Weaker Than I Would Have Wished, Quaker Chocolate Crunch Rice Cakes Underwhelm

The Good: Nothing bad in them, Decently priced, Tastes fine
The Bad: Not the most robust chocolate taste, Could always be healthier, Not at all filling.
The Basics: Quaker Chocolate Crunch Rice Cakes have more of an aftertaste of chocolate than a true, rich, chocolate flavor, making them harder to enthusiastically recommend.


My favorite joke about rice cakes, which I left out of my review of the Quaker Apple Cinnamon Rice Cakes (here!) is how the nutritional benefits of them are easily undone by the frosting one must slather onto them to make them palatable. Quaker seems to be attempting to escape such traditional perceptions of the rice cake with their flavored rice cakes, like the Quaker Chocolate Crunch Rice Cakes.

They almost succeed.

Basics

Quaker is perhaps best known for making oatmeal, but for a long time has made granola bars and other healthy snacks. Their Rice Cakes come in several flavors and the Chocolate Crunch Rice Cakes are the sweetest flavor I have picked up to date.

The Chocolate Crunch Rice Cakes come in a 7.23 oz. tube that has two inner wrapped packages of rice cakes. The tube bag holds fourteen rice cakes. Each rice cake represents a single serving and Quaker has the Rice Cake presented as disc that is 4” in diameter and by 5/8” thick. The Chocolate Crunch Rice Cakes are mostly brown from the chocolate glaze and they possess a light sheen.

Ease Of Preparation

Eating a Quaker Chocolate Crunch Rice Cake is simple. After removing the cake from the package, simply stick it in your mouth. There is no particularly complicated equation to eating this snack; it is an entirely ready-to-eat food!

Taste

Unwrapping the Chocolate Crunch Rice Cake, there is a light cocoa aroma. The scent reminds one of hot chocolate as it cools and while it is not the most robust scent, it is not the weakest either. Smelling this rice cake prepares one for a chocolatey experience.

Biting into the Chocolate Crunch Rice Cake, one finds the aroma was sufficient to prepare the consumer. While the rice cake is crunchy, the chocolate flavor is not initially impressive. Instead, the flavor begins like the aftertaste of hot chocolate; sweet, but weak. Ironically, the flavor of the Chocolate Crunch Rice Cakes gets stronger as they move back on the tongue. As one, near disappointment, begins to swallow, they are hit with a darker, stronger, more distinctly chocolate flavor. It is almost like the rice cake was dipped in chocolate cocoa powder at the last second. Unfortunately, I have not managed to taste that level of flavor anywhere in the taste experience save the moment before (or as) I swallow.

The Chocolate Crunch Rice Cakes leave the mouth dry, though, so it is a good idea to have water available when consuming them. The sweetness wears off in about two seconds after consumption and the consumer is just left with a slightly dry sensation in the mouth.

Nutrition

Quaker Rice Cakes are intended as a snack and they are a fairly healthy snack, more by not having anything bad in them, as opposed to being loaded with a lot of nutrients. Each 15 gram Rice Cake represent a single serving. Made primarily of whole grain brown rice, sugar, and fructose, there is nothing in the Chocolate Crunch rice cakes that was unpronounceable. This is a mostly-natural food product with a dietary disclaimer that this flavor contains milk and soy ingredients, making it distinctly not Vegan compliant! They are, however, gluten free.

Quaker's Chocolate Crunch Rice Cakes have 60 calories, ten of which are from fat. A full serving represents 4% of one's RDA of carbohydrates and while these are cholesterol free, they possess a gram (2% RDA) of fat and 40 mg (2% RDA) of sodium. There is a gram of protein to be had by eating a Chocolate Crunch Rice Cake. These are not a significant source of any vitamins or minerals.

Storage/Cleanup

As a healthy snack, Quaker Chocolate Crunch Rice Cakes remain fresh so long as they are kept in their wrapped tube. Opened, they will absorb moisture from the air and become squishy in an unappealing way. Our bag had an expiration date of late October, 2012, and they have been fresh all summer long. As long as the cakes are sealed, they remain fresh and the only real clean-up for them comes from wiping up crumbs. If, however, they get hot, they coating on the Chocolate Crunch rice cakes makes them sticky and that would necessitate the washing of one’s hands, especially if the chocolate coating melts.

The chocolate glaze on these rice cakes is actual chocolate and when it melts, it does stain. As a result, this snack ought to be kept cool. If it does stain, consult a fabric guide to

Overall

Quaker Chocolate Crunch Rice Cakes do not taste bad, but I expected more from a rice cake designed to keep people from slathering them with frosting. These are not a bad snack, but they do not provide nearly enough flavor to make it realistic that one might give up cookies or actual chocolate in favor of them.

For other Quaker reviews, please check out:
Blueberry Stila Cookie Bars
Original Life Cereal
Low Fat S’mores Granola Bars

4/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my index page on the subject! That is available by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |