New Product Review:

Banana Nut Cheerios

Reviewed by Mr Breakfast on 1/9/2009

If you like homemade banana bread, you're going to like this cereal... at least at first. The banana flavor is authentic and it dominates every bite. This isn't just Cheerios infused with banana flavor... it's a new banana cereal shaped like Cheerios.

As a visiting friend said when I offered her some Banana Nut Cheerios, "I'm not a fan of banana flavoring, but I like this."

This new variety of Cheerios doesn't taste at all like original Cheerios. The toasted oat simplicity of the original is gone. The first ingredient on the list is whole grain corn and, if you focus on the flavors beyond the overwhelming banana, you'll notice that the base of this cereal tastes more like Kix (once known as Corn Kix) or corn flakes than it tastes like Cheerios. But that's fine... it works.

As to the "Nut" in Banana Nut Cheerios... there's isn't really a distinct nut flavor in the cereal. What they refer to as "Nut" is more of a toasty flavor. If you've every made a recipe that asked you to toast barley or another grain until it smells mildly nutty... that's the "Nut" here... more of a feeling than a flavor. And that's fine... because it works.

The only negative thing I have to say about this cereal relates to a personal preference, but I think it's a personal preference many of us share. Banana flavor is great in mild doses, but it's one of those flavors that gets tiresome fairly quickly. So far I've had two bowls of Banana Nut Cheerios - and I've enjoyed them both very much. But I can already sense that by the end of the box I'm going to be burnt out on banana breakfast cereal.

I'm going to recommend that you try this one. If you absolutely love bananas (perhaps you are bananas for bananas), you'll probably buy another box. If you're like me and dig banana flavor but don't regularly crave it, I think you'll enjoy a box of Banana Nut Cheerios as a one-time treat.

The price we paid: $3.89