The Grinch

Name: The Grinch Dr. Seuss
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: For some reason, The Grinch is super popular this year. I don't know what it is, but I'll take any excuse to try a new cereal. Though it's vanilla, so I don't know how well I'll like it. But at least it has marshmallows! They're cute, too - little pink hearts. It all comes in a pretty green box that is very Christmas-y. Incidentally, I was just listening to a new Christmas song by rock band The Pretty Reckless, featuring Taylor Momsen who played Cindy Lou Who in the Grinch movie (25 years ago!).

I like the green puffs - they're very Grinchy. But the flavor is kind of off-putting. I taste more corn than vanilla. Looking at the nutrition facts, the sugar content is expectedly on the low side. Usually, General Mills nails their tie-ins; this tastes more like a Kellogg's promotional cereal. Did somebody turn the breakfast table upside-down? Or has the Grinch stolen all the flavor? I mean, it wouldn't be uncharacteristic of him. But of cereals based on characters likely to prank the public, I much prefer Wednesday's cereal from last year.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Corn milk. Yum.

Honey Bunches of Oats - Sugar Cookie

Name: Honey Bunches of Oats - Sugar Cookie
Variation: Honey Bunches of Oats
Manufacturer: Post

Review: After a short break, we're heading into the holiday rush now, starting with this exciting new flavor of Honey Bunches of Oats! Opening the box, it smells strongly of sugar cookies. But it's not as colorful as the box would suggest - these "festive" red and green sprinkles are barely noticeable. The flavor is good, though. The texture is a lot different from a soft, doughy cookie (that's one thing The Elf on the Shelf got right), but the taste is on point. I might even like it better than Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch! In any case, it's a delightful treat for the holidays.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Did somebody order a sugar cookie milkshake?

Frosted Bunches

Name: Honey Bunches of Oats - Frosted Bunches
Variation: Honey Bunches of Oats
Manufacturer: Post

Review: I spotted this cereal last year, but passed it over since I had no experience eating Honey Bunches of Oats. But now that I've started familiarizing myself with the lineup, I'm happy I was able to have another chance to give it a try. Given the presence of corn flakes in this cereal regularly, using frosted flakes instead is a great idea. From the first bite, the added sweetness is a welcome presence. It's still dense, and no competition for most of the cereals I like to eat, but it may just prove in the end to be one of the few versions of this cereal I can tolerate.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Sweet, and flecked with oats.

WinterFest Fruity Pebbles with Marshmallows!

Name: WinterFest Fruity Pebbles with Marshmallows!
Variation: Fruity Pebbles
Manufacturer: Post

Review: Just when I thought I was done with the holiday line of Fruity Pebbles cereals, Post has figured out the trick to get me to buy their WinterFest Fruity Pebbles again - they added marshmallows! It's basically Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles, just limited to the Christmas colors of red and green. Which is to say, not as pretty. In fact, the green is very dull - somewhat Grinch-like. I like that the marshmallows are simple, white, and round - they could be snowballs, and remind me of the marshmallows in Hot Cocoa Puffs. I'll begrudgingly give this cereal a two bowl rating, but I'm still waiting for Cocoa Pebbles to get the holiday treatment. Hot Cocoa Pebbles, anyone?

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Fruity, but looks an unappetizing dirty yellow.

Apple Pie Toast Crunch

Name: Apple Pie Toast Crunch
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Technically, I've already reviewed this cereal, but I feel like the individual components were overshadowed in the Caramel Apple Toast Crunch experiment, and I've been meaning to give these two cereals their own spotlight (stay tuned for the other one).

Taken alone, Apple Pie Toast Crunch is very sweet and apple-y; it's reminiscent of pie filling and not just mashed apples, which is pretty cool. The sweet, fruity flavor dulls a little bit as you progress through the bowl and your tongue acclimates to it, but it's a fun holiday cereal that I enjoy. If you have some Dulce de Leche Toast Crunch to add to it, all the better! My rating of two bowls from before shall stand.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: If your tongue isn't completely desensitized by the end of the bowl, it's sweetened with apple and cinnamon.

WinterFest Fruity Pebbles

Name: WinterFest Fruity Pebbles
Variation: Fruity Pebbles
Manufacturer: Post

Review: This year, Post is offering a winter holiday version of its popular Fruity Pebbles cereal, which is functionally very similar to Halloween Fruity Pebbles, in that it's a cosmetic variation (red and green for Christmas) with the "same fruity taste!" you love (or so one would assume). That also means there are no surprises in store for you. Me? I'm still waiting for Cocoa Pebbles to get the holiday treatment. Any holiday. (How about... red strawberry pebbles mixed in with the usual cocoa, for Valentine's Day? Give me a call, Post).

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Fruity.

Gingerbread Toast Crunch

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

Review: I'm not crazy about gingerbread, but I was excited when I saw this new holiday edition of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, because it's a clever idea, and on point for the brand (what's a holiday version of bread? Gingerbread!). Visually, it looks like regular CTC. Digging my spoon into it, I'm reminded of CinnaGraham Toast Crunch; my predominant impression being that this is CTC, but blander.

