How does a cereal aficionado celebrate the greatest day in the cold breakfast calendar year? It’s a question I’ve been mulling over for several days. From debating eating nothing but cereal all day to creating a combination of all my favorite cereals, I’ve brainstormed more ways to mark this day of days than cereals in a Super Walmart. In the end though, it seems I’ve run out of time, and now that National Cereal Day 2012 is upon us, I remain blocked in my efforts to celebrate in a truly slam-bang way.
But isn’t that the point. Because, when you love something and its a part of your life everyday, isn’t every day in and of itself a National Cereal Day?
I argue it is, and as I sat googeling ”cereal day” late last night, I ran across a former column of mine I wrote while an editor for my old college paper, the Utah Statesman. In 2010 I ranked my “Top 10 Cereals of all Time,” and looking back on it now, I can see some changes are in order. So, in honor of the always evolving Cereal Master List, I present to you my current Top 10 Cereals for National Cereal Day.
1) Waffle Crisp: Hard to believe, but I discovered this bedrock of artificial flavor and addicting crunch soon after writing my Top 10 List back in 2010. While Waffle Crisp is tough to find, it’s amazing maple sweetness is unmatched, while it’s thick, crunchy pieces provide both the glazed mouthfeel of syrup, and the lickable quality of a sugar coating. A toasted nature forged from partially hydrogenated oil gives it no redeemable nutrition, but makes it oh so yummy. Just in case the cerealpocolypse is to happen with its discontinuation, I have a special “reserve box” I intend never to open.
2) Frosted Mini Wheats Little Bites Chocolate: An amazing specimen of nutrition and taste, the crunchy cocoa wheat bites hit you with a vanilla glaze over crunchy chocolate mini chips, proving excellent with both milk and plain. A respectable amount of giver and protein and clean ingredient list make them totally respectable for even party-pooping naturalists.
3) Froot Loops: I don’t know what it is about Froot Loops, but I can’t get enough. I’ve always just been drawn to sucking the very artificially laced berry flavors of each loop until they dissolve in my mouth, but there’s just something about a Talking Bird which makes me go loopy for Red #40 in all it’s processed glory.
4) French Toast Crunch: Need I say more after the week that was? I think not.
5) Honey Nut Cheerios: Classic. Iconic. The taste of honey, oats, and almonds is something that appeals to both the four-year old squirming around at church and the 44-year old who’s skipping the comfort of a morning donut so he can lower his cholesterol. Even in a cereal world of nw products that hit shelves by the week, this remains one of my favorites.
6) Cinnamon Toast Crunch: It’s not French Toast Crunch, but the American standby’s taste of butter and brown sugar are a fine substitute. Per piece, I don’t know if there’s a more enjoyable cereal than French Toast Crunch, which I prefer to eat like candy. Of course, if you want to just stuff a bunch in your face, that’s perfectly acceptable too.
7) Cap’n Crunch Crunchberries: Cap’n Crunch is fine if you ask me, but it’s absolutely magnificent when given the benefit of the cloying sweet taste of puffed berries (with ketchip, eh, not so much). I’ve always felt that coconut oil adds a certain exotic nature to Cap’n Crunch, and will always come back to the enduring Crunch Berry variety even though I might find other, newer attempts (ahem, chocolate) to absolutely suck.
8) Kashi GoLean Crisp Toasted Berry Crumble: Like granola, only better. The biggest downside in the fiber content. You know that whole bit about adding fiber slowly to your diet? Yea, good luck if you put a box of this in front of me!
9) Golden Grahams: The intensity of the honey graham flavor far surpasses any other cereal, while the highly underrated ability to the pieces to take on milk makes this one of the few cereals I will pour the dairy for. I wonder though, why no cartoon spokesman?
10) Cocoa Puffs: I went back and forth with Fruity Pebbles on this last spot for quite some time. And Lucky Charms. And Cookie Crisp. Oh hell, the tenth spot is like a revolving door of whatever cereal I’ve eaten recently and reminds me of what I’ve been missing. Right now, that cereal is Cocoa Puffs. No, it might not be real chocolate, but in terms of cocoa flavor, you can’t beat it. Clearly, this is what inspired me to buy that “I’m Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!” t-shirt I saw at Walmart a while back.
Alright. Let the good spirited debate begin. Your Top 10?
LOVE your top ten, although I don’t agree with all of it (Froot Loops? I’ll pass. But Golden Grahams…!). In no particular order, I would probably say…
Vector (Yes I’m an old person at heart, apparently)
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Corn Bran Squares (A VERY OLD PERSON, OKAY)
Reese Puffs
Nesquik
Lucky Charms
Corn Pops
Cheerios (Can’t decide between multigrain, PB, or honey nut…)
Honey Shreddies
French Toast Crunch
Honourable mention goes to Cinnamon Puffins.
