Jacob's Cracker Crisps Sour Cream and Chive, 150g

Jacob's Cracker Crisps sit between a cracker and a crisp: thin, square, oven baked snacks made from a wheat and potato dough, seasoned like a crisp. Sour Cream and Chive is the cool, creamy flavour of the range. This is the 150g sharing bag, which the label divides into six 25g servings. The full product name on the pack is Sour Cream and Chive Flavour Crisp Snack Biscuits.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the cracker crisps are made from flour (wheat flour with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin), vegetable oils (sunflower and palm), dried potato, starch, a sour cream and chive flavour (milk), maltodextrin, sugar, glucose syrup, raising agents (ammonium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate and disodium diphosphate), salt and an emulsifier.

The seasoning

The sour cream and chive flavour lists salt, dried onion, natural flavouring, dextrose, dried whey (milk), maltodextrin, potassium chloride, sugar, vegetable oils (palm, sunflower, coconut and rapeseed), parsley, chives, lactose (milk) and dried cream (milk).

Sour cream and chive

Dried cream, whey and lactose give the seasoning its cool, milky side, and dried onion, chives and parsley the green, oniony one, the flavours of a soured cream and chive dip.

A cracker and a crisp

The dough of wheat flour and dried potato is rolled thin, cut into squares and baked, so the snack has the snap of a cracker and the seasoning of a crisp. The pack calls them crisp snack biscuits.

Oven baked

The pack says the cracker crisps are oven baked. The sunflower and palm oils are part of the dough rather than a frying oil.

Three raising agents

Ammonium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate and disodium diphosphate lighten the dough in the oven, which gives the thin squares their crisp, slightly blistered bite.

Potassium chloride

Potassium chloride sits in the seasoning beside the salt. It tastes salty but contains no sodium, and the salt figure on a UK label is worked out from sodium.

No MSG

The pack says there is no MSG and no artificial colours or flavours.

Fortified flour

UK wheat flour is fortified with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin, which is why those four appear in brackets after the flour.

Palm oil

The pack says the oil palm products in the recipe are certified to come from RSPO segregated sources, kept separate from uncertified palm oil along the supply chain.

Numbers for a serving

The label gives 117 kcal (493 kJ), 4.9g of fat, 1.3g of saturates, 16.6g of carbohydrate, 1.7g of sugars, 0.6g of fibre, 1.4g of protein and 0.5g of salt for a 25g serving. That is about 6% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 7% of the fat and 8% of the salt.

Numbers per 100g

Per 100g the label gives 470 kcal (1971 kJ), 19.6g of fat, 5g of saturates, 66.4g of carbohydrate, 6.8g of sugars, 2.5g of fibre, 5.7g of protein and 1.8g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 19.6g and salt at 1.8g are red, while saturates at 5g and sugars at 6.8g are amber.

Against the balsamic flavour

We also stock Jacob's Cracker Crisps Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar in the same 150g bag. Both are thin, oven baked squares of wheat and potato; the balsamic one is sweet and sharp, and this one cool and creamy.

Dried potato

Dried potato is the third ingredient, after the flour and the oils. It gives the thin squares a light crunch and a potato flavour under the seasoning.

Sugars

Sugar, glucose syrup and maltodextrin help the dough brown and crisp in the oven. The label gives 6.8g of sugars per 100g, amber, and 1.7g in a serving.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight wheat, in the flour, and milk, in the whey, lactose and dried cream of the seasoning. The pack's allergy advice says the cracker crisps may also contain sesame, egg, soya and mustard. The pack says they are suitable for vegetarians; they are not vegan, because of the milk, and they are not suitable for anyone avoiding gluten. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

A sharing bag

Six 25g servings make this a bag for a table, a film night or a bowl beside the drinks. Once the bag is open, the pack advises an airtight container, which keeps the squares crisp.

With a dip

The flat squares are sturdy enough for a dip: a tomato salsa, a houmous or a garlic and herb soft cheese.

On a cheese board

Cracker crisps suit a cheese board as much as a crisp bowl: set them beside a mature cheddar, grapes and a chutney.

With drinks

The cool, oniony seasoning goes with a cold lager, a crisp white wine or a sparkling elderflower.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the cracker crisps make a crunchy, herby crumb for the top of a fish pie or a potato gratin.

Who it suits

Sour Cream and Chive suits anyone who likes a cool, creamy flavour on a crisp, baked snack. It is not suitable for anyone avoiding gluten or milk.

Storage and packaging

The pack advises a cool, dry place, and an airtight container once opened. The recycling guidance says the bag can be recycled with carrier bags at larger supermarkets rather than at home.

The maker

The pack names Jacob's Bakery, with a freepost address in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire.

The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.