Is it possible they were a different or store brand that just looked like Ritz?

Interesting concept. So I just looked at the ones that came up on search. They look just like Ritz originals, which makes sense if they're trying to be Ritz. The sleeve looked just like the real ones that I just bought, but I don't know if that means anything. My friend isn't very moved by visual cues, but I'll ask her tomorrow when I see her if she remembers if they were real Ritz—that is, I'll show her a picture of the Ritz box.. I could definitely see her buying store brand. I hadn't realized there were knock-offs. Thank-you, Fraker!

Positive that she didn't do anything to them. She's not much of a cook, and they were in the original packaging sleeve. I don't think she shops at Aldi, but I'll add it to the list of alternatives. As I said, she's not much of a detail person. To her, they're just crackers. I'll ask her tomorrow, and see what she says.

They could well be an Aldi knockoff as has been suggested, as Aldi’s packaging and naming is often very similar to that of the original.

Here there’s a similar cracker in all supermarkets called Clix, which I quite like. Another slightly less siummilar cracker which is popular is Jatz, which are not as buttery and thinner and crisper than Clix. I don’t care to buy them (they’re OK to eat) because they are sold all dumped into a cellophane bag (as potato chips are, for instance, and not nicely stacked in a sleeve) in a box and many are broken as a result, which irks me.

FWIW, Aldi's brand is called Savoritz 😏

Are you sure they weren’t cheese Ritz?

Yes, I'm sure they weren't cheese, which are sandwichs, like oreos, and impossible to miss. Nor any other extra flavor.

I checked with my friend. They were, indeed and uncontrovertably, authentic Ritz crackers. Not store brand or Aldi or any other knock off (though that was a promising idea). Still in the packaging sleeve. Not adulterated in any way. Just a little overcooked, but not enough so to be noticed and trashed in the making. Just a little oddity I would like to have again. They could sell them as ”extra toasty” and I'd buy them. They were definately Ritz.

Thank-you to all for the interest and suggestions.

Well, if you didnt taste cheese, I guess it’s not that, but they do make them plain, not sandwiched.

Oh! I haven't seen those! But I didn't taste anything but traditional Ritz, and maybe a little toastiness. I can't be sure of the latter, though. Butter and floury, plus a hint of salt—Ritz—it was the texture and maybe just aa whiff of that toasty browning...

Ritz also makes a honey wheat flavor, an everything flavor, and a roasted vegetable flavor (though I think you'd know if you were eating a roasted vegetable or everything flavored cracker.)

There are also more other brands of round butter crackers that look like Ritz. Trader Joe's, Wild Harvest, Nature's Promise, Great Value ... pretty much every store has one. Lots of possibilities, and I'm sure some have very similar wrapping. It's not like the brown plastic sleeve is particularly revolutionary.

It was definitely Ritz and said Ritz on the box. No honey flavor and I tried the whole wheat which tastes like a Ritz cracker. The special ones didn't taste different from a regular Ritz cracker except possibly a little toastier.

Cheez-Its has started making an ”extra toasty” flavor. I bought a small bag of them at a convenience store. I don’t know if they are available in groceries yet. Wonder if Ritz is testing ”extra toasty” too?

Wow! Extra toasty is a perfect descriptor. My friend was 100% sure they were Ritz, but she could easily have missed a secondary description. If extra-toasty appears for real, I'm a buyer. :) And that's a lot more believeable than they escaped notice during the making... But they do have ”toasted Ritz chips” which are square-ish.

Thought maybe it was a trend within a company. No. Ritz are Nabisco brand and Cheez-Its are Kellogg brand.

When we found the extra toasty Cheez-Its at the c-store, my DSIL initially laughed and said they were trying to unload an over-cooked batch, but then we found we really liked them.

DBIL goes to a big food show every year where manufacturers bring out their new products. I’ll ask if he knows the Nabisco guys. Maybe he can get a lead on this for us.

Did you say you had tried Ritz Whole Wheat and that wasn’t the flavor you are looking for? I have the whole wheat only because it was the only Ritz crackers I could find the last time I bought some. I find them to have the same texture as a regular Ritz, but a deeper flavor.

Yes. Tried "original" and "whole wheat". Nothing like the toasty ones. I didn't know Cheez-its were Kellogg! I guess I just assume that that kind of thing is Nabisco. But then, if they had the forever old national cheese cracker brand maybe they wouldn't make cheese Ritz. :) Still, the "extra toasty" concept is exactly what I had and liked so much. But I ate all over mine. The were crackers. It never occured to me to keep an exemplar.