Tag: Honey Bunches of Oats

Chocolat-ize everything.

That’s what the fine folks at Post decided to do with its second attempt at a chocolate version of its popular Honey Bunches of Oats. The first, Honey Bunches of Oats with Real Chocolate Clusters, debuted in 2008 and was around for, um, I don’t even know. At the time, I called it my favorite Honey Bunches of Oats variety, but that might’ve been the sugar talking because, looking back at the review, I gave it a 6 out of 10, and I don’t recall ever buying a second box.

The cereal that came out in 2008 had only chocolate clusters with the usual flakes. This time around, Post decided to not only include crunchy granola clusters made with cocoa and real chocolate chips but also add cocoa to the flakes. This makes for a better tasting cereal that blows the previous version out of the milk.

Speaking of milk, I have to point this out first. Look at the photo below of the Lake Titicacao in my bowl.

No, I did not cheat by pouring chocolate milk. Watching how quickly the white milk turned brown was like a David Blaine magic trick or spraying down a pig that had just rolled around in the mud. I poured the cereal into the bowl, added milk, closed the bag in the box, and turned around to put the cereal back in the pantry. When I turned back around, the milk had completely changed into chocolatey goodness.

Sniffing this was also divine because it smelled like Cocoa Pebbles. Yabba Dabba Do! But it really shouldn’t be surprising; after all, Cocoa Pebbles is also a Post product, so why not cross-pollinate from one of the most chocolatey cereals in the grocery store. However, this Honey Bunches of Oats doesn’t quite have the same cocoa kick as the box rockin’ with Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. The same flavors are there, but I’d describe its chocolate taste as Cocoa Pebbles for a refined palate but not for a ten-year-old with sugar-crazed taste buds.

I did hope the cocoa on the flakes would’ve helped prevent them from getting soggy too quickly, which is one of the cons of any Honey Bunches of Oats variety, but I guess it’s hard for the cocoa to be some kind of barrier when it instantly washes off into the milk.

Honey Bunches of Oats Chocolate Cereal is my new favorite Honey Bunches of Oats variety. For real. It’s not the sugar talking this time.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free product sample from Post. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 12 oz box
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup – cereal only) 160 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 160 max 34 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 12 grams of sugar (including 12 grams of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein.

As Post continues its string of limited edition products, I am continuing my sweetened cereal spree.

After chocolate cake and fruity waffle-inspired cereals, Post is now gifting my morning sweet tooth with Post Limited Edition Honey Bunches of Oats Salted Caramel. The cereal adds salted caramel flavor to the line’s classic mix of crispy, light-as-air-flakes and crunchy clusters.

The cereal smells strongly of caramel, but the taste is less consistent. Some flakes taste pretty plain. Others have a uniform caramel flavor, buttery and lightly sweet, reminiscent of kettle corn. Every fifth or sixth spoonful, a much sweeter piece with a sharp hit of salt stands out.

The inconsistency is both a strength and a weakness. On one crumb-covered hand, the cereal is balanced—sweet, but never candy-sweet—with interesting, varied bites that are both appropriate for breakfast and highly snackable. Conversely, the flavor can be underwhelming. A little extra indulgence (glazed almonds or caramel-flavored yogurt drops, perhaps?) would have added a hint more excitement.

Most of the salted caramel flavor seems to be concentrated in the flakes, but the oats provide a wonderful crunch with a toasty, molasses-tinged sweetness. However, clusters of them are hard to come by. Rifling through the bag, I found mostly loose oats. This was a bummer because I am the type of person who will feel weirdly proud and satisfied when I excavate an especially large chunk of cookie dough from a pint of ice cream. (Read: I will take small thrills where I can find them. Also, I like cookie dough.) If you are the same, do not expect to replicate that sensation with this product.

In milk, the flakes stay surprisingly crisp despite their lightness. The cereal also flavors the milk nicely, leaving a smooth, honeyed sweetness behind. Move over, Cinnamilk—it’s Honeybunchamilk’s time to shine.

Overall, Post Limited Edition Honey Bunches of Oats Salted Caramel teeters on the boundary between subtle and forgettable. Its refreshingly restrained level of sweetness and interesting pops of salt are highlights, but more flavor or texture would add interest. It’s a solid offering from the brand, but it will probably not replace your favorite flavor. My rating lingers between 6 and 7, but I’m rounding up in hopes that Post will trademark Honeybunchamilk and give me a cut of the profits.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Purchased at: Giant Eagle
Size: 12 oz box
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 1 cup serving) 160 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 8 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein

Post doesn’t release limited-edition Honey Bunches of Oats flavors very often, so when it does, pay attention!

Except this new Frosted Bunches variety, sadly, isn’t worth paying much attention to. Really, the most interesting part of the whole cereal is the wintry box with a yeti theme. (Why are yetis having a moment now?)

I happened to have the bottom half of a box of Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds, so I was able to make a few comparisons between the new one and the classic.

With “Frosted Bunches” as the name of this new cereal, I assumed the oat clusters would be different. And yet, I* can’t really taste a difference between the bunches. If they are different, I don’t know what it is.

(*See what I did there? “yet, I”? “yeti”?)

The real difference is actually in the flakes. All of them in the Frosted Bunches variety are lighter in color and sweeter. This cereal would be better called Honey Bunches of Oats Frosted Flakes instead of Frosted Bunches. So, basically, this is a sweeter version of regular Honey Bunches of Oats, and the nutrition facts bear that out.

And despite an extra dose of “Bunches” in this cereal’s name, it seems to have fewer, not more, bunches in the cereal itself.

