The N Cracker AA: Nominations
It’s time for the N Cracker AA — together, we’ll choose the best cracker of them all.
You probably know how this works already, but in case you’ve never been here before: Keckler and I will make a big old list of kinds of crackers, with your help; we’ll randomize ’em and put ’em in flights; then we’ll write about ’em and you’ll fight about ’em and then we’ll have a winner. (Check out the introduction to Cinemarch Madness for an idea of how the N Cracker AA will go. No brackets this time.)
A few things to know:
- not sure what we’re doing with “sandwich crackers”; feel free to nominate them
- graham crackers are out, for the same reason tomatoes are a vegetable — in other words, if it’s a “digestive cracker” most people “use as” a cookie, it’s out
- …but Goldfish are in
- yes, you can nominate different types of the same brand
Three (3) nominations per comment, please. You can second as many as you like, and you can re-comment, but please make an effort to read the thread at least cursorily. Thanks!
Now, my Carr’s Cheese Melts and I are going to kick back and see what you come up with. Questions/arguments, let us know! You have ’til Tuesday July 30.
Tags: food Keckler The N Cracker AA
Nth-ing Triscuits
Adding Pretzel Crisps, and Trader Joe’s Savory Thins
@kid snarly you mean knekkebrod?
Topped with butter, thinly sliced radishes & a sprinkle of course salt…heaven
I am with Leigh in CO. Zestas are far superior than Nabisco Saltines. We were a Nabisco family, and I was so jealous of the Smiths down the street who served Zestas. Are you going brand-specific? Trader Joe’s has super yummy oyster crackers and delicious pita crackers. Mmmm, salty goodness.
Triscuits – the rosemary and olive oil ones are perfection.
Goldfish crackers – I cannot keep an open bag of these around my house for more than a day because I am always, always, ALWAYS going back for “just one more handful”. Whenever the Winn-Dixie has their 10-for-$10 special on them, my diet becomes nearly 100% carbs for a week.
Chicken in a Biskit – My family’s go-to cracker for the pre-dinner snack trays on Thanksgiving and Christmas. They sound like they should be revolting, and yet they defy all odds to be quite tasty.
Carr’s Rosemary Crackers will kick the butt of every other cracker out there.
I also recently discovered the Roasted Garlic flavored Triscuits. Yummmmmm.
But can I get any love for the Ritz? I can eat a sleeve of those in a sitting. Don’t tell my doctor.
Oh, and the Keebler Town House crackers are awesome with the Wispride Cheddar spread. Again, please don’t tell my doctor.
Nth-ing Club and Wheat Thins. And I’ll throw in Saltines- they won’t win, but hey, they’re versatile and reliable.
from the crisp bread family: Kavli 5 Grain (with cream cheese and olives, mmm)
from the supermarket staple family: Nthing original Triscuits
from the too fancy to buy regularly family: Jan’s Farmhouse Crisps.
Back to Nature Crispy Wheat crackers — the natural-ingeredient version of Wheat Thins, but they’re even better than Wheat Thins.
Nabisco Premium Saltines — still the best thing for peanut butter.
Parmesan Goldfish — addictive little bastards.
@Melissa, Thanks. That looks like them.
Love that no one is suggesting Matzoh!
I haven’t had Chicken in a Biscuit in years. They were practically a food group on childhood vacations. Although I suspect to fully recreate the experience, I’ll also need some Merkt’s cheese spread and a thin veneer of Banana Boat.
Nominating Blue Diamond Almond crackers, particularly the sea salt variety.
Hell yes, @jennie.
Vinta by Dare is the cracker to end all crackers. It holds up well to soft cheese and hard cheese, and it’s fantastic on its own as a snacking cracker. SO GOOD.
Cheezits are like crack in my house.
And I’m a huge fan of those Townhouse Flipside Pretzel Cracker things. Can’t get them in Canada, so I stock up when I’m in the US.
Nth-ing (Original) Triscuits, Ritz, Keebler Club
Pretzel Goldfish
Ritz Main Street Original Toasted Chips
And a Sandwich nomination: Keebler Toast & Peanut Butter. Cause NOM!
Well, Nip Chee, I guess I have you all to myself.
Trader Joe’s Pita Puffs
John Wm. Macy’s CheeseSticks
Cream crackers (the very best for jam)
Low-salt Triscuits
Goldfish (original)
Low-salt stoned wheat thins.
…I basically don’t like salt, unless there is also cheese.
For us gluten-free folk, how about Nut Thins? I’m partial to the pecan ones, myself. And, they’re so tasty, that my non-gluten-free best friend got her whole family eating them. It’s the exclusive cracker of her household!