You’ve got a pretty good list here! Man, I love cereal.
10 – Kix and/or Corn Pops (same diff, though the Pops are way sweeter)
09 – Froot Loops
08 – Shredded Mini-Wheats (unfrosted)
07 – Cocoa Krispies
06 – puffed rice
05 – Raisin Bran
04 – Cheerios (original recipe)
03 – Grape Nuts
02 – Cracklin’ Oat Bran!!! <3 <3
01 – Swiss muesli (breakfast every morning!)
Do you ever go for Berry Berry Kix? I’ve been hearing a lot about the Grape Nuts and Oat Bran stuff from reading Leandra’s SE column. I may need to break down and try them soon!
I guess I’m a Kix purist. Actually, I never was one for berry-flavored cereal. (See also: Fruity Pebbles, Crunchberries… I would like to argue here that Froot Loops is a different animal, however.)
Cracklin’ Oat Bran is seriously dangerous. Not only because it’s the BEST CEREAL EVER but because it, like all other delicious fake-healthy bran things, is a total fat bomb. Worth it!
I’m not a coconut fan. Still advise to try COB? I got really into Honey Kix for a time, but at the end of the day it usually gets left out of the shopping cart because of the variety of OMG AWSOME stuff on shelves.
I’m not sure I sense a huge coconut presence in Cracklin’ Oat Bran, but maybe if you’re way not into it you’ll taste it like crazy. I would be so sad to send you down a dark coconutty cereal path!
2 and 8 surprise me. I thought the regular go lean crunch was better. I also thought you have another granola on here, or is that not in the straight “cereal” genre?
The problem I have with granola is that too many taste the same. So Kashi gets to fill in for them all
I love cereal! I have a blog devoted to it! Check it out. http://cerealbydesign.blogspot.com/
(Don’t tell but my fav is Cocoa Krispies)
That is a legit blog. I’m going to add it to our link list!
This one is really hard, but here I go.
10) Smacks
9) Fruity Pebbles
8) Capt’n Crunchbeeries
7) Kashi Go Lean Crisp
6) Lucky Charms
5) Cinnamon Life
4) Cinnamon Toast Crunch
3) Cookie Crisp
2) Tie between Banana Nut Crunch / Honey Nut Cheerios
1) Cinnamon Roll Frosted Mini Wheats
I’m curiouse. I’m not a big Smacks guy, but do you find them any different than Golden Crisp from Post?
1. Grape nuts: I’m a freak what can I say; but I love me some Grape Nuts
tied with
1. Cinnamon Toast Crunch
3. Cinnabon Mini Wheats: this is a new flavor that I found out about here, and I was blown away
4. Cracklin Oat Bran
5. French Toast Crunch
6. Rice Chex
7. Oreo Os (R.I.P.)
8. Frosted Flakes
9. Capn Crunch crunchberries
10. Fruit Loops: I was recently devastated to learn that the different colors don’t actually taste differently from each other
Agree with the Cinnabon Mini Wheats. I think the Chocolate are slightly better, but both are amazing. And what do you mean, froot loops all tatse the same? Blasphemy!
Nice list! Mine would have to be:
10: Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries
9: Trix (would be higher but those stupid balls ruined it for me)
8: Cocoa Puffs
7: Fruit Loops
6: Rice Krispies (with extra sugar sprinkled on top, of course)
5: Oreo O’s
4: Frosted Mini-Wheats
3: Fiber One Original
2: Golden Grahams
And always number one:
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Mahor props for going with Fiber One Original. It’s seriously good for what it is.
Aspartame be damned, I love those little twigs!
Oreo o’s I miss those and the same with Honey Nut clusters. Need to check out this website. Amazing cereal Library http://www.mrbreakfast.com/cereal_home.asp
A daily visit for me for many years, although I think some of his reviews are way off.
I cycle through my favorites also but right now my absolute favorite is the soon-to-be-no-more Chocolate Frosted Flakes. I have have a reserve box of those.
Also Corn Flakes are very under appreciated. I love me some plain as can be corn flakes!
Hmmm. Malt-O-Meal also makes a Chocolate Frosted Flakes. Might be worth searching out.
Good its pretty hard now, they are stacked on pallet mats at the ends of all the Walmart registers marked way down, and once their gone thats it! There’s almost no info on the internet about them and none on the Kellogg’s website. Oh and I just discovered them too!
Nobody likes Apple Jacks? I can’t decide on a top 10, but I’m just surprised no one put that in their list.
what about fraken berrys! honestly people best cereal ever!