Look, Honey Bunches of Oats has long been one of my favorite cereals, so I will gladly finish this box. But it is not significantly different from the regular varieties. I only notice the differences because I’m looking for them. The ingredient lists have mostly the same ingredients, just in a different order.

The differences are not significant enough for me to make it worth the extra sugar in this Frosted Bunches edition, mainly because the regular version has more textural and flavor contrasts.

This cereal might be boring, but I hope to see more exciting limited edition offerings from Honey Bunches of Oats in the future. (How have we not yet seen a pumpkin spice variety?!)

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 11 oz. box
Purchased at: Smith’s (Kroger)
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup/40 grams) 160 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 1 gram of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 11 grams of sugar including 11 grams of added sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

Honey Bunches of Oats Frosted Cereal confuses me, much like the puzzle on the back of its box.

I’ll get to the cereal in a moment, but the Arctic Water Park puzzle is lame. The game asks, “Who’s going to make a splash? Follow the slides and see who ends up in the Polar Bear pond!” Now, I believe almost every solver will look at the numbered flags and start with Slide #1. And guess what? Yeah, SPOILER ALERT, Slide #1 leads to Polar Bear pond.

Why make the first choice the correct choice that turns the slide into a drive-thru window for the polar bear? Because it’s so quick to solve, children will now be forced to avoid conversations with their parents by watching TikTok videos on their phones.

As for the cereal itself, it confuses me because I thought all Honey Bunches of Oats varieties had only frosted flakes. I guess that wasn’t the case, and maybe I should start taking my time eating Honey Bunches of Oats so I can catch whatever nuances they have, instead of scarfing it down before the flakes get super soggy.

Every corn flake in the box is frosted, but I kept wondering how much of the coating is on them because they’re not as sugary as Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes or what General Mills has been using. They are sweeter than the flakes with other Honey Bunches of Oats varieties, but the cereal overall tastes less sweet than my go-to Honey Bunches of Oats variety, Honey Roasted.

The coating may not make the cereal as sugary as I expected, but it helps the flakes remain crunchy for a little longer than other Honey Bunches of Oats varieties. So all the crunch lifting isn’t done by just the granola clusters, and I don’t have to scarf it down to avoid Sogsville. But, sadly, the bunches themselves taste bland.

Even though I’d like it to be a little sweeter, Honey Bunches of Oats Frosted is a satisfying cereal. But unlike the answer to the slide puzzle on the back of the box, it’s not choice #1 when it comes to Honey Bunches of Oats.

Purchased Price: $3.50
Size: 20 oz. box
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) 160 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

How many grams of whole grains do nutritionists recommend you eat per day?

Like many of you, I have no idea and would like to use my brain’s capacity for numbers that are more useful in life and trivia games, like the number of U.S. presidencies (44), the late Tony Gwynn’s lifetime batting average (.338), and my debit card’s PIN number (1109).

But it’s not really a number one has to remember since it’s on EVERY product that touts whole grain. One can find it on the Whole Grains Council’s stamp that features what I assume is the image of a 1980s blouse with a belt. According to the stamp on this box of Honey Bunches of Oats Whole Grain Honey Crunch Cereal, it’s 48 grams of whole grains.

That sounds like a lot to eat in one day, but a one cup serving of Honey Bunches of Oats Whole Grain Honey Crunch Cereal provides 2/3 of your day’s whole grain. So what’s 2/3 of 48? That’s math I’m too lazy to break out a calculator for. So I shall refer back to the 1980s blouse, which tells me it’s 33 grams.

To give you an idea of how significant of a number that is in the Honey Bunches of Oats World, a bowl of regular Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted Cereal has just ten grams of whole grains.

While a serving of Honey Bunches of Oats Whole Grain Honey Crunch Cereal has 2/3 of my day’s whole grain, it looks like 5/6 of it is made up of flakes.

There weren’t a lot of honey bunches of oats in this box and it was noticeable with the cereal’s texture and flavor. Crunching my way through the box I mostly felt the texture of cereal flakes and it tasted like a slightly watered down version regular Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted Cereal. But I’m fine with losing a little flavor so that Post can jam more whole grains into the cereal. Besides, I think if you secretly replaced regular Honey Bunches of Oats with this cereal, most folks wouldn’t notice they’re eating a whole grain-ier version.

Other differences between the two cereals? The whole grain one has nearly double the fiber, potassium, and protein. But at the same time also has nearly double the sugar and calories.

According to the Whole Grains Council, most Americans eat only 16 grams of whole grains per day. My Instagram page, which has a lot of French fry and Hello Kitty snack photos, proves I’m one of those Americans.

A nutritionist would probably tell me I should be eating oatmeal, brown rice, and quinoa to get a day’s worth of whole grains. But I don’t have a nutritionist to tell me that, so if I want lots of whole grains with little effort I’ll probably reach for Honey Bunches of Oats Whole Grain Honey Crunch Cereal.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 cup no milk – 220 calories, 25 calories from fat, 3 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1 gram of polyunsaturated fat, 1.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 150 milligrams of sodium, 150 milligrams of potassium, 46 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 12 grams of carbohydrates, 30 grams of other carbohydrates, 4 grams of protein, and a bunch of vitamins and minerals.)

Item: Post Honey Bunches of Oats Whole Grain Honey Crunch Cereal
Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: 18 oz. box
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Tastes like Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted Cereal. A serving has 2/3 of my day’s whole grain. Nearly double the fiber, potassium and protein than regular Honey Bunches of Oats cereal. Remembering numbers that’ll help you in trivia contests that may or may not happen.
Cons: Tastes like a slightly watered down version of Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted Cereal. Lots of flakes and not a lot of honey bunches of oats. The Whole Grains Council’s logo looks like a 1980s blouse. Posting PIN numbers. Not eating enough whole grains.