New Product Review:

Nature Valley Crunchy Cereals

Reviewed by Mr Breakfast on 4/2/2007

I tried both varieties of this new cereal: Oats 'N Honey and Cinnamon.

First the good news: If you're into snacking on dry cereal right from the box, you have to try these. They are flavorful and fun. The lightly-sweetened multi-grain flakes will remind you of other cereals, but the "Granola Bar Pieces" (one or two per small handful) make both of these cereals special (when eaten dry). I was surprised that the pentagon-shaped granola pieces gave me the same kick as getting the occasional marshmallow or chocolate piece in other cereals. I would buy these cereals again in a second for the purpose of dry-snacking. As for which is better - Oats 'N Honey or Cinnamon, it's strictly a matter of taste. I may have liked Oats 'N Honey a touch better, just because it reminded more of the Nature Valley Granola bars I grew up with.

Now for the bad news: Both cereals loose a little bit of their magic when milk is added. The cinnamon variety fares a little better because the milk takes on some of the cinnamon flavor.

The flakes stay moderately crunchy and retain most of their flavor. The problem is with the granola pieces. Their texture in milk feels confused: not quite crunchy, not quite soggy. When eaten with the still-crunchy flakes, the granola pieces (that were so good dry) suddenly seem like what it must be like to eat small cakes of saw dust. I was hopeful that this was just the impression of the first few bites, but the more I ate of the bowl, the more the granola pieces seemed out of place.

The nutritional profiles of these new cereals are nothing to get excited about - despite the "100% Natural" exclamations and the waving stalks of wheat on the boxes. Each 1 cup serving (without milk) for both varieties has 230 calories, 3 grams of fat (none of which are dreaded Trans Fat) and 48 grams of carbs. The splattering of vitamins is very low compared to many other cereals. Only iron appears on that part of the panel, showing up at 4% of the recommended daily value.

I'm giving these cereals a perfect 7 for dry snacking. They get 3 and 1/2 when you add milk. I'm taking away one golden egg for looking more healthy than they actually are. That all equates to a high 4 according my strange math. And that's not too bad. If you're in the mood try a new cereal, go for it. You'll finish the boxes one way or another.

The price we paid: $2.50