Crunchy Snacks: Healthy Product Roundup

I’ve had a variety of new products come across my “desk” over the past year or so, and some of them are great, but not really worthy of a whole post. I mean, how much can you say about a cracker? So instead I’ve decided to do a mini-roundup of some of the healthy crunchy snacks we’ve discovered. All of these have passed muster with my gang as healthy crunchy snacks that taste great, too. And they’re all gluten-free.

From the Ground Up

These are the only products in this post that are a bit of an exception to the “tastes great” assessment. Made with cauliflower, the big kids and the grownups in the house were not fans of these. They just taste too cauliflower-y, and that’s weird for us. However, if you’re looking specifically for healthy crunchy snacks for toddlers, these could be a viable choice. My little ones liked these just fine (presumably because they don’t yet know that cauliflower flavor and that texture aren’t “supposed” to go together), and they do provide some extra veggies.

We had the opportunity to try two different products — the pretzels you see here, and some cheddar-flavored crackers. It looks like I failed to get a photo of those outside the package. They’re roughly similar to Cheez-Its, and they look kind of like flat Cheez-Its. (They aren’t as light/”puffy.”)

If you read the ingredients carefully, you’ll notice that the “cheddar” crackers don’t actually contain cheese. They’re dairy-free — sort of. They say they contain milk due to processing on shared equipment, but they don’t actually contain milk ingredients.

Quinn

If you’d prefer a more “normal” pretzel, these from Quinn are pretty good. They’re slightly “harder” (less crispy) than mainstream pretzels, but the difference is pretty negligible. The flavor is good. They’re gluten-free and about as close to the gluten-ful variety as you’ll find. This particular package is the “Touch of Honey” flavor, but the “plain” sea salt ones are good, too.

Laiki

Laiki is one of my favorite new discoveries. These rice-based crackers are delicious and crispy. They’re sturdy enough to top with cheese. They’re made with whole grain. And the ingredients are amazingly “clean.” (These also come in a red variety, but they taste virtually the same.)

These are also an excellent snack for toddlers. It’s a little hard to explain but, although these are crunchy, it’s kind of a “soft” crunchy, so they aren’t likely to poke the roof of the baby’s mouth, and they’ll “gum” well so they’re not likely to pose a choking hazard.

They are small — more of a snack cracker size than a “full” cracker size — so be aware of that.

Milton’s

Milton’s creates several different types of baked goods. They may be best known for their gourmet and organic crackers.

These are not gluten-free. (Although my kids tell me they’re good. I wouldn’t know, because I can’t eat them.)

However, they now have a line of gluten-free snack crackers. We tried the “plain” sea salt variety and the cheddar cheese variety, and they’re both delicious. The cheddar crackers are most similar to Cheese Nips.