Another vote for Wasa, in any flavor or form.
Trader Joe’s has a ton of great crackers, but I am not sure they can really be in the running because they probably aren’t widely available. I like the Rosemary Raisin crisps (sounds weird, but they are heaven with some triple cream brie) and the Corn Tortilla crackers (basically a seeded flatbread-type cracker).
Triscuits
Ak-Mak (that GIF made me laugh for at least five minutes, so thank you for that)
Blue Diamond Almond Nut Thins (cheddar cheese)
I can’t eat most of these crackers anymore due to their gluten containing ways, but Mary’s organic crackers & Glutino Cheddar crackers help keep me from feeling too deprived…
Second – Trader Joe’s Pita bites
Also, Stoned Wheat Thins
Trader Joe’s multiseed with soy sauce crackers
I define a cracker to be truly superior when I do not need anything else to enjoy it when I eat it. No dip, no cheese, no nothing.
Wheat Thins.
Cheez-its.
Oyster Crackers
BAM…the end.
I don’t know if there’s a discontinued product out there that bothers me as much as does the unavailability of Cheddar Fetti. I still like their Whale crackers (and better than Goldfish), but it’s just not the saaaaame.
– Stauffer’s Cheddar Fetti
– Stauffer’s Whales
– Sunshine Krispy Saltines (Fie to the restaurants that give out Premium instead. Fie I say.)
Triscuits Olive Oil & Rosemary. My father-in-law got these one time, and now the entire extended family is hooked. Plus they must be good for you if they have olive oil, right?
@Lis, I *loved* those swiss-cheese crackers. I still find myself looking for them around the Chicken in a Biskits.
Most of my favorites have already been nominated:
Carr’s rosemary crackers
cheddar Goldfish
Cheez-Its (original variety)
original Triscuits
I don’t think anyone else has nominated Carr’s poppy-seed-and-sesame crackers, so I will.
Club Crackers
Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuits
Pepperidge Farms Pumpernickle Sticks – not sure if they still make these as I haven’t seen them in years, but they are excellent. Very good for dipping.
Oh my goodness, Chicken in a Biscuit!!! On a family driving vacation eons ago, my brother and I found out there was actually such a cracker, and spent the entire car ride thinking of an appropriate commercial jingle for said cracker (the end result: “Chicken in a Biscuit, Mom, hooray!”. Um, yeah, we were 12). Yep, it was a long car ride for my folks!!
Anyway, here goes:
Ritz – cuz everything tastes better, yadda yadda.
Cheez-Its – original
Cheez-Its – white cheddar
Pepperidge Farm Butterfly Crackers (NOT the mixed box – just the butterflies)
Sesame Melba Toast
Milton’s Cornbread Crackers
Word to Brady – I never knew how strongly I felt.
Ritz Townhouse – classic for the win!
Breton Wheat Crackers – for the fancy parties where I whip out the brie.
Cheez It Baby Swiss version – totally yummy!
Rye Triscuit (the BEST, but hard to find. mmm… Reuben snacks)
Pretzel Goldfish
Wasa crisps
I take back Wasa… oyster crackers are better!
Original Triscuits
Parmesan Goldfish–I seriously take a bag of these with me when I go to the coast to go surfing. Every. Single. Time. So delicious.
Trader Joe’s Savory Thin Mini Crackers. I can’t find crack on the ingredient list, but it has to be in there because I literally eat the entire bag in one sitting. I’m not allowed to have them at home anymore for that exact reason.
@HLM: Pilot biscuits are the most awful thing known to humankind. I had to subsist on them for 2 weeks on an Outward Bound course 15 years ago and still shudder at the memory. Cardboard is right!!
Flipsides Pretzel (original)
Keebler Club crackers
Cheez-its
As a Canadian gal living close enough to the US for regular cross-border shopping, I always see those Chicken in a Biskit crackers and have thought they sounded bizarro…sounds like I should pick some up!
Wheat Thins (topped with whipped cream cheese)
Captain’s Wafers that come in the little two-pack with the Greek salad at my fave Greek restaurant here in Charleston
In honor of my late grandmama, “a pack of nabs” (preferably from Hiotts drugstore with a fountain coke)
Better Cheddars
Waverly crackers
And Chicken-in-a-Biscuit, because it still amazes me they are a thing.
