Breakfast Cereals We Wish They'd Bring Back
Cereal is one of those iconic American breakfast foods that brings back all kinds of memories. The commercial jingles replayed in your head for hours. The cereal box might have even had a game or two to occupy you through breakfast. If you were lucky, your parents bought a box with a surprise toy inside.
Yes, breakfast was the most important meal of the day, but what felt more important than fiber or whole grains were the whimsical shapes you poured into your bowl each morning. Your breakfast table saw it all, and for the sake of feeling nostalgic, we wish they'd bring these cereals back.
Berry Lucky Charms
Lucky Charms, that magically delicious General Mills cereal, has been sold in many forms, but one beloved Lucky Charms product is no longer on shelves. Berry Lucky Charms, which vanished after debuting in 2006, contained berry-flavored cereal pieces mixed with eight marshmallow charm shapes. Lucky the Leprechaun remained the spokeself for the cereal, as he's one of the most iconic mascots of all time.
Chocolate Honeycomb
Post's Honeycomb cereal has always been shaped like little honeycombs and contained honey. However, the brand took things to another level in 2006 when they debuted the offshoot Chocolate Honeycomb (made with even bigger pieces). Unfortunately, this spinoff didn't last, just like these discontinued snack foods.
Circus Fun
The marshmallows in Circus Fun were shaped like lions, tigers, bears, elephants and horses. These delightful little animals were intermixed with colorful spheres and loops of crunchy cereal. The mascot was a clown who showed up in some very '80s commercials. At one point, the boxes came with Life Savers candy inside, which is still one of America's favorites candies.
Crazy Cow
Crazy Cow was a 1970s breakfast cereal that was immediately a hit. It came in both strawberry and chocolate flavors. The powder would dissolve in milk, turning the liquid brown or pink depending on the flavor. Crazy, right? Just make sure your milk doesn't look funky before you pour it in the bowl. It might be expired — here's how to know for certain.
Dino Pebbles
The Flintstones still have their faces on some cereals today, but perhaps none as great as Dino Pebbles, which debuted in 1990. They were made of tiny rice cereals mixed with multicolored dinosaur-shaped marshmallows — modeled after the cartoon dinosaur Dino — and had the nonsensical slogan "Marshmallow Dino-licious!"
Hidden Treasures
What did breakfast look like the year you were born? For 1993 babies, it was Hidden Treasures. This cereal featured little pillow-shaped squares stuffed with a filling that resembled cherry, orange or grape jelly in taste and texture. Only some of the cereal squares had any filling at all, so eating one felt like a real-life treasure hunt.
Ice Cream Cones Cereal
Ice Cream Cones Cereal was made from a mix of vanilla- or chocolate chip-flavored puffs and conical Chex-like pieces. This now-retired cereal debuted in 1986, letting '80s kids have as much fun eating cereal as they did eating ice cream at America's best shops.
Mini Trix
Introduced in 2015, Mini Trix are exactly what they sound like: miniature Trix. Those who adored the popular breakfast cereal could get more fruity pieces in every bite with this version. This product had the same colors as the normal Trix, but they got soggy faster because the pieces were so small. If you don't love soggy cereal or soggy lettuce, learn how to make your food last longer.
Mr. Wonderfull’s Surprize
Mr. Wonderfull's Surprize, which came in both vanilla and chocolate varieties, was a cereal from the 1970s made from balls of filled crisp cereal. The boxes came with surprise gifts inside such as puzzle cards and rulers. But the real "surprize" of this cereal was that many of the puffs burst, leaving bowls of milk filled instead with hollow, broken puff exterior alongside hardened balls of filling.
Peanut Butter Toast Crunch
"The taste you can see" got an upgrade with Peanut Butter Toast Crunch, a sugar-dusted cereal that the box claimed had "real peanut butter in every bite." It was introduced in 2004, removed from shelves, and brought back in 2013 before disappearing again. People were so nuts for this cereal that there's an online petition demanding that General Mills resurrect the fan favorite. For what it's worth, you could likely recreate real peanut butter French toast using simple pantry staples.
Rocky Road Cereal
There was a time when rocky road was so much more than just one of America's favorite ice cream flavors. In the '80s, it was a cereal too. Chocolatey and nutty coated marshmallows were mixed in among vanilla and chocolate puff pieces. Rocky Road Cereal had three mascots: a friendly guitar-playing chocolate corn puff named Choco, a vanilla guitar-playing corn puff named Van and a chocolate-covered marshmallow singer named Marsha. The three made up a band that played in the cereal's commercial.
Sir Grapefellow
Sir Grapefellow was a cereal from the '70s whose mascot was a World War I-era British pilot with a hankering for grapes and a German archnemesis called Baron von Redberry, who also had his own cereal. The history of conflict between the two fighters had little to do with international conflict and much to do with who had the better cereal. Who won the battle? Since both cereals disappeared from flight shortly after their debuts, no one will ever know, but this retro snack is certainly primed for a comeback.
Smurf-Berry Crunch
During the '80s when the animated television show aired, the Smurfs had their own cereal called Smurf-Berry Crunch. The fruit-flavored cereal was colored bright red and purple, and the box featured Papa Smurf about to eat a spoonful. In 1987, this cereal was replaced by the also discontinued Smurf Magic Berries, which was similar but included marshmallows. Let its memory live on, unlike these forgotten restaurant chains that still exist.
Sprinkle Spangles
Sprinkle Spangles debuted in the early '90s, when the average cost of breakfast was less than $10. They were inspired by sugar cookies with pieces reminiscent of sweetened corn puffs covered in rainbow sprinkles. "Sprinkle Spangles taste so sweet... taste so crunchy. Cause we spangle every angle with sprinkles," boasted the commercial. The mascot of Sprinkle Spangles was a genie who granted children bowls of the crispy cereal. "You wish it, I dish it!" he promised. However, those wishes soon ran out.
S’mores Crunch
S'mores for breakfast? Sure, why not? Introduced in 1982, General Mills only sold this super-sweet cereal until 1988. It involved chocolate-coated graham cracker pieces mixed with marshmallows. The idea has since been resurrected by Kellogg in their newer Smorz cereal, but perhaps will never live up to the first downright delicious and nostalgic food.
Wackies
There were a few wacky things about this 1960s cereal. First, the marshmallows and pieces in Wackies were banana-flavored and looked like monochromatic beige Lucky Charms. Second, the marshmallow pieces had all kinds of wacky shapes, which is why this cereal got its name. General Mills gave the shapes appropriately wacky names such as banana bingles, banana jangles, oat gloops, oat glots and more. There's a special place in your adult heart for all of these cereals, and probably these regional breakfast favorites.
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