Photo via Facebook / Carrie's Crispies
While growing up, Carrie Cieslak fondly remembers eating crispy rice cereal treats (often referred to as Rice Krispies treats) warm from the pan. As a teen, she took the delightful chewy-gooey-crunchy classic to the next level by experimenting with different flavors. She shared her creations at parties and picnics, where they were a hit with friends and family. “People loved them and said I should sell them, but I just kind of laughed it off,” she recalls.
But while she and her husband Brian were dating, he encouraged her to test her unique crispy rice treats on the public. They started selling them at the Greenfield Farmers Market, where they became a hit. Customers soon asked about catering options for weddings. Carrie and Brian launched Carrie’s Crispies gourmet crisp rice cereal treats in 2015.
Catering is a large component of the business. In addition to weddings, Carrie says they also do party platters. Their corporate catering options include treats labeled with company logos or special messages. Those treats are individually wrapped, which helps limit contact amidst the pandemic.
Building An Array of Flavors
Carrie was a teacher before she began operating Carrie’s Crispies full-time. Today, the company has about 40 different flavors ranging from chocolate, birthday cake, blue moon, habanero berry, mint chocolate chip, rocky road or root beer and pretzels. They use Malt-O-Meal brand crisp rice cereal because it is gluten-free. (Some flavors such as dirt cake or salted caramel brownie are not gluten-free due to other added ingredients.) There are rotating Flavors of the Week and seasonal varieties. This fall, look for pumpkin spice and white chocolate cranberry.
Carrie is inspired by ice cream flavors and cookies. A lot of the flavors also come from customer suggestions. “Orange Dreamsicle was a customer suggestion, and it’s a huge hit,” she says. The puppy chow and peanut butter cup treats are best sellers, along with s’mores and birthday cake, which has cake flavored extract and rainbow sprinkles on top. “Kids love that one.”
Most flavors are added with extracts, which Carrie says sometimes gets tricky because she can’t use too many flavorings because it thins out the treat mix. “You have to figure to what works well with the marshmallow mix. Too many things can alter the texture,” she notes.
Joining West Allis’ Growing Gourmet Scene
Most flavors in the Carrie’s Crispies line are usually in stock at the retail store, which opened this past September at 7133 W. Becher St., in West Allis. They joined an up-and-coming stretch of specialty food businesses including West Allis Cheese & Sausage Shoppe, Becher Meats, The Bake Sale and Wild Roots restaurant.
“We felt that West Allis in general seems like a city that is putting money and resources into small businesses to make the city better,” observes Carrie. “Even prior to opening, we’ve done events such as West Allis A La Carte and some night markets there. We have a lot of support from customers and the city.”
The store is “sweets focused.” In addition to the Carrie’s Crispies line, they’ve got some products from other Wisconsin-based confectioners such as sugar-spun cotton candy from Ultimate Confections, Cream City Caramels and Jazzed-Up Marshmallows. A featured non-food item—although it has an aroma so enticing that one could be tempted to eat it—is a crispy rice treat scented soap, made by Soap Passion.
Carrie says they hope to open another location over the coming years and add more wholesale accounts. Look for Carries’ Crispies at upcoming events such as the popular St. Martin’s Festival over Labor Day weekend, and the Shepherd Express’ Old Fashioned Fest, on Sept. 10. For more information, visit carriescrispies.com.
