Costco Finally Carries My Absolute Favorite Snack

Excellent on its own, and even better in a DIY snack mix!

My favorite snacks are poppable. That means you can just pop a bite in your mouth and enjoy. Some small, bite-sized foods that fit my description are popcorn, blueberries, and cereal, but my number one favorite will always be rice crackers. Specifically, the small Age Arare style, little fried bites of mochi flour (glutinous rice) seasoned with sugar, soy sauce, and sometimes other seasonings like garlic and onion.

Crunchmaster Rice Poppers Are the Best New Snack at Costco

I buy varying shapes, sizes, and flavors at Asian grocery stores, and Trader Joe’s even has a few versions—including a flat spiky disc and another that’s more like a tiny textured sphere—but my new favorite is Crunchmaster Rice Poppers, which I scored at Costco in bulk.

I am a very early fan, because Crunchmaster—already known for its crunchy multi-grain crackers—just released this brand-new product at the top of the new year, as announced on Instagram.

And now I may be even more brand loyal to Crunchmaster after crunching the numbers. Compared to the $2 to $4 I spend on a 3.5-ounce bag of similar rice crackers at Asian markets like Mitsuwa and H Mart, this 15.9-ounce bulk bag has almost five times as many crunchy delights for $8.49. That's almost a full pound.

These rice crackers also have a more unique shape than the other lightly textured discs of other brands. The bag’s description is accurate and fun: a “knobbly-shaped, super-crunchy, sweet-and-savory snack unlike anything you’ve ever had.” They almost look like tiny massage balls with little spikes coming out of a sphere of crunchy rice, and their mascot is a big smiling version of one. They taste like savory Cap’n Crunch.

There is more savory, umami-rich flavor jam-packed into these tiny little orbs (about the size of my thumbnail) than many other brands I’ve tried. It’s a mix of salty (from soy sauce) and savory (garlic and onion), with a kiss of sweetness (honey) that mixes into a balanced and crave-able bite.

Another early fan on Reddit raved: “Rice Popper snacks have such a great flavor and crunch. Highly recommend! Great soy sauce and honey taste.”

One even added "I tried a sample of these on Friday, didn’t expect much. I grabbed two bags before I finished eating the sample." Sounds about right.

Over on Instagram, someone dubbed them a “little sweet umami snack” and shared: “If you like the combo of sweet and savory like I do, you’ll enjoy these lil’ bites.”

To quote the delightful copy on the bag again, they do indeed “tantalize the tongue while that insatiable crunch will keep you coming back.” It’s actually the echoing sound of crunching in my ears that makes me want to eat more, and it’s enhanced when paired with other poppable snacks like popcorn, crunchy Cheetos, and the rye crackers from Gardetto’s Snack Mix. They’d also make excellent croutons for soup or salads.

Whichever snack adventure you choose, act fast—someone commented on Crunchmaster’s Instagram post that this might be a limited run, so get poppin’ over to Costco so you can become a crunch master, too!

Read the original article on All Recipes.