Tag: Cereal

REVIEW: Post Hostess Honey Bun Cereal

Vin 5 Comments

Post Hostess Honey Bun Cereal

We seem to be in the midst of a cerealssance.

Not only are the permanent fixtures beefing up their flavor varieties, but brands not usually known for cereal keep sneaking their way into the aisle. Hell, at this rate of expansion, they may LITERALLY beef up the aisle with a McDonald’s hamburger flavored cereal soon.

You cringe, but you’d probably be morbidly curious enough to try a box. Don’t lie.

Anyway, the point is, new cereals be droppin’.

After its recent venture into the frozen section, Hostess has partnered with Post to transform two of its most iconic snack cakes into a different form of breakfast treat – Powdered Donettes and Honey Bun Cereal.

In an effort to stick to my “chill on the sweets” New Year’s resolution, I decided only to buy the flavor I’d prefer in snack cake form – Honey Bun.

Right from the jump, a pleasant and familiar scent hit me that I didn’t necessarily associate with Honey Buns, despite really trying. I did however immediately think of ripping the seal off a carton of fresh vanilla icing, so I wasn’t too disappointed.

Post Hostess Honey Bun Cereal Holes

The cereal pieces have an interesting shape completely authentic to the look of Honey Buns, except they’re holier. I’m not just referring to the holes, I also mean “holier” in the religious sense, because HOLY CRAP, this cereal is good!

I imagine some people might say it tastes a bit like sugar cookies, but I’m gonna throw a flavor combination at you because it’s all I could think about while eating these – General Mills Oh’s meets Waffle Crisp. (French Toast Crunch also works.)

Post Hostess Honey Bun Cereal in a Bowl

Oh’s are one of my favorite cereals of all time, but I always kinda hated the rough texture. Waffle Crisp was a cereal that laid dormant in my memory until now, because a nostalgia flavor wave, or “flave™” if you will, hit me as soon as I ate a spoonful of Honey Bun cereal. While there isn’t maple, something about the level of sweetness and the texture instantly brought Waffle Crisp right back into my brain.

Post Hostess Honey Bun Cereal Close Up in Milk

The odd shape of this cereal lends itself to an excellent textural experience. They aren’t teeth-shatteringly crispy while dry, but also don’t sog into mush as they settle in the milk.

Now with all this said, I do still think the flavor is true to the iced goodness of Honey Bun snack cakes, which just makes it all the better.

In case you are wondering, the cereal leaves behind a “Honey Nut Cheerio-esque” milk, which is a perfect capper to the experience.

In the end, Honey Bun cereal might be a little too sweet, but that’s me nitpicking and trying to find a negative.

I wasn’t excited about the prospect of a powdered donut cereal, but you better believe I’ll be snatching Donettes up soon. I cannot wait until every last Hostess snack cake becomes a cereal. At this point, that seems inevitable. Don’t miss out on these.

Purchased Price: $3.69
Size: 11.5 oz. box
Purchased at: ShopRite
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (3/4 cup) 110 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and less than 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros Cereal

Joe 6 Comments

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros

What is Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros?

With unique but dubious flavor choices such as Sour Patch Kids being zapped with a cereal transmogrifier, toast for breakfast is passé.

Luckily, chef Wendell minored in business at Cereal U. and nixed the Avocado Toast Crunch suggestion for revitalizing Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Instead, he’s leaning into his core competency and retooling some of his cinnamon soot spewing factories to produce new Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros.

How is it?

Original Cinnamon Toast Crunch is on my Mount Sugarrushmore of breakfast cereals. So it is no small accolade to say Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros is a slightly different but still fantastic addition. While the smaller squares of Cinnamon Toast Crunch delightfully smother my type 2 sugar receptors, Churros’ sweetness is dialed back despite the sugar content being nearly identical.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros 3

A combination of larger cereal pieces, the omission of fructose, and a heavier cinnamon hand produce a slightly more balanced flavor. Dry, the altered shape packs as much if not even more crunch than Wendell’s piratical competitor.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros 4

More importantly, while Cinnamon Toast Crunch becomes soggy at the sound of a refrigerator door opening, Churros retains its crunch longer in milk. This larger window before soggification creates pillowy bites that call to mind the times I’ve dipped an apple cider donut into a glass of cider. Minus the apple of course. While I’ve never dunked a churro into milk, I expect the result would be similar.

Is there anything else you need to know?

I used unsweetened almond milk in my bowl. I do not expect your choice of milk mate will impact the flavor much.

Conclusion:

If I had to choose between the two, I still slightly prefer Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but do not let that dissuade you from trying them for your yourself. Feeling the pressure to take his milquetoast toast shapes to the next level, Chef Wendell has cooked up something churrific.

Purchased Price: $3.64
Size: 19.7 oz. box
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (3/4 cup) 130 calories, 3 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 8 grams of sugar, and 2 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Pop-Tarts Cereal

Meghan 11 Comments

Pop Tarts Cereal

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

Pop Tarts Strawberry Cereal

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.

Pop Tarts Strawberry Cereal Innards

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.

Pop Tarts Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cereal

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.

