Flickr/Tarah
Growing up in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s afforded me some of the best cartoon-watching a child could have. But one of the things I looked forward to most was waking up each morning and checking out what kind of cereal my mom had stocked the kitchen with. Chock full of sugars and product placements, a big old bowl of cereal paired well with Saturday morning cartoons…or right before I took my sugar high to school, to wreak havoc on those pesky teachers.
I’ve compiled a list of classic, over-the-top, forgotten old-school breakfast foods that I’m pouring a bowl out over. I think you will, too.
1. Cinnamon Mini-Buns
I feel like this cereal influenced where I got my very first job (Cinnabon), because who can resist the hypnotic cinnamon swirls? This cereal contained miniature buns of awesomeness containing cinnamon, sugar and whole grain oats.
2. Hidden Treasures
This cereal looked gross, but once you took a bite into those sweet sweet corn puffs, delicious fruity icing would explode in your mouth. The flavors: cherry, grape and orange. Yeah, pretty awesome.
3. CinnaCrunch Pebbles/Dino Pebbles
I think every kid who grew up in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s has some kind of affinity for The Flintstones, and with that Dino Pebbles. So with that came a love for varieties of Post’s Pebbles, including CinnaCrunch (released in 1998) made from sweetened oat, corn and wheat and had real cinnamon. #DROOL
4. Urkel-Os
Family Matters was one of my favorite shows growing up. Who wasn’t obsessed with Steve Urkel and his ridiculous catch phrase, “Did I do that?” So it really didn’t matter what Urkel-O’s tasted like (strawberry and banana rings), but that I could eat them while watching the show.
5. Oreo O’s
If I had my choice, I would have just eaten cookies for breakfast. But my parents wouldn’t have any of that. Thankfully, when Oreo O’s cereal was released in 1998, it was like the best of both worlds. I’ll still never understand why this cereal got discontinued.
6. Teddy Grahams Breakfast Bears
There was nothing I loved getting in my lunch more than Teddy Grahams. When Nabisco released Breakfast Bears cereal, you know I was on my parents about getting it stat. Teddy Graham’s had dat cereal game on lock because they took their adorable lil’ cookies and made them into great new flavors (including cinnamon sugar, omnomnom) and made a cereal. GENIUS!
7. Pop-Tarts Crunch
How could this cereal do any wrong? Pop-Tarts were always a go-to snack for any time of the day. When they were introduced in cereal form—oh buddy, it was game over for all involved. These miniaturized Pop-Tarts came in strawberry and brown sugar cinnamon varieties, and tasted just as bad-ass with milk. I wish I had a bowl right now.
…And Still Around for Your Breakfast Pleasure:
French Toast Crunch
When I couldn’t convince mom and dad to make me french toast in the mornings, I would settle for a bowl of French Toast Crunch. This kick-ass cereal (introduced in 1997) tasted and looked like slices of french toast. Brought back to the shelves last December, French Toast Crunch is riding high again.
Cookie Crisp
If Oreos weren’t your cookie du jour and you still wanted to eat cookies for breakfast, there was no need to fret: Cookie Crisp was also available. Like dumping a bowl of mini chocolate chip cookies (nutritious, of course) into a bowl full of milk, this cereal clearly started most days off right.
Apple Jacks
What more can be said about Apple Jacks? It was like digging into a bowl of apple pie and it was fantastic. It still is.
Amanda (Ama) Scriver is a full-time community builder and official ‘head bee in charge’ of the food, fat and feminism blog, Fat Girl Food Squad. When she isn’t busy kickin’ ass and takin’ names, she is having serious feels for all things coffee, hip-hop, the art of drag, Kardashians, pizza and Doritos. You can find more bylines from her at Eater, BizBash and Toronto is Awesome.