S’noods launches snack inspired by a favorite Jewish treat

Sweet Kugel S’noods feature the custard, cinnamon, and vanilla flavors of the traditional noodle dish.

Courtesy of S'noods

Chef-driven noodle snack brand S’noods has announced its first sweet-savory flavor, Sweet Kugel. Launching just in time for the Jewish high holidays, the snack is inspired by kugel, a beloved Jewish noodle dish.

“We showcase REAL dishes, not those inspired by SEO or fads, so I didn’t want to make up a dish just so we could sell something sweet,” says Lauryn Bodden, S’noods founder and winner of the Netflix competition show Snack vs Chef. “That said, I’ve eaten and cooked many a kugel between growing up with many Jewish friends, living in New York, and working in food media. It felt like a great chance to connect with a huge community that has deeply impacted my culinary career.”

According to the company, while nearly every home has its own take on the sweet noodle-centric dish, the Sweet Kugel S’noods put a modern twist on the nostalgic holiday treat. It features a blend of custard, cardamom, cinnamon and a hint of caramelized vanilla, with a crunch to evoke the crispy, golden-brown noodle edges found in the home-baked version.

“Our chips are cardamom forward since this is a beautiful warm spice I love to cook with personally and it’s common in the kugel dish,” Bodden reveals. “Plus, we learned through our product testing that those who know kugel love it for the crispy noodle bits on top of the baked dish. I believe we captured this bite just-right with our golden-brown chips.”

Bodden reports the Sweet Kugel S’noods involved a great deal of trial and error—and of course tasting—to get the recipe just right.

“I tested the original version last winter when I was in my commercial kitchen before our official launch and it even included candied apricots,” she shares. “We were all really excited to eventually release with our manufacturing partner and create something even better. The hardest part of our R&D process was figuring out how to impart the cheesy (most often cottage cheese) aspect of kugel that isn’t just a custard profile. This was much easier on a smaller scale from my commercial kitchen, but finding a larger supplier for manufacturing took time. Plus, we wanted to keep this vegan like the rest of our products as another mission of ours is ensuring everyone has a seat at the snack table, no matter their dietary restriction.”

In addition to being vegan, the S’noods take on kugel is also gluten-free and kosher. The MSRP for a three-pack of the snacks is $21.99, and $40.99 for a six-pack.

VIDEO: Talking chef-driven snacking with Lauryn Bodden of S'noods

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Jenni Spinner is the chief editor of Snack Food and Wholesale with more than 25 years of experience in business-to-business communications. She has written extensively about food production, safety and packaging; pharmaceutical drug development; concrete and masonry construction; and more. She holds a Bachelor’s in Communications from the University of Illinois. Jenni can be reached at spinnerj@bnpmedia.com.

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