“The best snack on campus”
Sweet, airy, chewy and lip-smackingly tasty: That’s the CoHo Rice Krispie Treat.
This year, 26.6% of voters ranked this not-so-baked good the best baked good at the CoHo. The classic combination of Kellog’s Rice Krispies cereal, ooey gooey marshmallow and butter may be simple, but the size, ingredient ratio and texture of CoHo’s version makes this a cult favorite among Davis students. The coffee cake deserves a quick shout out, too, which came in as 26.2% of voters’ favorite CoHo goody.
There’s debate over the true origins of the Rice Krispie Treat, and despite some brands offering similar sweet puffed rice snacks prior to the Kellogg recipe release in 1940, two women in a Kellogg kitchen in Michigan were the first (documented) to use marshmallow as the binding agent for the cereal. The recipe they coined that we see today on the side of the bright blue cereal box has never been changed — don’t fix what ain’t broke, as they say.
The unique rise of the treat as a recipe recommendation is perhaps why the unique concoction has become a bake sale and coffee shop essential; civilians were making them at home for years before the (inferior) name-brand variant of the treat saw the supermarket shelves.
With most Rice Krispie Treat production being homemade, it’s no surprise that the quality of the texturally-satisfying sweet varies across establishments offering their own version. The CoHo’s take on the classic lies on the high end of that scale. As a frequent Rice Krispie Treat consumer myself, I can say that they are some of the best I’ve ever tasted. And fellow students obviously agree.
“I’m all about the Rice Krispies at the CoHo,” said Bea Paolucci, a fourth-year agriculture and environmental education and Italian double major. “I really miss them. Not only are they huge, they are the perfect balance of marshmallow and cereal. They are strong and don’t fall apart when you eat them. They are the best snack on campus.”
“The best snack on campus” is quite the statement. It seems these treats truly have something special about them.
For Nina Price, a second-year civil engineering major, it’s more than something special; the crisped rice snack is psychologically manipulative.
“The Rice Krispie Treats from the CoHo are irresistible,” Price said. “I’ve pavloved myself into craving one with every cup of coffee.”
That’s one way to run out of grocery money. It’s not clear whether this was an intentional experiment on herself or a trick played by the CoHo to which she fell victim.
Either way, one thing’s for sure: These treats are the real deal, and if you haven’t tried them yet, do yourself a favor and cop a couple from the CoHo.
Written by: Allie Bailey — features@theaggie.org