There is an unmistakable gingerbread flavor, which is pretty neat. But I'm not in love with it. Maybe it needs some frosting. As far as holiday versions of Cinnamon Toast Crunch go, I think I'll stick with Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch, or Apple Pie Toast Crunch. Or even Cinnamon Toast Crunch Rolls. There are a lot of options, and this isn't going to become one of my favorites. But it was a fun idea, at least.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Gingerbread-y.

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

Name: Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: This year, the classic stop-motion Christmas movie about everybody's favorite reindeer gets a cereal tribute! As another hot cocoa-flavored cereal with marshmallows, I was very excited to try this cereal - even more so than The Elf on the Shelf's North Pole Snow Creme (notwithstanding its curious cooling effect). I won't be the first one to note that the "Flying Reindeer" look like Reese's Puffs Bunnies, but they're flatter and crisper (a bit like the cookies in Cookie Crisp). And there is, of course, no peanut butter.

How does it compare to other hot cocoa cereals? The bold and colorful marshmallows (representing Rudolph's red nose, green Christmas trees, and Hermey's blue hat) are where it excels - indeed, the splash of primary colors recalls the glow of Christmas lights. But it doesn't have the satisfying mouthfeel of Elf on the Shelf's Hot Cocoa cereal, and I don't think I would rate it as high as Hot Cocoa Puffs (why is this cereal so hard to find?). But that's not to say that I don't like it. I'd love to see General Mills expand on this property, like Kellogg's has done with the Elf on the Shelf cereals. Imagine Hermey's Sugar Cookies Cereal, or The Bumble's Snowball Blast!

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: It may not be hot cocoa, but it is cold chocolate milk!

The Elf on the Shelf (North Pole Snow Creme)

Name: North Pole Snow Creme
Variation: The Elf on the Shelf
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Kellogg's has unveiled a new flavor of The Elf on the Shelf cereal this year! It's called North Pole Snow Creme, and it "magically cools your mouth while you eat". I like the snowball motif, and the color profile of the box carves a complimentary niche between the other two flavors (since Sugar Cookie switched from blue to a green box this year).

Elves on the [cereal] shelves.

Disappointingly, the cereal pieces themselves aren't as pretty as they are on the box, and once again the marshmallows leave something to be desired. They're already tiny to begin with, and the way they settle at the bottom of the bag, they may as well not be there (you might want to store this box upside-down). I noted with interest that the star-shaped cereal pieces resemble those used in Hocus Pocus 2 cereal (and another cereal that I'll be posting a review of in the future), however as with the other Elf on the Shelf cereals, the texture and mouthfeel of these is of a premium quality.

So, how does it taste? Vanilla-y, I think. The cooling effect is peculiar - it produces a kind of mild tingling sensation on your tongue (quite different from the popping effect of Rice Krispies). It's a curious novelty; I'm not sure it's necessary when you're pouring cold milk over the cereal anyway. And after a few bites, it turns into a somewhat off-putting aftertaste (menthol?). I think I'd just as soon stick to the other two flavors of Elf on the Shelf cereals in the future - Hot Cocoa & Sugar Cookie. I liked them better.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Cool and creamy.

Rice Krispies with Holiday Colors

Name: Rice Krispies with Holiday Colors
Variation: Rice Krispies
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: At this point, I'm just collecting the different seasonal varieties of Rice Krispies to complete the set, so I can have them documented for posterity on my blog. In fact, I didn't even eat that whole bowl you see in the picture. I poured most of it back into the box before adding a splash of milk, and ate only enough to confirm that it tastes just like every other box of plain Rice Krispies I've had so far - which is to say on the dull side of plain. The red and green Krispies are certainly appreciated for Christmas, but at this point, I'm not even sure I like Rice Krispies Treats enough to keep buying these...

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Nothing to write home about.

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.

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.

Christmas Crunch

Name: Christmas Crunch
Variation: Cap'n Crunch
Manufacturer: Quaker Oats

Review: I was relieved to find this cereal this year, so I could review it for my blog - and on Christmas Day! I actually saw a man setting up the display at Walmart on the last day of November, and was the very first person to grab a box. This cereal tastes just like Cap'n Crunch with Crunch Berries (which, again, is not a bad thing), but with berries in festive red and green shapes. Although it doesn't turn the milk purple, it does leave the usual sugary sweet taste.

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Sugary sweet!

The Elf on the Shelf (Hot Cocoa & Sugar Cookie)

Name: The Elf on the Shelf - Hot Cocoa & Sugar Cookie
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Another two-for-one! Hot cocoa and sugar cookie are two of my favorite winter flavors (moreso than peppermint and gingerbread), so I was very excited to find these - the official cereal of the North Pole. Both cereals are pretty similar, just with different flavors. The marshmallows are tiny and very sparse - I feel like Hot Cocoa could have had more of them, but I was surprised that Sugar Cookie had any at all. The flavors could be a little stronger (Hot Cocoa more chocolatey, and Sugar Cookie sweeter), but this is made up for by mouthfeel. I was particularly impressed with the way Sugar Cookie simulates the feeling of biting into a sugar cookie. I think I would enjoy making these cereals part of my annual Christmas tradition. The milk is left with a mild flavor when you're done.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Mild cocoa/cookie flavor.