Tag: Cereal

Conclusion: Post’s Peanut Butter & Cocoa Pebbles could be your new favorite cereal. In law school, I was taught a way of legal writing that begins with the conclusion, follows with supporting evidence, and then restates the conclusion.

There’s my conclusion. Now, here’s my supporting evidence…

Over the past few months, I transitioned to a vegan diet for various reasons. Many assume that a vegan diet is a “healthy” one, but those of us who enjoy junk food know there’s a lot of food that people think is “healthy,” but isn’t.

Potato chips, hard candy, popsicles, soda, beer…often, these are vegan. One of my thrills of eating junk food, however, is finding that stereotypical “junk food” that is closer to “healthy” than many of its so-called “healthy” competitors. Turns out Post’s Peanut Butter & Cocoa Pebbles is a boxful of vegan joy and it’s actually not too bad for you either. Vegans don’t have to be stuck with granola unless they want to be.

Right out of the box, the Pebbles smelled like cocoa butter with a hint of nuts, not clearly peanuts, but nutty. I snacked on a handful while I waited for my unsweetened almond milk to soak into the pebbles. In their dry state, they are crispy and taste like what I imagine a freeze-dried Reese’s Cup Rice Krispie treat would taste like. After waiting about 30 seconds, I dug in.

Each spoonful was a delight. The peanut butter and cocoa flavors were balanced, but notable, in each bite. The peanut butter flavor was authentic, not artificial tasting. The cocoa flavor was light and reminiscent of chocolate milk. I poured myself another bowl. Bowl 2 was equally as satisfying as Bowl 1. Rinse and repeat.

The next morning, I tried the cereal with unsweetened oat milk to test whether the nuttiness of the almond milk made a difference in the overall flavor. There was little difference between the cereal with the almond milk and the cereal with the oat milk. The cereal held up well in both and I suspect it would do equally well in any milk. It also held up well after three minutes of unintentional soak time, only slightly less crispy, but definitely not soggy.

I’m not a fan of drinking milk, so I rarely drink the leftover milk from cereal. With this cereal, I just kept adding more cereal to my milk until there was no more milk left. However, the last sip of milk remaining was slurp-worthy, not too sweet, nor with too much disintegrated cereal debris.

Conclusion: Go ahead, eat five bowlsful while watching cartoons on Netflix (Inspector Gadget, anyone?) Or, try topping your (vegan) yogurt or ice cream with the leftover cereal that always manages to end up at the bottom of the box. Any way you eat this, I’m sure you will enjoy it.

(Editor’s Note: A Post Cereals representative tells me that this currently is not gluten-free.)

(Nutrition Facts – 3/4 cup serving – 120 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 210 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 9 grams of sugars, and 2 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: $3.48
Size: 20 oz. box
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 10 out of 10
Pros: Vegan. Low sugar for a “sugary” cereal. Versatile snack. Real peanut butter and cocoa ingredients.
Cons: Cartoons aren’t the same as they used to be.

I’ve got to be honest, if/when Post’s Golden Oreo O’s Cereal gets discontinued, I don’t think there will the same upswell of support to bring it back like there was with the original Oreo O’s Cereal after it disappeared from shelves.

Because Oreo > Golden Oreo.

So no Bring Back Golden Oreo O’s Cereal Facebook pages to like that’ll cause your Facebook timeline to suddenly have more junk food and weight loss ads. And there won’t be folks who will buy boxes on eBay from sellers in South Korea.

But, even though I feel that way, it’s a decent breakfast cereal.

The round corn pieces with white sprinkles look like the bleached version of Oreo O’s Cereal. Taking a whiff of the cereal in the bag, it does remind me of the cookies, but its flavor makes me think of another cereal. I can’t put my tongue on what it is, but there’s a part of me that wants to believe it’s C-3PO’s Cereal. That’s probably not the case, and I’m sorry to anyone whose hopes I got up with the previous sentence.

