REVIEW: Limited Edition Chocolate Strawberry Cheerios Cereal

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Limited Edition Chocolate Strawberry Cheerios Cereal Box

The speed at which retail stores remove Christmas to put up Valentine’s Day merchandise manages to shock me every year. Wednesday, it was aisles of dreamy snowscape mini villages. Thursday, it’s giant stuffed bears, boxes of cards, and food dyed in vibrant red and pink. Peppermint is out and chocolate strawberry is in.

This year, General Mills decided to take a run at the Valentine’s Day market by releasing the Limited Edition Chocolate Strawberry Cheerios cereal. It is described as a “blissful pairing” of “delectable strawberries dipped in rich, chocolatey sauce.” I was beyond excited to give this a try.

Limited Edition Chocolate Strawberry Cheerios Cereal Back

For you see, dear readers, I don’t think I’m being too dramatic when I say chocolate strawberry is the absolute best flavor combination we humans have ever discovered. Okay, maybe a little dramatic, but chocolate strawberry flavor is easily my all-time favorite. Chocolate covered strawberries themselves can be difficult to eat, but with the onslaught of chocolate strawberry flavored foods in the past few years, I’m able to enjoy my favorite pairing with a less awkward mess.

The first thing I noticed just by looking at the box was that the flavor would be coming from the cereal itself. Normally it seems companies will just add a handful of chocolate chunks and strawberry bits to their regular product (looking at you, Special K Chocolate Strawberry).

Limited Edition Chocolate Strawberry Cheerios Cereal Dry

In this case, General Mills blended its Chocolate Cheerios and Strawberry Cheerios to create this treat. The smell of the strawberry cereal was extremely strong upon opening the plastic. I tossed a handful of dry cereal back and found it to be kind of boring. The strawberry was there, but muted. The chocolate was almost nonexistent.

Limited Edition Chocolate Strawberry Cheerios Cereal In Milk

I wasn’t going to let my hopes be dashed. Surely it would get better once I added the milk. It had to, right? RIGHT?! Lucky milk gave it the glow up it needed. The first thing I noticed as I added milk to the cereal was the pinkish hue of strawberry flavor was coming off the O shapes. The chocolate pieces also began to change the milk from white to chocolatey brown. With my first bite of the milk and cereal, I was met with the flavors I had expected. Bright, juicy strawberry and rich, deep chocolate came through with each spoonful.

Limited Edition Chocolate Strawberry Cheerios Cereal Milk

After finishing the cereal, I was left with a chocolatey milk. Now, normally I’m not a big fan of the milk after I finish the cereal. I know, you can drag me in the comments, but this might have changed my mind. For the sake of getting a thorough review, I gingerly took a sip. The cereal’s flavors soaked deeply into the milk, leaving an absolutely delicious chocolate strawberry flavored milk beverage. I ended up finishing the milk, which is something I never do.

Limited Edition Chocolate Strawberry Cheerios Cereal Heart

The high expectations I had for this cereal were (thankfully) met. They in no way replace the authentic taste and experience of eating a chocolate-covered strawberry, but this delivered the flavors I was looking for. In the same way Pumpkin Spice Cheerios add a seasonal fall twist to your morning breakfast routine, these will get you in the mood for love, spring, and 50% off candy on February 15th.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: 10.9 oz box
Purchased at: Publix
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) 140 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Java Chip Oreo and Chocolate Hazelnut Oreo Cookies

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Java Chip Oreo Cookies Package

Everyone loves a comeback story. Like the Buffalo Bills 1993 wild card victory, or Diana Nyad finally completing the 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida after several failed attempts, or fat (yeah, fat, it’s allowed now). These are victories we can stand behind, nodding and muttering, “Well, I’ll be damned. They did it.”

With the love of a comeback in mind, I’d like to introduce you to the Rocky Balboa of cookies, the Chocolate Hazelnut Oreo, and the 2007–2008 Chicago Cubs of cookies (they’re not QUITE there yet), the Java Chip Oreo.

Chocolate Hazelnut Oreo Cookies Package

Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane to consider Oreo’s initial attempts. In 2018, Nabisco launched a Chocolate Hazelnut Oreo using Golden cookies and a chocolate cream that had a nearly undetectable hazelnut flavor, the cookies’ greatest flaw. Similarly, Nabisco is not new to coffee flavor combinations, having launched Dunkin’ Mocha Oreo, Latte Oreo Thins, and Tiramisu Oreo with varying degrees of success.

