Rice Krispies Treats Chocolatey Peanut Butter review: Don’t mess with the classics

Rice Krispies Treats are in a class of their own. They’ve got your iconic rice cereal. They’ve got marshmallows. They’ve got butter. That’s… Pretty much it. Not only are they easy to make at home, they’re fun, too. And while the residue might get all over your hands, it’s a classic for a reason, and you don’t mess with the classics.

But! The other thing about Rice Krispies Treats is that everyone messes with them. You add candy, sprinkles, a layer of chocolate on top or the bottom… The iterations are endless. And now the brand is doing the same with its mass-produced version of the treat, by releasing Rice Krispies Treats Chocolatey Peanut Butter.

You can probably figure out what’s going on here, but you’ve got your basic Rice Krispies Treat, with peanut butter flavor mixed in, and a layer of chocolate on the bottom. According to Kellanova (formerly Kellogg’s), this was the most demanded flavor from the brand – and now it’s a permanent part of the menu, in stores everywhere.

Look, full disclosure here: I do not understand why you would buy a mass-produced Rice Krispies Treat. They are exponentially better when you make them yourself, and I always find the little ones from the packages a letdown, a much more dense and less flavorful experience than the home version. I also won’t turn one down if you hand me one, because I’m not stupid, it’s still a Rice Krispies Treat. But at the same time, it is nowhere near the same flavor experience.

This is exactly how I felt about these Chocolatey Peanut Butter treats. There’s a light taste of peanut butter throughout, but you don’t get the nutty creaminess you expect from the addition of peanut butter. It’s a flavoring, in this case, not a texture. The chocolate is also an extremely light touch, and where a home cook might add a layer of chocolate and get a nice bite of delicious, rich chocolate, this is nearly as thin as a wafer.

Again: we ate an entire box of these, me and my family. And both my kids and wife enjoyed these a lot more than I did. But ultimately, I would rather spend the extra time to make this myself – even if perhaps it would be a little more expensive – because the flavor is worth it. It’s what Snap, Crackle and Pop would have wanted.

They’re still alive, I don’t know why I said that like that.