Everything I would have suggested has already been mentioned, but I have to give a particular shout-out to Carr’s Rosemary Crackers. I love any type of Ritz-esque, buttery cracker, and these seem even more golden and buttery than most, with the added bonus of woodsy, fragrant rosemary. They’re awesome plain, but smothering them in a soft cheese like Brie or Taleggio is my favorite way to go. I could see the crackers not being everyone’s jam though; rosemary’s a pretty distinct herb.
I always forget how ridiculously excited I get about the food-related bracket tournaments here until a new one starts up.
Rye Triscuits, White Cheddar Cheezits, Sesame Carrs. (What?)
Cheez-Its of course. AkMak and Stoned Wheat Thins. Carr’s Water Crackers. Can we count Stacy’s Pita Chips? They’re really more cracker-like than chip-like. And what about bagel chips? I used to be able to eat an entire package of garlic ones in a sitting.
Flipsides, as the best cracker/pretzel ever. I literally cannot have a box in my house longer than a day.
Nabisco (I think they’re Nabisco) Sea Salt and Olive Oil Flatbread Crisps are one of the most universally desirable crackers I’ve ever tasted or served.
Ritz, man. Plain ol’ Ritz has been my favorite since I was little. As in, I would beg for a box of Ritz at the grocery store over cookies.
New York Style Bagel Crisps! Wee little crunchy bagel slices, so so good. I dip ’em in cream cheese. Sometimes that’s dinner.
Oh, man, Chicken in a Biskit is going to go on a tear in this thing, and as of now, it seems I’m the only one grossed out by them. They have this weird sweet note that I get sometimes in flavor powders–Cool Ranch Doritos also has it. Uck, blerg.
Anyway, I’m with the folks nominating Stoned Wheat Thins. I’ll back Scout’s play on the Rainforest Crisps, even though I get angry every time I spend $8 on a box, I instantly forgive the price when eating them. And my last nominee is the Hot and Spicy Cheez-It, where the jalapeno Tabasco flavoring adds just enough vinegariness to the proceedings. Mmm.
It’s kind of amazing to me (though perhaps it shouldn’t be) how much fun I’m anticipating in the N Cracker AA. I’m also surprised (and I know I shouldn’t be) at how many of these nominations are actually made by the same company, or at least owned by the same corporate parent. It’s the Great Cracker Conglomerate! (And why didn’t I notice this with cereal or cookie brackets?)
I’m happy to see Stoned Wheat Thins, a great favourite of mine, nominated, as well as Raincoast Crisps. I don’t think they’ll go as far as they ought, since they’re not that well known (?), but they’re DEE-LISH. I was thinking that maybe Raincoast Crisps and Vinta might only be for sale in Canada, but I guess not. I love Wasa (most varieties) but I have to nominate Finn Crisp. I don’t see them yet. So crunchy and good! I also love Carr’s Water Biscuits, and I buy the assorted box when I ever I put out a platter of cheeses. My favourite are they little round “Wholemeal” biscuits, which aren’t sold by themselves anymore – if they were, they might be disqualified for falling on the disgestive cookie side of the line. But they’re mighty fine with some runny cheese, people.
You know what are the the worst? Those board-like “snackbread” things (not like Wasa or Ryvita at all) that have a sort of spongy texture, but really light and dry – like the ugly lovechild of melba toast and styrofoam. God, what are those things called? They’re one for the Revolting Snacks of America page.
Stoned Wheat Thins
Triscuit
the thick, round cracker in the Carr’s entertainment collection. Slightly sweet. Google was not helpful!
@Sharon, it’s the Wheat Cracker, and sleeves of them got me through finals every year.
Captain’s Wafers
Toasteds (Wheat flavor)
Pepper Jack Cheez-Its
Stoned Wheat Thins!
Raincoast Crisps!
Mary’s Organic!
Mmm, crackers.
Triscuit Rosemary and Olive Oil. With a nice English Cheddar on top.
And YES to Melba Toasts! They remind me of my mom, and also of Jason’s Deli because I always load up on Melba Toast packets at the salad bar.
Wheat Thins — for playing communion with when I was 9. [Also still quite delish.]
OH YUM.
Chikin in a Biskit!!! Amazing!
Townhouse. Classic and buttery.
Ye olde original Cheezit. I want to fill my sarcophagus with those bad boys.
I have to push for REDUCED FAT Cheezits. I know, I know. But I’m NOT a reduced fat kinda girl. I learned of their wondrousness from another non-reduced-fat-girl. They are the same great flavor as regular Cheezits, but crispier! Even my husband has made the switch. Try it. I promise you’ll not be disappointed.
My husband requests Vegetable Thins, because he eats a box in a sitting.
Also, oyster crackers.