almonds, blueberries and a hint of natural flavouring. Opening the wrapper it had a super strong blueberry aroma - wow it smelled like a blueberry muffin alright! Taking a bite, it tasted even more of blueberry muffin than I'd expected. I mean yeah I expected blueberry, but the cashews and almonds actually gave it a muffin-like taste and texture. This was a real treat indeed, and better than some of the previous limited editions, in my ...

I reviewed Asda's Free From Mince Pies last year, but this year they have only gone and bloomin' improved them (again), so here I am reviewing the new and improved versions. The things I do for food research haha! It's always nice to have more gluten free varieties, and thankfully all the supermarkets are expanding their options all the time - with even Aldi currently doing Gluten Free Mince Pies and Christmas Puddings. It's a step in the right direction for us gluten free folk for sure. I do enjoy Asda's offering, in fact I'd say they're the best budget gluten free mince pies around. Free from Dairy and Gluten, but sadly not egg these aren't suitable for vegans. And despite the lack of butter, the pastry on these still tastes lovely and buttery, melt in the mouth and has just the right thickness. The filling is moist and gooey, with the right balance of fruits and spice, never tasting too syrupy or sugary. In fact it's rather authent...

There's some new gluten free pizzas on the block by Dr Oetker, a brand I used to be a big fan of when I still ate gluten. They're doing two varieties; Pizza Mozzarella and Salame which are available now from Tesco for £3.49. I found mine in the regular pizza section rather than the Free From, which is a weird place to situate them if you ask me. The pizzas take 13-15 mins to cook in a preheated oven, are suitable for vegetarians and nut free. I baked as instructed, although may have gone slightly over the recommended time. The pizza turned out just the right level of crispy but with a sloppy feel like a traditional thin pizza. There was plenty of basil dotted across the pizza as well as a handful of cherry tomatoes. And I have to say, this was a very tasty gluten free pizza! I wouldn't have been able to tell that it was gluten free as it had the perfect texture; not too dry or crunchy and not too sloppy but somewhere in between. The topping was rich a...