Chocolate Hazelnut Oreo Cookies Open

Java Chip Oreo Cookies Open

Upon opening, the Hazelnut Oreo had me concerned. These mostly smelled of chocolate, maybe even just plain Oreo. However, the Java Chip package had a robust and pleasant coffee aroma that immediately reminded me of coffee ice cream, perhaps because of how sugary sweet it was.

Because coffee can be a strong flavor, I decided to try the Chocolate Hazelnut Oreo first. To be fair (TO BE FAIR), the pressure was ON. Launching a chocolate hazelnut flavor is a huge challenge in a confectioner world dominated mainly by Nutella, a mammoth of a product that’s often imitated but never duplicated, and Oreo had already failed that test once. BUT. NOT. THIS. TIME.

Chocolate Hazelnut Oreo Cookies Closeup

Friends, these updated Chocolate Hazelnut Oreo are a dream. The hazelnut flavor in the cream filling is POWERFUL, and the slightly darker, more bitter chocolate cookie rounds out the flavor delivery into an irrefutable success. I think I might have said “wow” out loud.

The flavor is not overwhelming or artificial tasting. It’s nutty, balanced, and definitely there. These might be my new favorite Oreo. I’m already thinking up what kinds of baked goods I’d like to make with them. Yum. I’m not giving them a perfect score because the creme is the standard Oreo texture, where I think hazelnut spread is usually impeccably smooth.

Java Chip Oreo Cookies Closeup

As mentioned earlier, however, the story is not as sweet for Java Chip. These cookies are certainly tasty. Using Oreo cream to emulate ice cream is definitely strategic and, in my opinion, a closer flavor match than aiming for coffee alone. But overall, I wasn’t that impressed.

The little added texture element of the tiny chocolate chips throughout the Java Chip cream certainly aided the experience. If java chip is your favorite ice cream, I can see a Dairy Queen coffee Blizzard with chopped up pieces of Java Chip Oreo Cookies being GREAT. But I wouldn’t seek these out again. There are just too many more exciting options available.

Java Chip Oreo and Chocolate Hazelnut Oreo Cookies Together

Overall, these are good, but the Chocolate Hazelnut Oreo stands out. Nabisco had some ground to recover from its 2018 miscue, and I think it’s done so here. Time will tell if it can better impress us with a coffee, java, or espresso iteration in the future.

Purchased Price: $3.67 each
Size: 17 oz (Family Size)

Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 9 out 10 (Chocolate Hazelnut), 6 out of 10 (Java Chip)
Nutrition Facts: (2 cookies) 140 calories, 6 grams of fat, 2 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 90 milligrams of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 13 grams of total sugars, and less than 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Cinnamon Toast Crunch Chocolate Churros Cereal

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Cinnamon Toast Crunch Chocolate Churros Cereal Box

Churros have provided me with many memories.

A large number of those involve eating churros at a carnival, hopping on amusement rides with names like Zipper, Top Spin, Orbiter, Gravitron, and Fireball during digestion of those churros, then preventing churro regurgitation while being flipped and spun on those rides, and then regretting the carnival churro consumption.

But I also have good churro memories, and the latest is Cinnamon Toast Crunch Chocolate Churros, which I will not refer to as CTCCC (pronounced see-tee-seeeeeeeeeeee).

If you read the print on the box’s front, you’ll know that EVERYTHING is enlarged to show detail and the cereal is naturally flavored chocolate sweetened wheat and rice cereal with a hint of cinnamon. This shouldn’t be confused with Chocolate Toast Crunch, which is naturally flavored chocolate sweetened wheat and rice squares with a hint of cinnamon.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Chocolate Churros Cereal Closeup

With a description that includes the words “a hint of cinnamon,” you might think this is chocolate-forward. But it’s more of a 40-60 split between the chocolate and cinnamon. With most spoonfuls, I taste the warm spice more than the cocoa. While I wish there was a stronger chocolate punch, this is an excellent and tasty follow-up to the original Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros Cereal.

However, there’s something about the churros shape that makes them less satisfying than Chocolate Toast Crunch’s square pieces, which I also thought with the regular cinnamon version. Maybe it’s surface area? Or perhaps it’s the way the nooks and crannies capture milk? I dunno.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Chocolate Churros Cereal Spoon

While I prefer the original square-shaped Chocolate Toast Crunch a smidge, the churro shape helps maintain a crunchiness level in milk that the squares can only dream of. Speaking of milk, if you happen to leave the cereal in it for a decent amount of time, the aftermilk is ex-cinna-llent.

