A food product is prepared by drying a marshmallow to provide a marbit having a water activity in the range of 0.1-0.4 in the center of the marbit. The marbit is then heated to provide a toasted marbit (225), with at least one outer surface portion of the marbit being toasted to result in a flavor change. The toasted marbit (225) can be used in a wide variety of snack products, such as combining toasted marbits (225) with a graham cracker-flavored cereal ingredient (215) and a chocolate-flavored cereal ingredient (220) to form a ready-to-eat cereal (200).
