Krave Double Chocolate Brownie Batter

Name: Krave Double Chocolate Brownie Batter
Variation: Krave
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: I tried Kellogg's Krave for the first time this year. I liked it. In fact, I liked it so much, I've already had a second box. But if it has one flaw, it's that the shells of the biscuits are so plain. Well, this cereal solves that problem by making the biscuits chocolate, and then ups the ante with a brownie batter-flavored filling! It's the next best thing since Cocoa Puffs Brownie Crunch. I'm going to have to grab another box or two while I can still find them in stores. The only thing preventing me from giving this cereal the rare privilege of an instant three bowl rating is the fact that, despite all that chocolate, the milk is still left awfully plain (something that not even the ample powder at the bottom of the bag could remedy). Come on, Kellogg's. You could have had it all. But there's no excuse for that.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: More biscuit-y than chocolate-y.

Great Value Fudge Brownie

Name: Fudge Brownie
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Great Value

Review: Normally, store brand cereals don't even register on my radar (unless I'm making fun of the knock-offs), but this flavor of Walmart brand cereal caught my attention. Firstly, because it's chocolate and marshmallows (one of my favorite combinations!), but also because it's fudge brownie! I've lamented in the past that there aren't more brownie-flavored cereals on the market. Even so, I was still going to pass it up, but I was in a pinch, and looking for a cereal I could pilfer the marshmallows from for an experiment, and this one fit the bill. And, since I had it, I figured I might as well give it a try. Right?

Rating a cereal like this one is tricky. What if I like it? I hesitate to start a precedent for giving store brand cereals a passing rating. The whole foundation of my understanding of cereal quality would crash down around me! But if I don't like it, it's going to feel like brand name snobbery. (In truth, I was raised with the good stuff, but I've learned to accept certain store brand substitutes). Above all, I want to be honest. And just underneath that surface level of fudge brownie flavor, there's a bit of a "cardboard" quality to the taste of this cereal that is definitely off-putting. The salient question in instances like this one is, would I buy it again? And the answer is: I doubt it.

I'm just going to have to keep that in mind when I look at the other intriguing cereal flavors Great Value has been putting on the shelves lately...

Update: And check out their fall lineup!

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Actually better than the cereal itself.

[Experiment] Peanut Butter Waffle Crisp

Description: As far as waffle cereals go, I actually like Eggo Homestyle better, but I thought "Peanut Butter Waffle Crisp" had a better ring to it. I was introduced to peanut butter waffles the first time I ate at a Waffle House, on a road trip. They sprinkle peanut butter chips (like chocolate chips, but made with peanut butter) over hot waffles. It's delicious! Since then, I've gotten into the habit of spreading peanut butter directly on my waffles at home (on the rare occasion that I do eat waffles). So I thought this would be a fun idea for a cereal experiment. It's good, and the peanut butter adds a little variety to an otherwise kind of one-note cereal. Give it a try sometime!

Rating: 🥣🥣

IHOP Mini Pancake Cereal

Name: IHOP Mini Pancake Cereal - Blueberry & Syrup
Variation: Cookie Crisp?
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Like DunkAroos, I suspect this is another low-key variation of Cookie Crisp (a cereal that deserves more novelty variations than it gets), based on the sprinkled, saucer-shaped cereal pieces. And they are purple! "Blueberry & Syrup" is a pretty accurate description of how this cereal tastes. And the milk it leaves behind is pleasantly blue, with sprinkles that effectively evoke the spirit of "blueberry".

To be honest, my expectations for this cereal weren't high - and not because I don't like IHOP. It's just that (as I've written before) I don't get that excited for cereals that imitate breakfast foods. But I was pleasantly surprised. I think I like this cereal at least as much as Eggo Homestyle and Waffle Crisp, and definitely better than French Toast Crunch. Which is funny, because outside of the cereal bowl, I like French toast better than pancakes and waffles both...

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: The epitome of "blueberry milk".

[Experiment] French Toast Crunch Berries

Description: So I tried General Mills' Cinnamon Toast Crunch derivative French Toast Crunch, and (like with my real French toast) I felt that it could benefit from being paired with a fruity companion. And Quaker Oats' Oops! All Berries is pretty versatile, and well-poised to serve as an add-in to other cereals. The result of their combination is basically strawberry French toast - in cereal form!

I'm still not super fond of the texture of the French toast pieces (no matter how cute they are). The addition of the Crunch Berries is an improvement, but I don't know if it really comes together. When I tried using JoJo Siwa Strawberry Bop!, it was a little more cohesive, but not necessarily any better. I can't imagine going out of my way to have either one again.

Rating: 🥣

Berry Pebbles

Name: Berry Pebbles
Variation: Fruity Pebbles
Manufacturer: Post

Review: This year, Post is celebrating "women who rock" with a new berry version of their Pebbles cereal. It's an intriguing concept, with blue, red, and purple pebbles. But Fruity Pebbles is already a fruity cereal, so how will it distinguish itself? By emphasizing its "berry" flavor, of course! (I don't know if it's all the purple messing with my head, but I could almost taste grape). However, the resident Fruity Pebbles fanatic in our home reports that it suffers from the loss of a citrus-y flavor. I guess if you already like something, changing it up is a risky proposition. I didn't think it was all that bad, and conceptually, I wouldn't hesitate to give this cereal an A. But that doesn't mean I'd go out of my way to have it again.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Not as purple as you would expect, but berry-flavored.

Krave Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Name: Krave Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Variation: Krave
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: By pure serendipity, after Krave's new flavor caught my attention this year, I spotted a box of this other flavor at a second-run store, and snatched it up. As far as I can tell, this version of Krave has the same chocolate filling, but now the biscuits are covered in tiny chocolate chips, and are supposed to taste like cookie dough. There is some resemblance to Cookie Crisp - until you bite into them and discover the smooth, chocolate centers.

What I like about "cookie dough" treats is the sweet, chewy texture of the cookie dough bites, and I'm not sure I'm getting that here. Maybe the filling should have been cookie dough? Or maybe they should have just called it Chocolate Chip Cookie, and left the "dough" off. Although I have a suspicion that the flavor is closer to an Oreo-like cookies 'n' cream, unless it's just the black specks (not at all what you get in a true chocolate chip cookie - much less chocolate chunk, which I prefer) messing with my mind.

To be honest, this cereal should have been a slam dunk, but instead it's leaving me with questions. Maybe that's why I found it at a second-run store? Regardless, if it's not clearly better than Krave Chocolate, it's still at least as good. It makes me wonder what other flavors Krave has tested that I might have missed...

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Only a hint of milk and cookies.

Krave Chocolate

Name: Krave Chocolate
Variation: Krave
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Kellogg's Krave is a cereal that has simply never been on my radar - until now. This year they released a new flavor - Double Chocolate Brownie Batter - that made me sit up and take notice. But I wanted to try Chocolate first so I had a basis to compare it to.

The cereal consists of snackable biscuits with a "crispy shell outside" and "smooth and chocolatey inside". It has an unassuming appearance, but the chocolate flavor is satisfying. It's quite good. The biscuits are crunchy, and enable the chocolate filling to be smoother and creamier than what you get in other cereals. On the other hand, it doesn't have a chance to turn the milk chocolate.

Although I love that every flavor of this cereal I've seen so far is chocolate-related, if they made a version with fruit-filled centers, it would be a passable imitation of a hallowed cereal from my childhood - Hidden Treasures. I'd like to see them try that.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Very plain.