This Limited-Edition Ritz Cracker Is So Good, I Bring a Box to Every Party I’m Invited To (Just for Me)

These days, special food “drops” are pretty common. There’s always a new Oreo flavor (hello, mint chip), or a collaboration between Hidden Valley Ranch and Cheez-Its, or some other brand that’s trying to strut its stuff in new and unexpected ways — for a limited time only. But before these collabs, drops, and LTOs were so prevalent, there was one holiday-exclusive product that I waited for all year: snowflake-shaped Ritz.

I’ve always loved a buttery, crumbly Ritz cracker. It’s my go-to vessel for pimento cheese and pickles (which is a favorite afternoon snack of mine). Ritz crackers are as versatile as they are lovable. They can be served with cheese, of course, or blitzed in the food processor to make a crust. They’re also an excellent crumbly topping for dishes like poppyseed chicken or broccoli casserole, and long ago replaced graham crackers as my preferred s’more cracker.

Ritz crackers are pretty perfect already, so there’s not a ton of room for improvement, but somehow altering the circular shape of the cracker and adding some angles takes this cracker to a whole new level. I realize it sounds dramatic to say that about a cracker, but it just goes to show the importance of format. A small change can make a big difference, and in this case it’s a change for the better.

Although the holidays can be a fraught time, I have looked forward to Holiday Ritz Season for years; I always anxiously await their appearance on grocery store shelves. Then, a couple of years ago, something changed: My beloved snowflake Ritz crackers were nowhere to be found. 

A quick trip to the internet solved the mystery for me — the snowflake shape had been discontinued! Before I had time to get too upset, I found out why: Ritz switched up its holiday crackers to include more shapes (a bell, a snowman, a Christmas tree, and a Santa face),

While I did appreciate how holiday-neutral the snowflake crackers had been, I had to admit that the new shapes were pretty lovable; they’re just as fun to serve and eat as the snowflakes had been, if not more so. It was a Christmas miracle — a new kind of Ritz to love.

Now that the holidays are upon us, I insist on keeping a box of holiday Ritz on hand at all times. It’s the perfect complement to a cheese ball or my lemony clam dip with shallots. And, of course, they’re a charcuterie platter’s best friend.

Buy: Ritz Holiday Crackers, $3.99 for 12.3 ounces at Instacart 

What are your favorite holiday groceries? Tell us about them in the comments below.