Fancy Rice Crisp Treats, from Treat House

Treat House is a bakery that specializes in a childhood classic, turned  upscale: rice krispie treats.  Yes, for real.  They also make breakfast bars (rice crisp based), gourmet flavored marshmallows, and ice cream bars, but the rice crisp treats are clearly their star item.

Treat House has a store in New York, but that is not where I encountered their products.  They ship nationwide, and, someone in my office received a box full and shared them.  I knew nothing about the company when I encountered the box, but it said "treat", so it drew me in ...

The Box.

I looked in the box, and saw little squares, packaged up like a box of chocolates, except, they seemed to be cubes of cake, topped with frosting and elaborate decorations.

Unable to resist the lure of a dessert item, I took one.  I was very surprised to find that it wasn't soft.  What was it?  It wasn't until I bit in that I discovered that it was a rice crisp treat.

Now, I could pretty much care less about rice crisp treats.  Always one of the least interesting possible dessert options.  But ... these were, hands down, no question, the best rice crisp treats I have ever encountered.  They were no simple rice crisp treats.   I wished that I had taken the time to take better photos, and try more flavors.  If only I knew!

Of course I had to do some research once I returned to my desk.  Treat House makes a slew of flavors, all decorated beautifully.  I didn't encounter any of these, but their base flavor lineup includes sugar cookie, red velvet, birthday cake, and even bubblegum.  Toppings range from candied chili peppers to oreo cookies.  Some have dried fruit, nuts, or different types of cookies mixed in.  I really wish I'd seen the chocolate peanut butter: "rich chocolate and smooth peanut butter. Topped with chocolate ganache and a peanut butter cup", or the chocolate pretzel: "mixed with salty pretzel pieces, dark chocolate and caramel. Topped with chocolate ganache, a hand dipped pretzel, and sugar crystals".

Like I said, not exactly regular rice crisp treats!

Touch Down, Caramel Sea Salt.

I did try 3 different kinds, but didn't take photos when I grabbed them, not knowing how amazing they were going to be.  I returned to the box afterwards in hopes of snagging more flavors, and to get photos, but alas, this is all that remained.

The green topped one is dubbed the "Touch Down".  It had a chocolate base, chocolate chunks mixed in, and was topped with green marshmallow topping and a chocolate football.  The chocolate football on top was wrapped in foil, which seemed a bit strange.  I know it achieves the effect of looking like a football that way, but it was strange to remove a wrapped item from the top.  I liked the generous chunks of good quality dark chocolate inside.

Next was the "Caramel Sea Salt", a sweet, caramel laced treat, topped with fluffy white marshmallow, drizzled with caramel.  The caramel was a nice improvement on a standard plain marshmallow treat, as it added an extra dimension besides just sweetness.

The final one I tried I don't have a photo of, as they were all gone.  It was the "Peace Love and Gummy Bears", a colorful layered creation of a raspberry treat and pineapple treat, topped with tie died marshmallow, and a pair of brightly colored gummy bears. The fruity flavors were totally unexpected, as I've never had a fruity rice crispy treat before!

Each and every one of the treats was obviously unique, and decorated beautifully, but, they also were just really, really tasty.  The flavors were interesting and balanced, the texture was right (so often rice crispy treats are too soft, and just taste like sweet marshmallow and nothing else), and the fluffy marshmallow on top really did add to them.  Why aren't more rice crisp treats decorated?

While I certainly wouldn't seek these out, as, after all, they are still just rice crisp treats, they truly were the best rice crisp treats I've ever had, and, if another were to appear in front of me, I'd most certainly eat it.