Lucky Charms was never allowed in our house  when I was a kid so I don’t have a huge history with it other than the few times I got to indulge at my friend’s house when I slept over.  That was how the other half lived!  Staying up past 9:00pm, drinking soda, eating oreos, Twinkies and Fun Dip all night, then waking up to forbidden sugary goodness of Lucky Charms or Pop Tarts…or both– anything went over there!
Bringing it back to 2014, Ethan and I tried Lucky Charms and it’s challenger, Marshmallow Mateys .  It seems like Mateys wanted to go a different route, avoiding any reference to being lucky or Irish or folklorey and went a different route with a nautical theme.

Lucky Charms:

I knew some of the marshmallows only from the commercials from years ago but they’ve updated and added some that I don’t know.  I think it was purple horseshoes that was the new addition last I noticed, I wasn’t even sure what some of the shapes were supposed to be.  I felt like the cereal part was very crispy and tasted like cheerios and Ethan thought they tasted like puffed rice- that not being good or bad- just very much like rice.

Marshmallow Mateys:

Mateys boast that there is no high fructose corn syrup in the product and that it somehow provides 12 vitamins and minerals (which I don’t see how that is possible).  There is no identification of what the marshmallows are, I’m guessing some fish and a random flower of some sort. In comparison to Lucky Charms,  Matey’s oat cereal had larger, puffier pieces but only one shape, Ethan seemed disappointed when he noted “it’s all anchors”. The texture is a bit different not just with the puffier pieces but we felt that it seemed “gritter” and I thought the cereal tasted very “oaty”.

Wrap up:
While there are subtle differences, I feel like Marshmallow Mateys could definitely pass for Lucky Charms in a pinch if you’re an amateur like me.  To a fan, they would probably notice the texture and ricey taste besides being well versed in the various shapes.

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I LOVED Cinnamon Toast Crunch growing up. I haven’t had it in forever (like so many things on this blog) and I know, comparing toast to buns might not be fair,  but I was excited to see Cinnabon cereal and figured it was still a formidable opponent.
I’ve never had Cinnabon cinnamon bun, I feel like they should have them in New England but I rarely get to a mall so I just haven’t been around to try them.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch:

CTC is just like I remembered it, delightfully crisp and light  yet amazingly crunchy.  It has the perfect amount of cinnamon and sugar and kind of a buttery taste.
As an adult, I like that the ingredient list is relatively small for cereal and there;s no partially hydrogenated oil.

Cinnabon:

These had a much puffier texture yet maybe a little less crunch – though not to say they weren’t satisfyingly crunchy.  It’s just that CTC is so crunchy that it’s crisp like, these were more of a hollow crunch.
That being said, they were airy but still has substantial flavor.  Maybe a little more cinnamony than CTC.  Of course there is PHO (partially hydrogenated oil) but they do also mention it’s a multi-grain cereal- does that cancel out the badness of the PHO?

Wrap up:
I’ll go with Cinnamon Toast Crunch because I love it so much and the absence of PHO but it’s just a great cereal. I will say though that I enjoyed the Cinnabons more than I thought I would but given a choice, I’d stick with CTC.

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Frosted Flakes were always a treat when I was a kid. my sisters and I were only allowed sugar cereal only on certain occasions like birthdays and camping (my parents would get the variety pack of little cereal boxes).
I was in the dollar store and found another Frosted Flakes and was baffled by the lack of brand.  It’s like no one makes it.  The only thing it said is who it’s distributed by and that it’s a product of Argentina.  The front and back of the box are exactly the same too.

Kellogg’s:
Kellogg’s are nice big flakes that look appealing (as far as flaked cereal goes).  Ethan and I agreed these provided a nice, satisfying crunch.  The sweetness was just right even though it looks like there is a lot of frosting.  There wasn’t too much to much to say about these but it was because they delivered so well. 

No Name:
The first thing we noticed were how much smaller the flakes were.  A slightly different hue but visually seemed to have just as much frosting.  We both found these flakes to be harder and more dense.   Also, with all that frosting we were surprised they really weren’t that sweet and there was nothing to mask the slight cigarettey aftertaste that made me wonder what the factory working conditions were like.

Wrap up:
You’d think “how can you really screw up frosted flakes?” but they seem to have figured out how at this nameless cereal factory in Argentina.  Maybe our first hint should have been that there was no cartoon mascot on the front (as every proper kids’ cereal should have).  No name didn’t have the light crispy crunch that Kellog’s had.  That, plus the lack of sweetness and cigarette aftertaste just..didn’t cut it and left Kellogg’s the preferred FF.

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Walking through the local “bargain” store I spotted Honey Nut Scooters and on the box cover it practically dares you to compare it to Honey Nut Cheerios. The side panel taunts as well:

The people at Malt-O-Meal have set their sites on Honey Nut Cheerios and created a product just to take them down a notch. Not one to back away from a challenge (well, not on this particular day) I made a stop the “real” grocery store and picked up a box of Honey Nut Cheerios to see if this ballsy confidence was for real or just text on the side of the box.

Cheerios:
Honey Nut Cheerios are pretty sweet. Not too sweet but you can taste the honey. Ethan described this as “Not awesome, but good”. Unfortunately, we really had a hard time coming up with a lot of adjectives for this, but it is nutty, sweet and complimented by milk.

Scooters:
Scooters do a good job at looking the same as Cheerios. The taste is similar to Cheerios but are a little lacking in the flavor department. Ethan says they taste artificial. I think if they were a little sweeter it would give these little tasteless O’s somethin’-somethin’.

Wrap up: I could ask for my money back but since I’m just so wealthy, I’ll let them keep their $2.75. While the Scooters shouldn’t have to change their name to “Cardboard O’s” or anything, I don’t think they’re quite as good as Cheerios, and Ethan thinks they’re definitely not as good as Cheerios.

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