Awesome Snacks

Tortilla chips are Mexican food, so it’s a little strange to see a Japanese factory cranking out chips by the millions. Process X visited Koikeya to see how they turn corn kernels into deliciously crunchy snack foods. After boiling corn, machines mash it up into a doughy paste, cut that into triangles, bake and fry those before adding seasonings and packaging.

Lay’s teamed up with IHOP to bring breakfast flavors to potato chips. These special edition snacks blend natural and artificial flavorings to make them taste like pancakes with strawberry topping, maple syrup, and smoky bacon. Walmart had them on sale for a limited time for just $2.99 a bag, but prices are already rising on eBay for the things.

Here’s a great Valentine’s Day gift for men. Meathearts are tasty morsels of beef jerky cut in the shape of hearts. Like those classic Conversation Hearts candies, each is embellished with a romantic phrase like “Kiss Me,” “Meat Me,” and “Beef Mine.” Choose from Original or Spicy – with just slightly more racy words. Each gift box comes with about 16 pieces.

Japan Crate hand picks the trendiest treats from Japan and boxes up a different variety of tasty goodies each month for mailings. Filled with colorfully-wrapped individual servings, it’s a party in a box, often including brands like Lotte, Calbee, Kit-Kat, and Crunchyroll in unusual flavors not found stateside. Sold in 1-, 3-, 6- and 12-month subscriptions.

When we’re dragging, one of our go-to snacks is peanut butter and cheese sandwich crackers. They offer a savory mix of carbs and protein and help us power through. Science Channel’s How It’s Made goes inside the Lance factory to see how they’re baked, cut, and assembled, and where that orange color comes from.

Now that we know about the history of mustard, it’s time to learn about one of its companion foods. Mental Floss’ Food History is here to explain where the first pretzels came from, how they evolved from a religious food into the popular snack we know and love today, and why we have both soft and hard versions.

Send a big aloha to our Hawaiian friends by checking out Big Island Coffee Roasters. Not only do they roast the very best Hawaiian coffee, they make ingenious coffee-to-go in bar form. Espresso Bites look like a candy bar but are a solidified version of espresso instead of chocolate. Don’t just drink your coffee. Eat it!

Combining and balancing flavors in an unexpected yet delicious way, these 36% milk chocolate bars have been infused with Sriracha hot sauce and a dash of pink Himalayan salt, resulting in a perfect mix of sweet and spicy. The 2.5 oz. bars also come in 55% dark chocolate and 70% dark chocolate versions.

Popcorn is a tasty and addictive snack food most associated with carnivals and movies. But who first discovered that certain kinds of corn would pop when heated, and how did popcorn eventually make its way to the concession stand? Find out in this brief history lesson from TEDEd.

Inspired by that commercial where the guy plays drums on his Pringles cans, Eric and Tony G from EMCproductions made their own set of drums out of potato crisp (and Gatorade) cans. They replaced the plastic lids with balloons as drum heads and used their metal bottoms as “cymbals.”

This goofy-looking gadget reminds us of Wolverine’s bone claws. The SNACTIV is designed to keep your fingers free of Cheetos and Doritos dust while performing other tasks. They work sort of like a pair of chopsticks, but they require none of the operational skill.

While they might not be good for us, Little Debbie snacks are a serious guilty pleasure. Weird History Food delves into the origins and evolution of the company that gave us classics like Star Crunch, Swiss Cake Rolls, and Oatmeal Creme Pies. And yes, Little Debbie is a real person.

This satisfying compilation video from Food Kingdom takes us on a tour of five factories in Korea that make different kinds of foods. We start off with rainbow-colored cake layers, followed by corn chip snacks, deep-fried and stuffed tofu pouches, chocolate nut mini brownies, and chocolate cakes. We’re so hungry now.

Matt Thompson loves to build things to make life in and around his house more convenient. Among his many creative inventions is this lawnmower tray which lets him snack, enjoy a cold beverage, and watch the game while cutting the grass. He’s also made a version for his treadmill.

Taking a page out of Back to the Future II, Hawaii’s Holomua Kitchen makes and sells skinny slices of freeze-dried pepperoni pizza, packed in an airtight bag. We haven’t tasted this crispy, crunchy snack food yet, but the 5-star reviews on Etsy sound quite promising.

This video from National Geographic dates back to 2012, but we figured Funyuns are timeless so what the heck. The clip takes us inside one of Frito-Lay’s factories, where the crunchy fake onion rings are cranked out by the millions every day. In case you were wondering, they’re made from puffed cornmeal, much like Corn Pops.

We love us some nice crispy French fries. Mental Floss host Justin Dodd digs into the origins of this fast food staple, its varieties, and why it’s become one of the most popular side dishes on earth. Along the way, you’ll enjoy a snack of potato chips and Tater Tots.

Say cheers to Hilliard’s Craft Beer Brittle. Cooked in copper kettles, and packed with crunchy spanish peanuts, fresh brewed beer from the Shovel Town Brewery creates a buttery, nutty flavor with enough hoppiness to balance things out. Perfect for microbrew fans.

This limited-edition popcorn adds a delicious touch of cinnamon and sugar to Smartfood’s calorie-conscious crunchy snack. The reviews say it tastes more like those cinnamon twists from Taco Bell than a cupcake, but we’re good with that too.

Energy bars shouldn’t taste like sawdust or be as caloric as candy bars. Kate’s Real Food Bars stand out in a crowded field by delivering delicious, nutritious whole-foods bars made from organic ingredients like nut butters, fruit, and the complex carbs of oats and crispy brown rice. No soy, gluten, GMOs, or junk. Sold in 12-packs.

Opopop injects new life into a snack staple with its line of “flavor-wrapped” kernels. The crunchy popcorn comes in sweet and savory flavors like Vanilla Cake Pop, Salted Umami, Cinnalicious, and Chedapeño. Grab their $40 Discovery Kit, and you’ll get a microwaveable popping bowl along with sample packs of six flavors.

Craving carbs? White Mountain’s 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle is covered with images of Hostess snack cakes like Twinkies, HoHos, Ding Dongs, and Suzy Qs. We can’t guarantee it won’t make you hungry, but it will give you something to do other than running to the pantry to snack while you’re stuck at home.

Halloween 2020 is going to be different than normal, with trick-or-treating restricted for many. Vintage Candy Co.’s care package is a great way to make the holiday special. It comes with more than 90 candies including some full-size bars, hard-to-find treats, and decorative skulls, eyeballs, pumpkins, and fangs.