Cheese crackers (square and animal shaped)

Test date: October 2010

Testers: Michele

Products for this test purchased at Fred Meyer and Whole Foods (Trader Joe's does not sell a cheese cracker at the time of this test).

MICHELE'S OPINION: As I would have expected, the Cheez-Its really have that over-the-top cheesy taste and feel in your mouth while the Pepperidge Farm brand is more like regular crackers with a cheese flavor. So your choice for this product depends on your preference for messy (cheese on the fingers) or not-so-messy crackers. Read on for more details...

Price comparison for 14oz of crackers (store first, then brand)
$7.61 Whole Foods 365 Quack N' Bites
$6.98 Whole Foods 365 Cheese Crackers
$6.51 Whole Foods Annie's Cheddar Bunnies
$5.38 Whole Foods Annie's Organic
$4.86 Fred Meyer Pepperidge Farm Cheddar
$4.86 Fred Meyer Pepperidge Farm Parmesean
$4.86 Fred Meyer Pepperidge Farm Xtra Cheddar
$4.25 Fred Meyer Cheez-It Pepper Jack
$4.25 Fred Meyer Cheez-It White Cheddar
$4.25 Fred Meyer Cheez-It Duoz Sharp Cheddar and Paremesean

1. Cheez-It Baked Snack Crackers, Pepper Jack (Purchased at Fred Meyer; per Kelloggs website, this variety is also available at QFC, Albertson's, Safeway, and Target): This cracker has a whole wheat or nutty taste and is not overly cheezy. Mildly spicy at the end.

2. Cheez-It Bake Snack Crackers, White Cheddar (Purchased at Fred Meyer and available on Amazon Fresh; per Kellogg's website, this variety is also available at KMart, QFC, Albertson's, Safeway, and Target): This cracker is much cheesier than the Pepper Jack variety, with a creamy white cheddar flavor and is just as crunchy.

3. Cheez-It Duoz, Sharp Cheddar and Parmesean (Purhased at Fred Meyer and available on Amazon Fresh; per Kellogg's website, this variety is also available at KMart, QFC, Albertson's, Safeway, and Target): The cheddar crackers are very cheesy, almost decadent. The paremesean flavor are lighter, with less of a creamy taste. Both flavors are crunchy and flaky.

4. Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Baked Snack Crackers, Cheddar (Purchased at Fred Meyer; Pepperidge Farm website does not list other locations for purchase): By comparison to the Cheez-Its, these crackers taste much more like just crackers than cheese crackers. Comparatively a very wheaty taste and no creamy cheese texture.

5. Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Baked Snack Crackers, Parmesean (Purchased at Fred Meyer; Pepperidge Farm website does not list other locations for purchase): This version of a paremsean cracker tastes similar to the flavor when you bake parmesean in the toaster. Very tasty, but not creamy. Light, baked, and crunchy.

6. Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Baked Snack Crackers, Flavor Blasted Xtra Cheddar (Purchased at Fred Meyer; Pepperidge Farm website does not list other locations for purchase): Compared to the regular cheddar flavor of this brand, these leave much more cheese on your fingers when you eat them and do taste cheesier, but they are still not as creamy tasting as the cheddar Cheez-Its.

7. Annie's Cheddar Bunnies (Purchased at Whole Foods and available at Amazon Fresh; per Annie's website, Annie's products are also available at PCC, Albertson's, Safeway, Larry's Market, and QFC): Compared to the other options, these crackers are dry and tasteless. Not cheesy at all.

8. Annie's Organic Bunny Classics Cheddar (Purchased at Fred Meyer and available at Amazon Fresh; per Annie's website, Annie's products are also available at PCC, Albertson's, Safeway, Larry's Market, and QFC): Oddly, these crackers are not shaped like bunnies, but are medium-sized (larger than Cheez-Its ) and come in various shapes. The flavor is not cheesy, but is actually almost sweet. They are a nice cracker on their own but I wouldn't categorize them as cheese crackers necessarily.

9. 365 Organic Cheese Crackers (Only available at Whole Foods): These are shaped like Cheez-Its and have a denser consistency. They taste like raw grains and not like cheese at all.

10. 365 Organic Quack'n Bites Cheese Crackers (Only available at Whole Foods): These are shaped like tiny ducks and do have a mildly cheezy taste, however they are rather dry. But they also have the wheaty taste. They are light and not too salty.

NUTRITIONAL NOTES: (serving size is 30g) All of these products have a similar calorie content per serving, with some Goldfish and 365 products at the low end with 130 calories and Cheez-Its at the high end with 150 calories. A larger difference lies in the fat content, as the Goldfish and 365 products have approximately 5 grams of fat, while the Cheez-It products and Annie's Organic have 7g or 8g of fat per serving. Conversely, the Cheez-It white cheddar variety has the lowest sodium level, at 210g per serving, while all of the other products have salt levels between 250g and 32og. And interestingly, Goldfish products have a considerable amount of protein, at 4g per serving, while the others range between 2g and 3g.

TASTE WINNER: For parmesean flavor, go for the Pepperidge farm for that baked flavor. For all others (cheddar, jack, etc.), stick with Cheez-Its.