I know what some of you are thinking, “So this is pretty much Chocolate Toast Crunch, but in tiny churro form?” Pretty much. I know. Kind of a letdown, but I’m not disappointed filling a bowl with it because it’s a solid cereal.

However, if you want to make it somewhat interesting, you could pretend to live in an alternate General Mills universe where square Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Chocolate Toast Crunch don’t exist, but Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros and Cinnamon Toast Crunch Chocolate Churros do. Also, in this alternate General Mills universe, the oat pieces are the Lucky Charms and Trix is a brand of rabbit food.

Purchased Price: More than anyone should pay on eBay
Size: 19.7 oz box
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup w/o milk) 170 calories, 5 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1 gram of polyunsaturated fat, 2.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar (including 10 grams of added sugar), and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Cheetos Crunch Pop Mix

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Cheetos Crunch Pop Mix Bag

What is Cheetos Crunch Pop Mix?

If you have tiny panic attacks trying to decide which popped or fried processed corn snack you want to buy at the grocery store, Frito-Lay has swooped in and made things worse with another option — Cheetos Crunch Pop Mix. As a follow-up to 2020’s Cheetos Popcorn, the popped corn has a new corny best friend that goes by the name of Crunchy Cheetos.

How is it?

I won’t lie, when I first saw the announcement of this product, I thought it was kind of dumb, but this cheesy mix SMACKS. I’m a bigger lover of popcorn than I am Cheetos, and I don’t buy regular Crunchy Cheetos very often, but this serves as a great reminder of how satisfying the classics are. The bag is loaded with cheesy seasoning (cheetle) and is as beautifully luminously orange as ever.

Cheetos Crunch Pop Mix Closeup

In general, Cheetos are a solid snack but can be kind of heavy and greasy when eaten in large quantities, no matter the flavor. The popcorn acts as a perfect companion to the denser, greasy Cheetos. It allows for a full-on salty and creamy snack spiral without the heftiness.

It’s a fun textural juxtaposition to have two totally different types of corn with the same seasoning. They taste and feel pretty different but maintain the intense glowing cheesy symphony that builds as I crunch and crunch and crunch.

Anything else you need to know?

I would love to see a bag with Cheetos’ classic cheesy and spicy flavors combined. Perhaps incorporating Cheetos popcorn with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos for an addictive back and forth.

Conclusion:

This simple little snack surprised me, and if you like the salty cheddar explosion from Chester, there’s no way you won’t enjoy going for a cheesy dive into Crunch Pop Mix.

Purchased Price: $3.50
Size: 2.75 oz bag
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup/28 grams) 160 calories, 11 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 250 milligrams of sodium, 14 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Starbucks Pistachio Latte

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Starbucks Pistachio Latte Cup

What is the Starbucks Pistachio Latte?

The new Starbucks Pistachio Latte has a typical latte base – steamed milk and espresso – with pistachio sauce and a salted brown butter topping.

How is it?

2021, you are off to an amazing start on the coffee front. I don’t think I could love the Pistachio Latte any more!

At first sip, there was a mellow, not overly sweet nuttiness, thanks to the pistachio sauce, which I’m looking forward to trying in some of my other favorite beverages. (Hint, Starbucks: Please keep this sauce forever!) While in reality I was about to go to work, I would have preferred to drink it during a cozy afternoon reading by the fire.

Starbucks Pistachio Latte Top

I’m really impressed with the pistachio sauce – I think Starbucks hit the nail on the head with a flavor that pairs nicely with the milk in the latte. It’s warm, filling, and has just the right amount of flavor. It reminded me slightly of a flat white. Even though traditional flat whites don’t have a sauce or syrup, the Pistachio Latte was reminiscent of the warm, just a tiny bit creaminess of a flat white.

Lastly, I found the flavor to be apparent down to the last drop.

Anything else you need to know?

The *only* thing that fell a bit flat for me and why I gave the rating I did was the salted brown butter topping. I typically find that these toppings sink right into the hot drinks and you can’t really taste it. This was the case with the Pistachio Latte.

Conclusion:

Go. Try. This. Latte. I can’t wait to get it again! Here’s to hoping it sticks around beyond winter.

Purchased Price: $4.65
Size: Grande
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 230 calories, 6 grams of total fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 35 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 33 grams of total sugars, 9 grams of protein, and 75 milligrams of caffeine.

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