Kellogg's Rice Krispies: Squares (cookie crunch)

Product name: Kellogg’s Rice Krispies: Squares (cookie crunch)
Purchase details: £1.00 for a multipack of four bars (Poundland)
Calories: 131 per 32g bar 

I’ve had a few varieties of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies: Squares in the past but, for me, nothing’s ever quite matched the chewy marshmallow one. However, when I spotted this cookie crunch version in Asda several months ago, I was gutted I was on a self-imposed snack-buying ban and so couldn’t buy them. I think they were a limited edition at the time, and I didn’t actually see them again for a while, so I grabbed the chance to pick up this ‘new’ packet in Poundland more recently. I’m not sure exactly where they were made, but they were produced for the UK and Ireland. 

The packaging was a cream colour with chocolate-coloured squares to fit the themes of both the flavour and the brand name. It also featured an image of the product which turned out to be very realistic. The rectangular (not square!) offerings of ‘crispy grains of toasted rice cereal with cocoa biscuits and a chocolate flavour coating’ were a syrupy colour and contained visible cookie pieces that looked a bit like Nestlé Nesquik cereal. However, these ‘biscuit pieces’ actually contained ‘chocolate flakes’. I was a little disappointed they only contributed to 11% of the bar, though. The 8% chocolatey coating was then drizzled on top to complete the appearance. 

 

Despite being lightweight, the sticky bars were actually pretty big, but I was surprised that only 21% of the product was made up of the Rice Krispies – the cereal looked a lot more plentiful! The Squares’ aroma was one of syrup, and this ingredient contributed to a chewy texture. However, this was broken up by the crispiness of the rice cereal, along with the crunchiness of the biscuits. When I first hit one of the ‘cookies’, the contrast in texture almost made me think they’d gone stale, but I soon got used to this and the experience grew on me. 

As for the taste, again, the syrup was quite a prominent feature, but there was also a kind of chocolate biscuit flavour too. Unfortunately, though, they didn’t taste of biscuits of the highest quality! Aside from the ‘cookies’, I didn’t find the bars to taste very chocolatey, despite its coating, so the overall taste was simply one of a pleasant but not-too-strong sweetness.

I didn’t think these cookie crunch Squares bars were as good as the original version but I certainly enjoyed them more than some of the other types I’ve previously tried.

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.25/10