Homemade Snapea crisps?

[April Dawn]

Hello all!

My one year old LOVES those baked snapea crisps, but they're kind of pricey! Does anyone know how to make a homemade version? TIA!

[Magelet]

the puffed crunchy things? I don't think they can be made at home, though if they can, I'd love it.

[Chicky2]

I don't know, but I can tell you I buy them by the case on Amazon for cheaper than I can get them at a grocery store. Besides, here in my tiny town, they don't even have them! I would have to get my dh to get them while he's in the metroplex.

[Pariah]

OMG, I would love to make these at home. They're so addictive.

[Astrea]

I would love to be able to make these at home too but like the PP said, I doubt it's possible. I think they're like rice crackers--not something you can really reproduce with home equipment and techniques.

I'd love to be proved wrong, though!

[Chicky2]

I'd be willing to give it a go in my dehydrator....Just gotta get some sugar snap peas. Let's see....let's talk texture and ingredients...anyone have a bag handy? I think I remember reading they had corn, peas, (and oil maybe, but maybe that's corn oil?) and salt in the ingredients...I'm thinking toss w/ oil and roll in cornmeal and dehydrate. Or something more fine like masarepa? Wait, they are baked, I think, so maybe dehydrate on a higher temp, or even in my solar one (I'm in Texas and it's going to be 106 w/the heat index tomorrow so it'll easily get to 185*F or so).

[Chicky2]

BTW, really what can't be made at home? I can make chips and cheese crackers so why not snap pea crispies?

Wait, are they extruded like cheese puffs?

[Astrea]

Looking at the ones currently sitting in front of me right now I'm going to gues that yes, they're extracted (or something like that). Pretty sure they're not actual whole peas. The texture and the unnaturally uniform shape and size give it away.

[LauraN]

Ooh, I would love to be able to make these at home! Here's a description from the product's website, maybe that'll help?

http://www.snacksalad.com/products.html

They claim that they're "sundried peas" so maybe the dehydrator would work well?

I can't tell if they're extruded, although the description calls them "snow pea-shaped crisps" so maybe they are? But maybe the dehydrator will get it close enough? If so, then that's the best excuse for me to buy one

Oh, btw, here are the ingredients:

GREEN PEAS, CORN OIL, RICE, SALT, CALCIUM CARBONATE, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C).

[Sayward]

They're definitely extruded, no question. They're basically a green cheeto.

[April Dawn]

Originally Posted by Sayward

They're definitely extruded, no question. They're basically a green cheeto.

Ew. Maybe I should stop feeding them to my son? I thought they were healthy because, hey, the top ingredient is green peas! But a green cheeto doesn't sound like such a healthy food after all...

[Astrea]

I'd say they're definitely far healthier than Cheetos--just compare the ingredient lists--but I wouldn't exactly call them "health food", personally. They're no worse (probably better) than most crackers and that kind of thing, and better than chips for a salty snack food. I have no problem eating them on occasion. If only they weren't almost $4 per bag!

[Biscuits & Gravy]

$4 a bag?? Holy moly. I buy them at Trader Joes for $1.99 I think. Same at Earth Fare. We go through tons of them here, but they are definitely not health food. So addictive though. I have to make them a special treat because we can plow through a bag in one sitting.

[Astrea]

$1.99, eh? Hmm, maybe I'll snag a bunch when I get down to the US next month (I'm in Canada). I already plan to hit Trader Joe's to stock up on 2 buck (3 buck now?) Chuck and Annie's Goddess Dressing, which is no longer available here for some extremely sad and unknown reason. A bottle of Chuck and a bag of Snapea Crisps sounds like a good camping snack to me

[Magelet]

I don't eat them anymore because I'm pretty sure they are extruded. Which is also why I was hopeful if I could make them at home. Cause you know, they're awesome, and if I can make them at home they're not extruded.

[Astrea]

Is there something particularly bad about extruding something? I don't know anything about it--I just assumed it was a mechanical process, kind of like squeezing icing from a tube but on a grand scale

It would be so awesome to figure out how to make them at home--anyone going to try it?

[Magelet]

For extruded foods (primarily grain, but since there is rice in these guys, I presume it's pea/rice,) the grains and ingredients are made into a slurry, forced under high pressure and temperature through a small hole and into shapes. I presume the peas are then baked. the pressure and temperature destroy the vitamins (possibly even synthetic vitamins added in), damage the proteins, and possibly create toxins out of the proteins. (There aren't enough studies done on this, nor any published studies, to confirm. Since all cold breakfast cereals except granola are extruded, understandably, there is no money to study it or publish a study.)

[Astrea]

Mmm--tasty! So, definitely NOT the health food the company clearly wants us to think they are. I'm still happy to have 'em as an occasional treat, though So addictive...