JoJo Siwa Strawberry Bop!

Name: JoJo Siwa Strawberry Bop!
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: For a pop culture tie-in, I was not expecting this cereal (which I first found on the shelves last summer) to be very good; I was pleasantly surprised. It's a strawberry cereal with marshmallows ("Strawberry Bop!"), so comparisons to Franken Berry are apt, but I think this one tastes better. (Sorry Disney Princess, but this is how you do it). As a bonus, the box is cute as heck! I couldn't bring myself to destroy it after the cereal was gone...

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: A faint hint of strawberry.

[Flashback] Disney Princess

Notice: Flashback reviews have been written from memory, without having the cereal in front of me. I started taking pictures of notable cereal varieties several years before I decided to start a blog reviewing them. As such, details beyond whether I simply liked the cereal or not may be hazy, especially regarding the quality of the leftover milk. Whenever possible, I have made an effort to procure another box of the cereal for a proper review (even the ones I didn't like), but due to the ephemeral nature of many of these novelty cereals, this is not always possible.

Name: Disney Princess
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Here's a flashback to five years ago, when Kellogg's released a whole line of Disney Princess cereals. In hindsight, I regret not getting pictures of each Princess; other boxes featured Belle, Jasmine, and Rapunzel (there may or may not have been others), but I was focused on my favorite Disney Princess - Ariel. Sadly, I remember the cereal itself (strawberry with marshmallows) being very plain, but that didn't stop me from buying a second box (I still have it!) to put in my bedroom shrine dedicated to The Little Mermaid. The first edition boxes were gorgeous - I remember seeing later editions that no longer had the glitter finish. Which is a shame, because this is a cereal that looked a whole lot better than it tasted.

Rating: 🥣

Wendy's Frosty

Name: Wendy's Frosty Chocolatey Cereal
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: This is such a novel and appealing idea for a cereal; it's the epitome of what I created this blog for. I never imagined Wendy's Frosty could or would be made into a cereal, but when I saw it on the shelf in the store, I legit squealed! Plus, it goes great with my Wendy's Spicy Chicken Pringles. (Not really - chips and cereal? I'm not insane. But those chips are amazing on their own. The spicy chicken sandwich is my go-to order at Wendy's, and the Pringles really do taste like it.)

As for the cereal, it's like a cross between Hot Cocoa Puffs and Elf on the Shelf Hot Cocoa. The round pieces recall Cocoa Puffs, but the smaller marshmallows and the softer mouthfeel of the cereal is more reminiscent of Elf on the Shelf. I daresay it gives you the best of both worlds. I think I might like it even better than Hot Cocoa Puffs! Wendy's is really hitting it out of the park with their crossover products lately.

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Like a chocolate Frosty milkshake!

Bonus: The box provides an intriguing suggestion - the Frosty Freeze Bowl - which involves putting your bowl of cereal in the freezer for 5 minutes before adding milk for a "totally chill-icious eating experience!" Don't expect any magical transformations, but it does taste good chilled (you might just have to take up the box's suggestion and eat your cereal with mittens), and it enhances the Frosty impression.

Hot Cocoa Puffs

Name: Hot Cocoa Puffs
Variation: Cocoa Puffs
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Four years ago, I found this cereal and decided it was the best thing ever. Adding marshmallows to Cocoa Puffs? It's so obvious! And calling it Hot Cocoa Puffs? Brilliant! (Although I don't recommend eating it hot). I was so enamored with it, that it became my Holy Grail. I've searched for it every winter since, but always in vain - until this year. It's back, and now sponsored by Swiss Miss - a name that screams hot cocoa!

January 2018

All that said, when you build something up in your mind, it's hard for the real thing to measure up. Not that I don't still love Hot Cocoa Puffs, but I think buying twelve bags of it was maybe a little excessive. Anyway, the cocoa pieces have a satisfying crunch to them, and you can't go wrong with chocolate and marshmallows, although the milk could be a little more chocolatey in the end. I'd definitely eat this cereal every winter; I just wish it was released more consistently.

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Slightly chocolatey.

Elf

Name: Elf
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Boasting a maple flavor, this cereal is almost like eating a bowl of waffles with syrup. Oh, and "Buddy the Elf's favorite marshmallows". Outside of a breakfast topping, maple isn't my favorite flavor in the world, so I wasn't sure how I would like this cereal, but it's enough of a novelty that I was excited to try it. And it's actually not bad. The marshmallows really are the clincher; I think I would buy it again. The leftover milk isn't much to look forward to, though.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Slightly sweet.