Spudsy Sweet Potato Puffs

"Spudsy Sweet Potato Puffs help you snack smarter. Choose these savory or sweet Spudsy snacks for a vegan, non-GMO, kosher and gluten-free alternative to chips and less-healthy snacks - and feel great about rescuing imperfect taters from a wasteful fate!"

As an avid snacker, I am always eager to try new snack foods.  I love chips alongside my lunch, but, the majority of my snacking is throughout the day, filled with every kind of flavored and coated popcorn imaginable, chex mixes, dried fruits and nuts, that sort of thing, so I'm always happy to try another product that is slightly less unhealthy to munch on all afternoon (or evening!) long.  "Snack smarter"?  Sure!

The Spudsy products are all vegan (even the cheesy varieties), gluten-free, kosher, free of major allergens, etc, etc too if any of those dimensions matter to you.

"Spudsy delivers guilt-free snacking that just might save the world. Discover the savory-sweet satisfaction of Spudsy Sweet Potato Puffs and Sweet Potato Fries made from upcycled sweet potatoes we've rescued from a wasteful fate!"

But Spudsy takes it up a notch from your basic mantra of healthier snacks, no bad crap in them, etc - the products are made from upcycled ingredients.  That is, produce (sweet potatoes) that were destined for the trash, but they use to make the sweet potato flour base for their snacks.  So now you are double doing good by snacking on their products.

Spudsy makes two product lines: puffs or fries, both made from the (upcycled) sweet potato base, both available in a variety of flavors, both sweet and savory. 

Sweet Potato Puffs

"Indulge your savory or sweet yearnings with vegan, gluten-free, kosher, non-GMO Sweet Potato Puffs. Spudsy transforms less-than-perfect taters into little bites of awesomeness that pair beautifully with sandwiches, snack time and sustainable practices." 

The Puffs come in 6 flavors, 5 savory (vegan cheesy cheddar, vegan sour cream & onion, bangin' bar-b-q, spicy buffalo, and vegan buffalo ranch), and one sweet (cinnamon churro).  All use the same "spudsy base blend" of rice flour, sweet potato flavor, pea protein isolate and tapioca starch, and are fried in sunflower oil.

Cinnamon Churro.

"Coated with sweet cinnamon sugar and made from upcycled sweet potatoes, our Cinnamon Churro Sweet Potato Puffs are the perfect blend of sweet and spice, for everyone nice. Perfect for everyday snacking or even as your favorite dessert topping, our Cinnamon Churro puffs are sure to bring a little extra sweetness to your life...without the guilt, of course. "

I started with the sweet ones, as an evening snack, just by the handful.

I liked them, almost loved them.  The form factor was great - super crispy, crunchy, definitely satisfying to grab and munch.  They were well coated in cinnamon sugar coating, and the sweet potato and cinnamon sugar flavors definitely combined well.  The coating on these is not just cinnamon and regular white sugar, but they also use brown sugar, a touch of sea salt, and of course, "natural flavors".

They were good.  Enjoyable.  But still not amazing.  I think the compact, crispy style wasn't quite for me - I wanted them puffier, which to me is more crave-worthy.  And there was a slight odd taste to them, they did taste, even under all the sweet coating, healthy.

I was inspired by the idea they suggest to use as a dessert topping, but also, they reminded me sooo much of Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros cereal (which, by the way, I totally adored, particularly the chocolate version), and although the Spudsy marketing never suggests it, I was very tempted to have as cereal.  In a bowl.  With milk.  I had no idea how'd they stand up, as clearly not intended to be soaked in milk, but ... once I get an idea to potentially transform a product, I can't NOT try it.

It ... almost worked.  But, as I somewhat feared, the puffs really weren't designed to be submersed in liquid and got soggy nearly instantly.  Turns out, cereal likely is formulated very specifically, and even cereals that I think get soggy too fast still help up beautifully compared to this.

Alas.  Not great for cereal, but still an enjoyable ice cream topping.

***.

Spicy Vegan Buffalo Ranch.

"This take on a classic combo is sure to have your mouth watering! Spudsy’s Vegan Buffalo Ranch will be a new fan favorite among healthy snackers looking for a fun twist and a little HEAT."

Next I went savory, drawn in by the buffalo aspect of these, although wary of the ranch.  I don't particularly like ranch, and grew up with a sister who loved it, adding copious amounts to basically everything (like, everything.  Not just salads, veggies, pizza ... everything. Mac and cheese?  Dump on a cup of ranch!), and always had horribly smelly Cool Ranch Doritos around.  So I kinda shutter at the thought of ranch sometimes.

The sweet potato base worked better in the savory application, the hearty style matched the seasoning a bit better.  And I still liked the form factor. But, yeah, they tasted like ranch, and I just wans't into that.

**+.