Proper Crackerbread - Original product reviews

To be honest I was not sure what I was expecting. With the name crackerbread I had assumed it was cracker shapes made out of bread, I was rather excited. When I opened the packet up it reminded me of crusty goodness filled with seeds. I got a little shock when I touched it and it felt like a cracker so I put some plain cheese on it so we could experience the actual crackerbread for itself.

I gave two too my husband and two for myself while watching tv. I was surprised at solid the cracker was - it did not crumble or fall apart. It was a nice crunchy mouthful and before I had even finished my first bite my husband screamed out 'wow that is good'. He thought the flavours blended together perfectly and the plain cheese did not detract from the crackerbread at all. He even said he could easily just eat the crackerbread by itself and now he knew what his stepbrother had been talking about.

Where as I enjoyed the cheese and the crackerbread together I think next time I would add a liquid to it like tomatoes just to soften it a little. I agreed it is a meal on its own and it has the nutty taste to it. A little goes a long way and I could see the packet lasting a couple of nights at least if is just the two of us. The next sitting I will be cutting the crackerbread in half as it is rather long. I also am interested in trying it with a camembert which I find adds to nutty flavours.

This is definitely a surprise in such a little packet. It is full of flavour and if in a big group setting I can not see the ten crackers lasting for too long. I can see why the Scandinavians countries use this as a substitute for bread, although for the price it is rather costly when you only get a few crackerbreads for it. I might be tempted to buy again for a special occasion but not for a normal every night occurrence.

I don't know that I've ever had crackerbread before. I've definitely had crackers, and definitely had bread before, but a hybrid of the two? Not too sure.

You get 10 pieces per pack and they are about 8cm long by about 4cm wide, and are slightly thinner than your average cracker. The strength sits in the middle; not quite cracker strength, but definitely tougher than bread, with a lovely roasted quality that isn't totally consistent, which creates a gorgeous array of flavours. The roasted nature really unlocks the flavour as well, with the cracker supporting an abundance of seeds (sesame, sunflower, and pumpkin) and pink Himalayan salt; anyone that has eaten peanuts will know that roasted and unroasted peanuts are two very different flavours.

The pumpkin seeds have been mulched down to a similar size alongside the sesame and sunflower seeds, letting no ingredient outshine the other. It creates a broad distribution of flavour; nutty, earthy, salty, sweet, and it brings it all together in a cohesive product that you can eat straight out of the packet. You don't need to add anything on top of this. You can simply nibble on it as it is, and the bread element will fill you up way faster than a standalone cracker would. But I have some champagne ham to eat today, so I was keen to see how well the crackerbread stood up to the usual cracker uses.

It works well with dipping and manages to not break under the pressure of a boatload of garlic hummus. The array of subtle flavours means the cracker merges with a piece of simple cheddar cheese and ham, complementing the sharpness and tang, it makes all of the different elements of the snack "one".

The only downside that I see from this product is that the serving size is one piece of crackerbread. 57.5 calories per cracker. I didn't read that until just now and I have already eaten four of them since I started writing this review. I guess I can definitely say that they are moreish, but it's a hefty price on my diet if I have too many of these. The flavour is absolutely impeccable and well worth the seemingly hefty price, but it's definitely going to require a lot of will power to not eat the entire packet before tomorrow. Why must things taste so so good?

Love it, and I'm happy to hear that Proper Crisps are ensuring that crackerbread is here to stay!

Made to a traditional recipe in the traditional hand-rolled method, these are a long-term Danish snack. Known as Knækbrød, these are a seed and grain crisp bread cracker that is just as versatile as the mass-produced, more well-known brands, but is a lot healthier because it lacks many of the additives modern recipes include as fillers.

I took the opportunity offered by the timing of a friend supplying me with some fresh avocados the week before which were coming ripe at the same time as these crackers became available, and the arrival of the Farmland Foods' new Lunch Club ham range to make myself a healthy but tasty snack, and instantly fell in love with the texture and flavour of the crackerbread. It was a nicely balanced flavour of nuttiness and saltiness to partner well with the creamy richness of fresh avocado and the slightly spicy meatiness of the thin slices of ham. A pinch of rock salt sprinkled on the avocado in the second round topped it off perfectly.

The following day, it was something fresher, with quartered cherry tomatoes and torn fresh basil with a grind of black pepper and flaked chilli combo. Once again the nittiness and earthy tones of the crackerbread gave a great base to build the brighter flavours on, making a healthy snack taste like a luxury treat.

With the last of the crackers, it was time for a more kid-friendly flavour - peanut butter. The cracker was all about structure in that one, as the flavours were so well aligned it was hard to pick which partner each taste was supplied by. It stayed crisp and solid, without shattering into shards on the first bite. By the time I was half-way through though, it was starting to suffer structural failure, but the tacky peanut putter held the bits in place long enough to get them on the next bite, without losing bits to gravity.

Overall, while a little expensive for most daily budgets, these are, for me, an affordable luxury that helps give the feelings of a guilty snack, but without the penalties of unhealthy snacking. If I spot these on special, I'll be grabbing them in bulk.

We took this product to our friends' house so that we could try the crackerbread in a variety of ways and get everyone's thoughts. One of them is vegan so we had him in mind - he would be able to eat his share and mix-and-match with the toppings. As for us, we eat pretty well anything and were just looking forward to the experience. I travelled through Scandinavia some years ago and sampled different varieties of breads and crackers, but when I looked at this product I did not remember trying anything quite like this. Now was my chance.

We put an assortment of toppings on a tray so everyone could build his or her own snack. I wanted to be traditional and try it with a plain hard cheese and tomato - the authentic Kiwi combination that is usually served with cream crackers or water biscuits. My family used to eat crackers this way on many occasions, usually adding a large helping of black pepper on top. However, there was plenty more to choose from: at my request, my friends had raided their fridge and cupboards and we were presented with plates of sliced cold meat, smoked salmon, different cheeses, sliced beetroot, pickles, sliced tomatoes, and vegan mayonnaise. There were even two pottles of salmon and vegan pate.

Before I decorated my own biscuit, I tasted the product on its own. It was superb: the nutty flavour and crunchy texture were satisfying in themselves, and one biscuit was surprisingly filling. They were just the right thickness, not too thin, and reasonably resistant to crumbling. We had broken one biscuit into five pieces so that each of us could try some before adding anything else. There were no children there so we could not get any feedback from a young person, but I think our own kids would probably enjoy them too. They would be a good healthy after-school snack and would be much better than the instant noodles and other fast foods favoured by some of the younger generation.

The toppings all worked well; the biscuits are versatile enough to accommodate different flavours. I am not sure how I would feel about a sweet topping but that is just me; I prefer savoury foods anyway. However, one of our friends who is contemplating going on a diet said she would find the biscuits useful to wean herself off her usual plain sweet biscuits because she would not be inclined to dunk them, and they are considerably lower in calories and higher in fibre than the snack she habitually buys. Even for someone not trying to lose weight, they are a healthy option as they contain only natural products and no refined sugar.

We finished the packet in record time and would have eaten another cracker apiece if there had been any left. However, they are quite pricey so would probably be a special occasion treat rather than something I would buy every day. I would certainly include some on a tray of nibbles at Christmas time and on other festive occasions. Although they are hand made and therefore labour intensive to produce, it might be useful to be able to buy them in a larger packet for bigger gatherings. I would be interested in that, but in the meantime I will be looking out for the regular packet in my local shops.