Although I can’t figure out which cereal it’s similar to, its flavor is what I imagine the textbook taste definition of sweet corn-based breakfast cereal would be. It’s a combination of artificial vanilla, sugar, and the sweetness of corn.

Post’s Golden Oreo O’s tastes as much like Nabisco’s Golden Oreo as Post’s Oreo O’s tastes like Nabisco’s Oreo, which means not a whole lot. But I’m fine with that because I’ve been happily filling my bowl with it over the past few days, mindlessly munching on it as I try to figure out what frickin’ cereal it’s like. Some of the sweetness does wash off into the milk, so expect a treat when you slurp it up.

To be honest, much like my position with the cookies, Oreo O’s Cereal > Golden Oreo O’s Cereal. I’m not saying this belongs on a lower tier by any means, but I prefer the chocolate version. It comes in a family-sized box from Walmart, so if you hate it, although I imagine you won’t, it’ll last you for a while.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free sample of the product. Doing so did not influence my review in any way.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 cup – 120 calories, 15 calories from fat, 1.5 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 25 milligrams of potassium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 13 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.)

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 19 oz. box
Purchased at: Received from PR people
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: The textbook taste definition of sweet corn-based breakfast cereal. Smells like Golden Oreo Cookies in the bag. Sweetness washes off into milk.
Cons: Doesn’t taste Golden Oreo Cookies. Kind of generic cereal flavor. Probably not C-3P0’s Cereal. Can’t figure out what cereal it tastes like.

I’m sure marshmallows were added to make Post’s Banana Pudding Nilla Cereal not so Nilla.

Can you imagine looking down into a bowl that looks like the lopped off tops of bald Muppet heads? Do cereal pieces that could be the needle in a Banana Republic khakistack look appetizing? The marshmallows make this cereal’s appearance go from “yawn” to “yahoo.” So remember kids: Marshmallows make many munchies more memorable.

Doing it this way makes sense because Nilla Wafers are the Triscuit of breakfast cereals. They’re fine to eat by themselves, but they’re better with other ingredients.

The cereal pieces do look like mini Nilla Wafers. But then again I imagine it’s easy to make crunchy, boring tan discs.

Putting the bag’s opening around my nose and mouth like it’s an oxygen mask that dropped from an airplane’s ceiling allows me to inhale a strong scent that instantly brings banana ice cream to mind. We are off to a wonderful start. Oh Buddha, is this a reincarnation of Banana Frosted Flakes?

That cereal was discontinued decades ago, but my taste buds feel as if this comes close. There aren’t dried fruit bits like the Kellogg’s cereal, but the natural flavor is there and it’s as strong as its aroma. So maybe it’s Banana Frosted Flakes’ spiritual successor.

But I should disclose that I’m one of those people who enjoys banana-flavored products (Hello, yellow Runts), so my enthusiasm for this awesome euphoric cereal might be a little inflated.

However, here are a few things that take some air out of my inflated thoughts. The flavor fades a bit when it’s in milk for too long, and, sadly, there’s no strong banana-flavored milk at the bottom of the bowl.

So what the about the marshmallows that prevent this from looking like a bowl of sand clumps? They don’t add anything to its flavor. I alternated between marshmallow-strewn and marshmallow-less spoonfuls, but they taste the same. The marbits can’t compete with the cereal’s fruity flavoring. But I don’t mind that because the banana is all that’s really important.

I love this cereal. And now I must pick up a box of Post’s Nutter Butter Cereal so that I can combine this with it.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free sample of the product. Doing so did not influence my review in any way. Although, it totally seems like it. But I assure you it did not.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 cup without milk – 130 calories, 15 calories from fat, 2 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 120 milligrams of sodium, 25 milligrams of potassium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.)

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 19 oz. box
Purchased at: Received from PR people
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Smells like banana ice cream. Natural banana flavor that brings back memories of Banana Frosted Flakes. Marshmallow make this cereal look better.
Cons: Marshmallow don’t add flavor. Flavor fades in milk. No strong banana-flavored milk. Looks like the tops of Muppet heads without the marbits.