by Bottom Line: This is a delicious cheese snack that delivers quite a kick of heat.
There are plenty of spicy options out there when you are looking for something to munch on, particularly among the salty snacks that promise to bring the heat. But if you are looking for something lower in carbs and/or less processed, you have some options as well. The Cracker Cut cheeses from HEB definitely offer a tasty choice that are low in carbs and deliver some protein, and their Carolina Reaper version definitely packs a punch.
My wife buys the Cracker Cuts at our local HEB on a regular basis, and she particularly likes the Habanero Cheddar flavor. She saw the Carolina Reaper version and decided to pick that up thinking it was just a fancy pepper jack. Apparently the skulls on the label and the heat scale all the way at the Hot level did not clue her into the fact that this cheese snack is not for the meek. She tried a couple of slices and then passed the package to me to finish. (Though she later decided they were not too bad and would sneak a slice or two from time to time.)
This cheese is cut into small slices so that it is the perfect fit on a cracker. But whether you eat it that way or just the cheese itself, the Carolina Reaper Cracker Cuts are quite tasty. The cheese has the creaminess that you would expect from a Monterey Jack, but there is also a sharpness similar to what you would get from a cheddar. I don’t see that cheese as an ingredient, so apparently they just made a sharper jack to go with the spicy peppers. And you definitely taste the chilis like you would with a pepper jack, plus you get a little bit of that raisiny flavor typical of a dried ghost chili.
Most importantly for us chiliheads, this cheese delivers on the heat. I like the Habanero Cheddar flavor, but that only has a slight kick, with the dairy from the cheese offsetting the heat from the chilis. But with the Carolina Reaper cuts, the chili wins! You feel that heat with the first bite, but the cheese counters it initially. But as you take a second or third bite and finish off the slice, the heat builds, taking this to the Hot level promised on the package. It won’t send chiliheads running for a fire extinguisher, but this is definitely a fiery snack with a burn that lingers. And after a few slices, you will likely have had enough, tempering the tendency to keep munching when you have crunchy, salty snacks around.
If you eat the cheese by itself, it certainly counts as a healthier snack than chips. A serving size is three slices which comes in at 100 calories. Even if you grab a couple of extra slices, you are still at around 160 calories which is the same as a “serving size” for chips (though we all know we will eat much more than that). If you pair this cheese with a healthier cracker like Wheat Thins or Triscuits, you should probably still be doing okay if you don’t eat too many.
The Cracker Cuts we buy are HEB brand which is a chain found throughout most of Texas. But I have seen basically the same thing with other store’s names attached, so if you don’t have an HEB near by, you can probably still find some sort of cracker cut cheese. The Carolina Reaper flavor is a “limited edition”, so I don’t know how long it will be around, but if you see it at your local HEB (or a similar version at another store) I recommend picking it up if you are looking for a snack that delivers a kick (and may even count as healthy).
Tale of the Tape:
Ingredients: Cultured pasteurized milk, hot peppers (Jalapeno, Habanero, Carolina Reaper Peppers), salt, enzymes (microbial)
Serving Size: 28g (3 Slices)
Calories: 100
Fat: 8g (5g Sat/0 Trans)
Protein: 7g
Carbs: 0g
Sodium: 210mg
