Flavors Tried: Original Mallow & Fruity Cereal
Nutrition: 190 Calories, 3.5g Fat, 34g Carbs (12g Sugar), 10g Protein
Price: $29.99 for box of 12 ($2.50 each)
Protein Rice Krispies Treats are nothing new. We’ve had ONE Crunch Bars, Sinless Snacks Marsh Mallow Krisp Bars, Quest Hero Bars (to a degree), Ignite, and many, many more.
More often than not, these products are pretty average. Rice Krispies Treats are such a classic nostalgic treat that it’s really tough to replicate that as a high-protein treat.
I mean, it’s cereal plus marshmallow… it’s tough to get much tastier than that.
So when I saw Vaughn’s start popping up on my social media feeds promising to be a delicious high-protein rice krispies treat replica, there was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity to try them.
In terms of macros, these treats are not going to get you super excited. I’ve seen plenty of snacks with 200 calories and only 10 grams of protein (most recently the Quest Peanut Candies) and while I would like more protein than that, I’ll still accept it.
Still, you typically see a snack like that at least being low in carbs, but that is not the case here.
Looking at the ingredients list, this is truly just a Rice Krispies Treat with protein added. The ingredients are marshmallows, Rice Krispies, protein, butter, and sweetener.
Given those ingredients, you have to hope that these will truly taste like the treats we all know and love.
Vaughn’s Original Mallow Treats
When I opened this package up, three things immediately jumped out at me:
- These bars are quite large
- It smells very similar to a Rice Krispies Treat
- It’s way denser than a Rice Krispies Treat
The smell test alone proves that this is quite similar to the real thing. I mean, they’re mixing up marshmallows and actual Rice Krispies cereal, which is as authentic as it gets.
But when you break this bar up (or bite into it) you notice the true differences very quickly.
This bar is much denser than a Rice Krispies Treat, and even though these are made with marshmallows, you don’t get that gooey & melty marshmallow that you’d hope for.
To be fair, I don’t think any healthier version of a Rice Krispies Treat has accomplished that, so I can give them a pass.
But biting into this bar just reminds me much more of a protein bar than it does a Rice Krispies Treat.
While you certainly taste the crisps, and there is some resemblance of a marshmallow treat, the bar is dense & chewy.
I’ve made protein Rice Krispies Treats at home before- you melt down marshmallows with butter, then add some protein powder into the melted down marshmallows before mixing in the Rice Krispies.
This tastes identical to that homemade recipe. And, based on the ingredients, it seems like that’s exactly how these are made, too.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because the flavor is just fine, but when I’m buying an expensive high-protein snack, I hope that it’s something I can’t easily make in my kitchen in 10 minutes.
Vaughn’s Fruity Cereal Treats
The regular marshmallow treat didn’t get me all hot and bothered, but I still found myself really excited about this fruity cereal bar. I mean, just look at it!
It’s clear that Vaughn’s is using real fruity pebbles in this bar, and that is further proven by the delicious smell you get from this bar.
Unfortunately, this bar is very dense and chewy.
I very much appreciate the flavor of the Fruity Pebbles in this one, but it is so dense & chewy that it completely loses what makes cereal treats so special. To me, this isn’t any different than any other regular protein bar.
If you love Fruity Pebbles, this is a fun protein bar, but it’s exactly that: a protein bar. Considering these are supposed to be light & gooey cereal treats, it definitely misses the mark.
Vaughn’s Treats: Overall Thoughts
This is one of those protein snacks that I would describe as “fine.” They taste good enough, but they are far from what you would expect and hope for.
This is the description pulled from Vaughn’s website: “Indulge into marshmallow gooey goodness blended with the nostalgic taste of rice crispies for the perfect sweet treat.”
The “marshmallow gooey goodness” is what hooked me, but is severely lacking in the bars.
Considering these bars are 200 calories with only 10 grams of protein, they won’t be a go-to protein bar in your rotation, but they can make for a tasty pre-workout snack considering they also contain sugar.
These taste decent enough, but you have to go in with the expectation that you’re eating a chewy protein bar with cereal in it, not a gooey Rice Krispies Treat.
