Breakfast may widely be considered the most important meal of the day, but I’ve always found it difficult to muster an appetite for much before noon. As a kid, this bothered my mother to no end, and she was always trying to find something, anything, that I would be willing to eat before sending me off on the school bus.
After offering me granola bars, yogurt, and every other remotely wholesome breakfast food known to mom-kind, she found I was always happy to eat a couple of warm Pop-Tarts, no matter how early it was.
Although Kellogg’s new Pop-Tart cereals may have arrived too late to expand my morning meal repertoire, they offer two bowl-bound alternatives to the popular foil-wrapped toaster pastries, and promise, according to the boxes, to pack delicious filling into every bite.
Strawberry
With a strong strawberry aroma and thin glaze of icing encasing each piece, I had my hopes set pretty high on this flavor. Unfortunately, just like the kids who opened presents on Christmas Day to find packages of socks and underwear, my expectations were quickly dashed.
Although the cereal smells like the toaster tart it was modeled after, it tastes much blander. Most of what I noticed at first was the “crust” of each square, which seemed very similar to the pastry dough of a strawberry Pop-Tart. While I’ll give Kellogg’s props for consistency, it makes for a very bland and unexciting cereal.
The much-touted “delicious filling” also turned out to be a much ado about nothing. The cereal pieces have so little of it in them that they appear visibly hollow when you bite one in half. Worse yet, the little amount of filling is hardly delicious, and gives the cereal a strange sort of off-putting chewiness, especially after it’s been soaking in milk for a few minutes.
Purchased Price: $3.64
Size: 17 oz. box
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) 150 calories, 1 gram of total fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 35 grams of total carbohydrates, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 16 grams of total sugars, 16 grams of added sugars, and 2 grams of protein.
Brown Sugar Cinnamon
In comparison to the strawberry version’s strong first impression, I could tell there was something off about this flavor as soon as I opened the bag. Rather than reminding me of the toaster pastry of my youth, this cereal instead had an unusually strong artificial maple scent, and the squares themselves appeared plain and unappetizing.
My dismay regarding this cereal’s look and smell was entirely justified, too, since it tastes nothing like the Pop-Tart it was named for. Like with the strawberry version, all of the cereal squares were in desperate need of both more filling and more flavor, and the dusting of frosting on each piece was quickly lost in my bowl of milk.
Purchased Price: $3.64
Size: 17 oz. box
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 3 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) 150 calories, 1 gram of total fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 35 grams of total carbohydrates, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 15 grams of total sugars, 15 grams of added sugars, and 2 grams of protein..
Other Things:
- Three cups of Pop-Tarts cereal have roughly as many calories as a foil package of standard Pop-Tarts, so both of these are good examples of the common trade-off between quantity and quality.
- Both boxes make a big deal about how having sprinkles supposedly makes eating a bowl of cereal more fun, but the sprinkles here so small you almost need a magnifying glass to see them.
Yeah, I got my hopes up for this cereal as well since I loved the original version from the early 90’s. Like many people said, it is really a Krave cereal piece, but it lacks the filling. I think the Strawberry Pop Tarts Cereal at least tasted good in milk, but it was too chewy when eaten dry. Cereal companies just aren’t what they used to be from the 1980’s and 90’s. Not sure if it’s because they’re trying to save buck and skimp on ingredients, or if it’s that they’re still thinking of trying to make cereal healthier and taste suffers as a result. Either way, us consumers are the ones who lose.
It’s both. Prime example is general mills switching many cereals from oat to corn. Then they say it’s now whole grain and healthier!
Tried the Brown Sugar Cinnamon variant and was not a fan. Got soggy too fast, leaving the chewy filling.
Brown sugar cinnamon tastes burnt.
You’re wrong. I thought both of these were great. Even nice when they absorb a bit of the milk. Both are really fantastic as a night cereal snack or in the morning mixed with a healthier cereal. I think they are a perfect mix of poptart and crispy cereal. I was really impressed by the slightly chewy filling. The Cinnamon one goes great as an ice cream topping.
Totally agree with you! These are my new jam-especially bc of the chewy factor
I went to the Walmart in Augusta Georgia with my grandparents and found this Pop-Tarts Brown Sugar
Cinnamon flavored cereal. I have yet to try it as i have never heard of this kind of cereal before. So this will be
a new experience for me and who knows. I may like it or i may not like it. Just have to wait and see.
Ive been eating half a box a day of the brown sugar. I really love the unique chewy center. There are supposed be textured layers in the cereal, says it on the back of box. So yummy. Gummies are chewy and good. Just stay away from a meat grissle, sinew, and fat. I want free triple whoppers. Bad.
Yes I also adore the chewy center!
I’ve always enjoyed Pop Tarts. Won’t buy againz. What happened to the thick icing covering the bread. Sprinkles very very sparse. Bread part tase strange. Thick and pasty.”” Too much bread. Too thick. Filling very thin. Are you trying to make more money?
I was surprised how many negative comments this got. I don’t even like pop tarts all that much and I’m in love with this cereal (and I’m not even into cereal that much). My bf brought it home for me and I was very happy after first tasting it. They are great just by the handful. And in milk they take on that wonderful crispy on the outside chewy on the inside texture. While we probably all wish that fruit liked cereals had more filling, but this isn’t that bad. I can taste the fruit filling which adds a nice little tart bite. I’ve only had the strawberry, but this has 2 thumbs up from me.