There are a number of ’other’ snacks that seemingly defy categorization.  They’re neither potato chips, nor corn chips.  Most of these are based on dough, though others are based on deep fried fats or starches.

Dough snacks

Many simpler and bland tasting snacks are made of dough.  These typically require additional spreads or dips to enhance their flavor.

Pretzels are an old-time carnival favorite, and they’ve also experienced something of a renaissance with a slew of new fast-food pretzel shops.  You can eat pretzels with mustard, but you can also have many other things like cheese, onions, and even meat with your pretzel if it’s big enough!

Crackers are another popular snack made of dough.  They’re more popular as a base for appetizers with cheese and meat.  Crackers come in many shapes, consistencies, and sizes.  The most recognizable crackers are saltines like Premium Plus and Ritz butter crackers.

An interesting spin on the whole cracker idea is Combos.  They’re small, bite-sized cracker tubes filled with cheese.  There are also a bunch of spin-offs, including pretzel Combos, pizza-flavored Combos, and nacho Combos. 

Deep Fried Goodness

Some snacks just don’t look natural.  There is a class of snacks out there that relies on deep-frying some sort of batter or fat product.

Pork rinds are a big favorite of men in America.  They’re made from pork fat by-products and have a certain smoky taste that is rather unique in the snack world.  They look rather unhealthy but many manufacturers claim that you can lose weight by eating pork rinds!  Their argument is that though they have fat, it’s a good kind of fat to have if you can avoid the bad ones.  You should probably not take this to heart though, just by looking at how much grease comes off those things should convince you that a bag here and there is the most you can handle.

Cheese snacks are another interesting use of frying oil.  They consist of some cheese mixed into a batter mix.  Unlike potato chips and corn chips, the batter is not based directly on any form of vegetable.  The biggest name in cheese snacks is Cheetos.  They come in many different sizes and vary from light to crunchy.  Though they are a delightful snack, they’re really unnatural compared to other snack food products.  Plus they leave your hands stained a really bright orange!