Gluten Free Olga’s Snackers Recipe
One restaurant that I miss the most since being diagnosed with a gluten allergy is Olga’s Kitchen. Growing up in Michigan, this small chain of delicious greek-based restaurants was a favorite for me and my family, and was always my restaurant of choice when I was younger.
While they have delicious salads and soups, the one thing they are most famous for is their AMAZING Olga Bread sandwiches. Now, when I say that this bread is delicious, I mean ‘stop-what-you’re-doing-and-just-let-your-tastebuds-experience-the-best-org*sm-of-their-life’ delicious. Seriously, if I could only use this bread for the rest of my life, it still wouldn’t be enough time. It’s THAT good. (Midwesterners, you know what I am talking about.)
But for me, my favorite Olga Bread dish has always been the Snackers – HANDS DOWN!! They take their delicious, sweet, honeybaked Olga bread, throw some of the most mouth-watering garlic cheese seasoning on top, and then serve it up with some drool-worthy almond cheese dip (which my entire family now only refers to as “cheese crack.”)
The day I realized I could no longer eat Olga’s Snackers because of my gluten allergy, it was like someone punched me in my gut, kicked my puppy and stole all of my money. Or, you know, it was like getting a gluten attack, because those are basically the same amount of awful, right?
It has been a looong and terrible life living without these delicious snacks until, one day, I came across the SUPER SECRET SNACKERS SEASONINGthat they use to season their Snackers (say that five times fast) and I realized, I could actually make a GF version of these at home! So I did…. AND LIFE IS SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS AGAIN. These taste pretty darn close to the Snackers they serve at Olga’s, and the bread is actually quite delicious! (Nothing close to the spongey, sorryexcusefor bread that I often associate with GF alternatives.)
So, without further ado, I present to you GLUTEN FREE OLGA’S SNACKERS. (Warning: These are in no way healthy for you. You’re just gonna have to square with that.)
WHAT YOU NEED:
- Gluten Free Pizza Crust (I used Glutino’s Premium Pizza Crust and it worked beautifully.)
- Honey
- McCormick Perfect Pinch Salad Supreme Seasoning (found in the Spice section of most grocery stores)
- Vegetable or Olive Oil for frying
Step one:Let your GF pizza crust defrost if kept in the freezer. Then use a knife to split up into bite-sized wedges. I only used one crust since I was making these for myself (*forever alone*) and it was plenty.
Step two: Heat up about 2-3 cups of oil over medium heat.
TIP: To find out if your oil is ready for frying, stick in the handle of a wooden spoon or spatula. When bubbles begin to form around the handle, your oil is ready to go. (Thanks DailyGrace!)
Step three: While your oil is heating up, put a small blob (pro term) of honey on each of your bread wedges and spread on both sides. Then proceed to wash your hands like a crazy person because stickyonyourfingersEWW.
Step four: Once your oil is heated and your Snackers are honey-fied, plop those babies in your pot. (I highly recommend using a pot bigger this one because frying just 5 at a time was dumb. I don’t know why I did this.) Let your bread pieces fry for about 5 minutes or until golden and crispy.
Step five: Once the Snackers are nice and cooked, I like to put them on paper towel and dab them to get some of the excess oil off. Because THAT is the health aspect I am apparently concerned about in this recipe.
Also, pro tip: When you are dabbing your snackers, maybe don’t let the corner of the paper towel touch the burner. Because that’s how fires are started. Get your act together.
Step six:Put all of your fried snackers onto a tray that can go into the oven. (If you’re lazy and hate cleaning oven trays like me, line that baby with tin foil so you can just throw it away instead of cleaning!) Next, sprinkle a generous amount of McCormick salad seasoning on both sides of each snacker and throw the tray into the oven for about 5-10 minutes. I do this just to give them all a little extra heat since I made them in batches. You probably don’t have to do the oven step if you make them all at once.
All finished!! If you are feeling really adventurous, you could even make your own homemade Swiss Almond Cheese Spread but Kaukauna makes a version that is so similar to Olga’s that I will usually just purchase that instead. I also like theKaukauna Port Wine spread with these also (as pictured) if you’re feeling adventurous.
That’s it! If you try out this recipe, be sure to let me know what you think. I’m sure I’ll be trying out some other GF recipes in the future, so stay tuned.
PS: Other pro tip – pour your hot oil into a bowl that is covered with tin foil. The oil will eventually harden and you can then throw it away, rather than pouring it down your sink! Apparently that’s bad….. which I don’t know from experience…
