If you haven't tried Mary's gluten-free crackers, you are seriously missing out. These crispy little discs are so tasty and loaded with nutritious grains, you'll find yourself dipping and munching and spreading and crumbling and laughing at how easy it is to go a little crackers yourself with these forever goodies.
Mary, the founder herself, agreed to answer some of our pressing questions and we were ecstatic.
1. Mary's Gone Crackers Everything Pretzels are one of my favorites,how do you make them into a tube like shape?
Some of our production methods are proprietary, so I can't explain too much, but basically the dough for the pretzels is just laid out onto the pans like toothpaste coming out of a tube. The miracle is that the nature of the dough puffs when it's baked so that's just what happens on its own!
2. I love spreading some peanut butter and jelly on top of Mary's Original Crackers, what is your favorite dip, spread or topping for your crackers?
I love eating them with slices of avocado and cucumbers and a little salt (see the image on the cracker boxes!). But I’ll eat almost anything on them including egg salad, sardines, and even melted dark chocolate!
3. Which of your products are your favorite? Why?
My favorite cracker is the Onion, although I like them all (except the Jalapeno, which is too hot for me.) My favorite pretzel is the Chipotle Tomato, but again, I like them all. I can’t choose a favorite cookie because I love all of them, just depends on the day. I have to say that I’m especially proud of the cookies and wish that more people knew about them.
The ingredients in those, including chia seeds and good fats, just thrill me—that I was able to develop such great tasting cookies with no butter or eggs, using great ingredients and sweeteners. We have some new products coming out in the spring that reflect the same concept—great taste and texture with nutritious and unique ingredients.
4. Do you have a favorite grain? What is it and why?
My general grain repertoire is quinoa, various whole grain rice usually from Lotus Foods, sprouted buckwheat that I make into tortillas and millet. They are all flavorful, satisfying and nutritious and they are daily staples in my life. Sometimes I cook them together, like rice and quinoa or quinoa and millet.
5. How do you punch the crackers into tasty rice discs?
This is part of the proprietary process that I can’t really discuss. Most crackers are made by sheeting dough and then cutting the dough into cracker shapes. Our dough doesn’t work the same way, so we actually form each cracker individually, but that’s all I can tell you.
6. Has your husband/family enjoyed your crackers as much as you have?
Absolutely! We ate my handmade crackers for years before starting the company!
7. How many trials did you go through until you found a cracker that you really liked? Did you have a really bad creation?
When I first developed the crackers I had the idea for the dough but not the form, so I didn’t envision crackers at first. I tried baking the dough in lots of different forms and it was just too wet and gooey to do much with, so I eventually went to the flat cracker format, which worked!
8. What was the scariest (or most exciting) feeling when you decided to manufacture your crackers?
Once we got investment money from friends, and put in a lot of our own money as well, there was no turning back and the stress level went way up. But it also added to our commitment and resolve that failure was not an option.
9. Are you working on any new concoctions?
Always! Stay tuned for more information.
10. What has been the most rewarding in your work?
Knowing that we are providing people with healthful and delicious food that really makes a difference in their lives is very rewarding. On the business side, hiring so many dedicated and wonderful people and getting to work with many of them closely has been an unexpected delight.
Thank you very much, Mary!