REVIEW: Fruity Lucky Charms Cereal

Tiffany 5 Comments

Fruity Lucky Charms Cereal

Lucky the Leprechaun is having an identity crisis. First, he thought he was Tony the Tiger with Lucky Charms Frosted Flakes, and now he thinks he’s a Flintstone with the new Fruity Lucky Charms. I hope he figures it out soon before we see a version with two scoops of raisins.

Fruity Lucky Charms Cereal w Fruity Pebbles

On the bright side, this new iteration isn’t just the original dyed pink. Instead of frosted toasted oat cereal, it’s sweetened corn cereal which tastes quite different. The former tastes boring and oat-y (see: Cheerios) but with pops of sweet marshmallows as a reprieve. No wonder I tried picking out just the marshmallows as a kid! The latter is definitely sweeter and more Fruity Pebbles-like, but not as sweet or as abrasive to the roof of your mouth. And although it’s made of corn instead of oat, the shape and texture stay true to form.

Fruity Lucky Charms Cereal in the Bag

On the not-so-bright side, the pinky orangey bits of sweetened corn are overpowering. You can only taste the nondescript fruits that make up whatever “fruity” is supposed to be. To make matters a touch worse, there is also an equally nondescript bitter aftertaste.

Fruity Lucky Charms Cereal in Milk

The taste experience goes from a fruity sweetness to a slight sourness, which makes your glands salivate like eating a pleasant sour candy, but it resolves into a bitterness. It’s not an awful bitterness that made me stop eating though. If you spoon quickly enough, you can keep your taste buds tricked with continued hits of initial sweetness.

Fruity Lucky Charms Cereal Marbit Brightness

Unfortunately, because of the overpowering flavor, the marshmallows get completely lost and are just a texture add-in. Speaking of the marshmallows, it’s surprising to see these bits were brighter than in the original ones. I suppose that makes sense because you don’t want the ‘mallows to look washed out against the neon.

Fruity Lucky Charms Cereal No Millenial Milk

I was a bit disappointed it didn’t turn my milk millennial pink though. Given how vibrant the marshmallows and cereal were, I was hoping for some food magic. But, OG Charms don’t really do that either, so I guess I should’ve had more realistic expectations! I ultimately prefer it sans milk though, like most of my other cereal consumption. The flavor seems about the same when eaten with milk and eaten dry. Yes, bitterness and all.

Despite the weird aftertaste, I still think Fruity Lucky Charms are magically delicious. Yes, even this version of the identity crisis.

Purchased Price: $3.64
Size: 21.2 oz. box (Family Size)
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (3/4 cup without milk) – 100 calories, 10 calories from fat, 1 gram of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 150 milligrams of sodium, 50 milligrams of potassium, 23 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, 13 grams of other carbohydrates, and 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Sour Patch Kids Cereal

Leonard 3 Comments

Sour Patch Kids Cereal

I’m calling it now.

2019 is The Year of the Cereal!

But not just any cereal, the crazy mashup or off the wall flavors that will hopefully debut to push aside the bajillionth Oreo flavor. We are off to a good start with one of the wackiest debuts in a while. Who knew the candy you sometimes get at the movie theater and when you do you end up eating very slowly so as not to get a mouth ulcer (true story!) would be the way to start your day off right?

As I break open the bag of Sour Patch Kids Cereal, I get a whiff of fruitiness very similar to the other many fruity breakfast cereals – Fruity Pebbles, Trix, Froot Loops, etc. However, there is that tinge of sour that’s always present in sour candy. They do smell like Sour Patch Kids. I can feel my lips puckering already!

Sour Patch Kids Cereal 2

There are five colors (blue, green, orange, yellow, and red) that appear subdued a bit as the pieces all have a whitish powdery coating. The shape is close enough to the candy that it works although they are smaller and skinnier and the tops of their heads sometimes skew more towards pointy than rounded. Here’s what they look like in a friendlier breakfast type of way – the kids of Count Chocula while they are still sleeping.

Sour Patch Kids Cereal 3

I take a heaping handful and chomp down on the colorful corpses. The sour comes in strong right out of the gate but fades quickly as it seems to be powder based and certainly not as strong as the large granules on the real thing. Post nailed the intensity as it is just right. Any more would have been pretty off-putting, and any less would have made the whole concept pointless.

However, after it wears off, these devolve to (Insert here any generic fruity cereal). In a gummy shell, these taste like slightly sour fruit loops. As with Froot Loops, the colors all taste the same as each one is a fruity mix of flavors.

Sour Patch Kids Cereal 4

I inhaled a good number of handfuls of these before having the kids take a trip to the milky swimming pool. I wasn’t really shocked to find out that the milk washes away nearly all of the sour powder. With the coating gone, the sweetness of the pieces gets heightened. What did shock me was that the dairy at the end had no sourness whatsoever. It was like a magic trick. Sourness? Poof! Gone with a spoonful of milk. They did stay crunchy, though.

Sour Patch Kids slogan is “Sour. Sweet. Gone.” For this cereal, it should be “Slightly sour. A little too sweet. Kinda feel nauseous now.” This isn’t going to become a staple in your pantry anytime soon, but it sure is a fun novelty that I hope opens the door to more.

Long live The Year of the Cereal!

Purchased Price: $3.89
Size: 10 oz. box
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) 140 calories, 3 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 210 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 13 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.