Spooned & Spotted (2019): Pumpkin Pie Rice Krispies Treats

Pumpkin Pie Rice Krispies Treats 2019

Move over, pumpkin spice: I can sense a pulpy orange sea change coming this autumn.

Gone are the days of the grocery store’s overindulgence in pumpkin spice beverages, foodstuffs, and assorted lifestyle paraphernalia. No, this year should be all about pumpkin pie.

And before you open your gourd-hole, of course they’re not the same! I’m sick of limited edition products that reduce an entire pie to its perfume of spiced accents. I want to taste scoops of purée! I want crust and whipped cream! I want the whole darn snack-o-lantern!

Now will I find those subtleties in Kellogg’s returning Pumpkin Pie Rice Krispies Treats? Probably not, but I feel like a fool for not yet trying. Though these auburn cereal squares were introduced back in 2017, I somehow never reviewed them. I think it was partially an accidental oversight caused by cloves blown in my eyes, and partially an intentional oversight due to 2017’s PPRKTs coming forty to a box. Since such a quantity is bigger than my lifetime list of friends I like enough to give a Rice Krispies Treats, I think fourteen is a reasonable compromise—this way, even if they’re bad, I can tape ’em to my mailbox for trick-or-treaters.

While you’re here, I might as well give a speedy account of all the other returning fall cereal products spotted so far:

Cap’n Crunch’s Halloween Crunch — Returning with a better box back and not much else, these are nevertheless a guaranteed Halloween must, as Cap’n Crunch with Crunch Berries is already good, but the addition of phantasmally phunky orange ghost Berries (that turn milk green) never gets old.

Pumpkin Spice Cheerios — A late-comer to the pumpkin spice trend, PS Cheerios have nevertheless established themselves as the most reliably balanced and wholesome of the subgenre.

Special K Apple Cinnamon & Pumpkin Spice Crunch — It’s simple: the first is good, the latter is an overly medicinal miss.

Pumpkin Spice Frosted Flakes — A so-so take on the formula that is too light and crispy to sate my lust for crust.

Pumpkin Spice Life — Ehh…it’s just…alright. Save your joie de vivre for Gingerbread Spice Life come winter.

Trader Joe’s Pumpkin O’s — Very pumpkin-y, but with a terrible texture that causes inner-mouth tears and outer-eye tears.


Phew. Okay, there’re definitely more than that, but my fingers are cramped and my brain is crimped by trying to find different ways of explaining pumpkin flavor. For my money, the first three I listed are your best bets for trustworthy pre-hayride fuel. As for the Krispies Treats? I’ll let you know when I gather my disciples.

One response »

  1. I used to think Pumpkin Spice Cheerios were the best Pumpkin Spiced Cereal until I had the Special K Pumpkin Spice. The Special K Pumpkin Spice is so much better and probably the best. Pumpkin Spice Cheerios is one dimensional but the Special K has both the pumpkin spice and the molasses which reminds me of caramel apples and pecan pie, and then, there’s the added cinnamon clusters which taste like pumpkin spice marshmallows. It captures all of the flavors of fall.

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