Every time I do a review of a dulce de leche-flavored product, I have to remind myself what’s the difference between dulce de leche and caramel via Google.
Search results have repeatedly reminded me that caramel is basically sugar cooked slowly, while dulce de leche is made by slowly cooking sugar and milk. But when I dig deeper, I learn there are caramel recipes that have milk. So doesn’t that make them dulce de leche recipes? Then some recipes involve butter. And then some recipes involve butter AND milk.
This has led me to wonder if dulce de leche or caramel would be better to dunk my face into to muzzle my frustrated screams. Google has not been helpful with that.
I had to remind myself of the difference because of the new Dulce de Leche Toast Crunch that’s caramel flavored with other natural flavors.
The pieces look like many other Toast Crunch family members with ridges and swirls baked into them and dusted with sugary granules. Its aroma isn’t as distinguishable as the original Cinnamon Toast Crunch (CTC). Instead, it’s more of a nondescript sugary scent that doesn’t make me think of dulce de leche or caramel.
The cereal has a slight butteriness when dry and is more noticeable in milk. I thought it was weird at first, but then again, this is caramel flavored, and it also shouldn’t seem odd since there’s the eggy flavor in French Toast Crunch.
Along with the buttery flavor, there’s also cinnamon, which doesn’t help convince my taste buds that this is dulce de leche or caramel flavored. Instead, I wonder whether or not I just ate a bowl of rejected Cinnamon Toast Crunch pieces that didn’t meet the cinnamon-y standards of General Mills. The leftover milk at the bottom of the bowl did get a bit of cinnamon, but it’s not at CTC levels.
Dulce de Leche Toast Crunch is a sweet, pleasant-tasting cereal that I’d eat again. But unlike the Cinnamon Toast Crunch, French Toast Crunch, or Chocolate Toast Crunch (or even the discontinued peanut butter one), I cannot definitively tell it’s dulce de leche or caramel flavored.
DISCLOSURE: I received a free product sample. Doing so did not influence my review.
Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 12 oz box
Purchased at: Received from General Mills
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup/41 grams without milk) 170 calories, 4 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1 gram of polyunsaturated fat, 2.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, 12 grams of added sugar, and 2 grams of protein.