Real Snacks: Make Your Favorite Childhood Treats Without All the Junk Paperback – October 30, 2012

This is a great Kindle book deal and cookbook because this book has exceeded my expectations. So I was looking for a Club cracker recipe DIY online but it was hard to find until I stumbled on this cookbook about crackers. So I glanced the customers reviews and the index, if it had what I was looking for.The recipes are kind of unique because it mixes 2 to 3 types of flours to get the texture that you want in the cracker. And yes, I finally found a Club Cracker recipe that I was looking - it's called Savory Crackers. Not only that, you can also find other childhood snacks that you ate and remember back in the day especially the Hostess Ding Dongs or Twinkies without the preservatives and HCF (high fructose corn syrup) where it was made in California. Furthermore, you can find every homemade recipe where famous American brands are sold today on this book like Fig Newtons, Nutter Butter, Girl Scout Cookies Thin Mints, Graham Crackers, and many more. It list a lot of crackers, cookies, snack cakes, frozen treats, confections, dips that goes with the crackers, chips and many more. She also list that these recipes can be vegan when substituting the flours to gluten free flour blend, and the butter to refined coconut oil (so you won't have that funny and funky coconut taste when baking your snacks). I have a co-worker that use coconut oil instead of butter for the cheesy crackers that she made. And she said,"It tasted interesting and didn't quite liked it". So she had to use butter which tasted much better than coconut oil. I cannot blame her for that! ;)Also you may be amazed cute pictures that features old fashioned and vintage mini kitchen gadgets like a pastry cutter that had some ridges on it. And she provides tips, if you want recipes to vegan, gluten free and offers other mini gadgets where you can shop online. Also a good find. Again, this is an awesome book making homemade and real snacks that you remember as a child and growing up without the preservatives, artificial food coloring, and making them better at home either to satisfy your food craving, or maybe great for entertaining like a Movie night or watching the game, etcetera.

So far, most of what I have made from this this book has been easy to put together and tasty. The hot pockets dough was soft and tasty, the cheesy crackers were perfect little morsels of cheesy goodness. My vanilla wafers did not come out as expected, or as pictured, and I made them twice, once with the original flours and the second time with the substitutions... oh, well! My only con is how most recipes require various types of flour (oat, rice, rye, spelt, wheat, etc...) While I understand that each add dept and flavor to the end product without the extra junk that the store-bought version has, it is unpractical to have 6-8 different types of flour taking up space in a (already too small) home pantry...

What can I say? I really love this book. I have made 4 recipes and they all turned out fabulously delicious. The first thing that caught my eye browsing was the crackers sections so the first thing I tried out was the butter crackers. My search for the best homemade crackers is over, these crackers were crispy buttery goodness; my daughter prefers these to store bought wheat thins. It's great with savory spreads, nutella or peanut butter. The gluten free cinnamon rolls are soooo good! My husband has requested the rolls twice already and I've only had the book for a week.I especially love that most of the recipes have a gluten free variation. I have a gluten free kitchen and these recipes are just perfect.

The book I was looking for, used, but in excellent shape, great price, and only took a few days for delivery.

So far Ive made her animal crackers and peanut butter creme cookies, both gluten free and both have turned out great. Took off one star because she doesn't specify a gluten free flour blend (there are a lot of different brands with very different ingredients). I don't know what it was tested with, but I've used Namaste with success.

I love that every recipe in this book has an alternative version for gluten free or uses whole grain or different sweeteners. Not saying that makes things healthier or the snacks are going to turn out exactly like the one's in stores, but anything I can make that doesn't have preservatives or artificial flavors and colors in it, is five stars in my book!

I have just looked through this book and cannot wait to start baking. This book includes all the snack food I grew up with, but with a healthier twist. I loved comparing the differences between ingredients in the book and what is in the actual store bought snack food. I do not think I will even by another processed snack food again.

There's a lot in this book that looks interesting to try. HOWEVER, when the book promised vegan and gluten free options for every recipe, I had expected the gluten free instructions to be better than "sub gluten free flour for the wheat flour." Anyone who does much gluten free baking knows that this is not always the best option, and that certain blends of flours and starches work better in different recipes! I am hoping that the recipes I want to try work out well enough, but am disappointed the author didn't try harder on creating the best possible gluten free recipes.