Cinnamoji Toast Crunch

I like to spread out my reviews in order to keep a steady pace of reliable content flowing, but I'm starting to get seriously backed up with unposted reviews, and I hate to leave cereals lingering in my queue, losing their relevance week by week. So grab your spoon, we're pouring another bowl!

Name: Cinnamoji Toast Crunch
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I assume this cereal tastes just like regular Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The only cosmetic change is that some (not all) of the cinnamon toast pieces have faces, imitating the cereal's mischievous mascot. They're cute, and I imagine that a kid could have a lot of fun with these little guys - like conversation hearts, but with emojis. I only wonder why more of them don't have faces. I'd also like to see more variety in their facial expressions, as the different smiling faces all tend to blend together. In any case, it's Cinnamon Toast Crunch - a cereal that, amazingly, I only started eating this past year, but has quickly become one of my new favorites.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Cinnamon-y.

Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch

Name: Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I looked for this cereal last Christmas but couldn't find it, leading me to wonder if I had imagined that it even existed. But then I found a box of it (in the middle of summer, ironically) at Ollie's, where you can find a lot of rare leftovers sold out of season*. It's nice and sweet, like a sugar cookie should be. Although, I feel like, without the cinnamon swirls, you get the impression that you're eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but it's a little plain... Still, I like it, and it's a fun holiday variation on a classic. Now, I just need to find some Sugar Cookie Crisp! (That's a thing, right?)

General Mills' 2022 holiday lineup.

*I couldn't have known this then - and I hate to leave these things up to chance, on the possibility that I could miss out on a cereal completely - but I could have just waited six months, because this cereal has been popping up all over the place this holiday season!

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Sweet and sugary.

Pumpkin Spice Cheerios

Name: Pumpkin Spice Cheerios
Variation: Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I may not be a pumpkin spice fanatic in general, but this is probably my favorite autumn cereal that's not specifically branded for Halloween (I mean, yeah, pumpkins are a critical component of the holiday, but without a "spooky" angle, it really reads more "general fall"). It's also probably my favorite seasonal variety of Cheerios, so I'm very happy I was able to find some to review for this blog. The cereal is very straightforward - it's cheerios flavored with pumpkin spice - and it tastes great. Plus, you get a little bit of pumpkin spice milk to sip (or gulp - take your pick) at the end! I make a point to grab a box every year if I can find it.

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Pumpkin spice flavored!

Anniversary Post

They say that you have your whole life to write your first album, but only 12 months to write your second - and you have to do it while you're on tour. If that's true, then I had the equivalent of two or three albums' worth of material when I released my debut. By the time I started my cereal blog last year, I already had a long list of cereals I'd encountered, never mind the new ones popping up. I thought one year would be enough time to catch up; that by now my load would have begun to lighten. Yet there are just as many boxes of novelty cereals on top of my fridge now as there were a year ago! (And not the same ones).

I think by next year I'll know for sure whether I'll ever be able to catch up, or if novelty cereals really are that much of a booming industry. (I suspect it's the latter). Without exaggerating, if you average it out (because they tend to cluster around the holidays), I wouldn't be surprised if a new novelty cereal hit the shelves every single week of the year. I've been throwing out double reviews left and right, and I still can't keep up!

I have at least a dozen reviews waiting in the wings at any given time, and weekly slots filled up months in advance (always with a little wiggle room, to account for unexpected finds). Putting everything into place, and juggling which cereals I buy and when I eat them, is a puzzle I'm constantly turning over in the back of my mind. But you know what? It's a problem with low stakes, and a generous yield; working on it is a pleasant distraction that brings me comfort and joy.

Sure, it's a little stressful at times. I get positively exasperated when I spot an unexpected newcomer on the shelves when I'm already booked solid for a given season. Or when I can't find a cereal I'm specifically looking for that's proving to be elusive. But in the end, it is always with delight that I grab a box and cradle it on my way to the register. Because I know it means I have another cereal experiment to look forward to.

And with that, let me invite you to the sophomore year of my blog!

[Flashback] Chocolatey Peanut Butter Crunch

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: Chocolatey/Peanut Butter Crunch
Variation: Cap'n Crunch
Manufacturer: Quaker Oats

Review: I wanted to do something special for the one year anniversary of this blog, so I'm taking a look back at the very first cereal I ever photographed following the renaissance of my interest in breakfast cereals. Not only does this photo document two different varieties of Cap'n Crunch, but represents a homebrew experiment involving mixing different cereal ingredients together in one bowl - something I'd like to document more of on this blog if the onslaught of new novelty cereals ever lets up. I've also still got a handful of flashbacks to post featuring cereals I've taken pictures of from before I started this blog. But I'm quickly learning that novelty cereals are a surprisingly lucrative industry (no doubt thanks to suckers like me, who'll buy anything just because it says "new" or "limited edition" on the box); I'm struggling to keep up!

This flashback takes us back ten years(!), to the end of 2012. Back then, I was taking matters into my own hands, mixing Chocolatey and Peanut Butter versions of Cap'n Crunch together. Although Reese's Puffs is one of my favorite cereals, it has a particular taste and texture, and this is more of a distinct mixture than a homogeneous combination of the two flavors. I haven't seen Chocolatey Crunch around for a while (though Chocolate Caramel Crunch has been making the rounds of late), and there is a dearth of peanut butter cereals on the market. I was disappointed when Cheerios recalled their Peanut Butter flavor due to peanut allergy concerns (although it buttered me up for the later release of their Chocolate Peanut Butter flavor), leaving a conspicuous vacuum of good cereals in which to cut up bananas - something I hardly ever do anymore. But this is a winning combination; I'm surprised I've never seen these two cereals marketed together in the same box, considering that the chocolatey crunch pieces and the peanut butter puffs complement each other as perfectly as Cap'n Crunch with Crunch Berries!

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheerios

Name: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheerios
Variation: Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I first spotted this cereal on the shelves back in late 2017. The first bowl I had, I was expecting something indulgent like Reese's Puffs. Naturally, being a type of Cheerios, the flavor I got was a lot blander. But here's the thing. I kept eating it (even when I pull a box I end up not liking, I still try to soldier through and finish it, so as not to be wasteful), and it really grew on me. Knowing what to expect (and what not to expect), this has actually become one of my favorite cereals. I'm glad it appears to be sticking around, especially since you can't find Peanut Butter Cheerios anymore.

December 2017

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Retains the subtle, but not unpleasant flavor of the cereal itself.