Pretzels are such an overlooked little snack food. Snacks get a bad rep thanks to classic junk foods like Doritos and Cheetos and Fritos, which all magically rhyme, something I never quite noticed before… Weird. But alas, the poor pretzel does not deserve to be lumped into the same category, as they are actually relatively benign in the grand scheme of snackature. Pretzels are merely tiny, little breads. Cool-shaped, miniature breadsticks with some salt. There’s nothing particularly malicious in them. Sure, they’re not a nutrient-laden power food, but let’s be honest here; if you’re worried about cramming vitamins and nutrition into your snacking then you either have a shitty diet, or your diet is so good that you get enough nutrients from your other food of the day. They’re not bad for you by any stretch of the imagination. Rather, pretzels are merely a fun, little snack, and that’s it. Unfortunately because of this, many brands of storebought pretzels seem to really just be cop-outs. You see a lot of bland, generic ones that sorta just have a boring, salty starch flavor. They’re good in a pinch, or to serve en masse with dip, but if you’re a true fan of pretzels like myself, you’re gonna wanna find a REAL pretzel brand that knows what they’re doing.

Not the pretzels we need, the pretzels we DESERVE.

Unique is a company that specializes in classic, high-quality snacking pretzels. They’re based in Pennsylvania (go figure, the pretzel capital of America) and claim to have been operating as a bakery since the 1800s. There’s a wide variety of different shapes and flavors from Unique, but for the past month or so, I’ve been snacking on what they refer to as ‘splits’. And yes, it’s been over a month because I typically grab one or two pretzels at a time, just as a quick, light snack when I don’t want to go full food-mode.

Splits apparently are made by letting the raw pretzels sit and rest for a while, letting bubbles form in the dough during the rising process. When baked, the bubbles leave air pockets in the pretzels, giving them a very formidable crunch, and an interesting, rough texture on the outside.

As you can see, their pretzels have a very rustic, imperfect look to them. A little dark in some spots, not 100% symmetrical, and the aforementioned rough/crusty exterior from the bubbles, all give them an almost homemade appearance. Every one is different, hence the company’s name “Unique”, or so they say.

There’s a reason I’ve been eating these pretzels on and off for weeks and weeks. And that’s pretty much because they’re, I don’t know, the best frigging pretzel I’ve ever eaten? (Obviously that’s for snack pretzels, and not including fresh, soft, Dutch pretzels) Unlike your average bag of Utz or Rold Gold, these pretzels actually have that dark, hearty, bread-like taste to them that freshly baked pretzels feature. Instead of just tasting like salt and flour in your mouth, they actually have a really pleasant and palatable flavor.
Additionally, these pretzels offer the perfect amount of crunch as well. I’m sure you’ve tried those big, chunky, really hard sourdough pretzels before from various companies. They’re not bad, and they offer a welcome challenge to your smile-bones. However, in my experience they do tend to be a little bit too much for their own good. Midway through a big ol’ sourdough hard pretzel, I’m usually already tired of smashing my teeth apart on them. Unique splits meanwhile are very crunchy, but they’re also not really thick, and feature some hollow spots due to the ubiquitous splits that get formed by the bubbles. As such, you get a ton of crunch, but it’s not as taxing on your jaw as big, hard pretzels.

Not the best picture, but you can see some examples of the small hollow pockets.

Beyond all the great parts about eating Unique splits, they also fit the bill earlier of what I said about pretzels not being bad for you at all. No cholesterol, just barely over 100 calories for three pretzels, and almost no fat or sugar. Unique really plays up the oldschool angle of themselves, and awesomely these bad boys only feature five ingredients, all of which are, you know, ingredients you could recognize by name. I’m talking about things like flour, water, salt, etc… Actually that’s already three of them. The other two are yeast and baking soda. Bam, that’s it. You know the formula for their pretzels now.

I can’t recommend these pretzels hard enough. The only only downside  is that they’re just ever so slightly more expensive than your standard trash pretzels you buy for like 99 cents, to throw at your guests at parties. And even then, they’re not exorbitantly pricey. Instead of like one buck, you’re paying like in the $3.00 range. And unless you sit down and inhale an entire bag, each one should last you at least two weeks, and maybe longer. If you’ve ever eaten a pretzel and been like “I like pretzels”, then go out and buy Unique ‘splits’.

Want to try it for yourself? Follow our Amazon Associate link!

Unique Pretzel Splits, Original, 11 Oz. Bag

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Should you buy Unique Pretzels Splits?

Yes

If you’re feeling the lure of both pretzels and the pizza at the same time… why not make a pretzel-pizza? Check out the Pizza Lab covering it!