Regular Cheerios do nothing for me. Honey Nut Cheerios are a childhood favourite. Apple Cinnamon Cheerios are that strange also-ran flavour that I’ve never had a concrete opinion on. But what about Chocolate Cheerios, the latest addition to the Cheerios family?
The Pitch: “Naturally Flavoured,” and “Flavoured with Real Cocoa,” which smacks of wary-parent-reassurance. They also play up the whole-grain angle.
The Look: O-shaped, like regular Cheerios, but with a two-toned colour combination of tan Cheerios and dark brown Cheerios. They’ve both got a lovely clear sheen.
The Taste (with milk): You can really taste the corn and oats, with the chocolate – more cocoa than chocolate, actually – present but not dominant. There’s a barnyard flavour to them that I can’t place. Hay? Straw? They get better the longer they sit in the milk. They’re sweet, but not as sweet as some other sugary cereals I’ve tried. I still prefer Honey Nut Cheerios.
The Taste (with So Good chocolate soy milk): Holy crow. Talk about a revelation. Served with chocolate soy milk instead of regular milk, these things are way better. There’s more sweetness, as the chocolate soy milk is sweetened, and the overall chocolate flavour is much more rich and rounded. I like!
The Taste (dry, by the handful): Yeah, I know you’re going to eat the occasional handful of the things – you’re not alone. They’re not bad served dry, but Honey Nut Cheerios are better.
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RATINGS AND DETAILS
Cost: $3.99 (on sale) for a 350 gram box at Save-On Foods in Edmonton.
Value for cash money: On sale, good. Regular price, OK. Comparable to other cereals.
Availability: Widespread. They’re new, so they may take a while to show up at smaller grocery stores.
Nutrition?: Per 3/4 cup (29 grams) serving, not including milk: 110 calories, 180 mg of sodium, 1.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of fibre, 2 grams of protein, and a laundry list of vitamins and minerals, most notably 30% of the daily value of iron. Corn syrup is high in the ingredients list.
The verdict: With milk, meh. Dry by the handful, meh. With chocolate soy milk, delightful. I’m entirely surprised.
That’s how I’d be having ’em, with chocolate soy milk. So guess what’s at the top of my shopping list…um, grocery shopping, the scheduled trips to Sherbrooke & Kerstin’s aren’t really grocery-oriented. Unless you consider http://www.beercook.com/ & my marinating and otherwise cooking with beer. Or I suppose, the melting Taza mexican-style chocolate(with either cinnamon, chili pepper, almond or vanilla)into my mole sauces to up the chocolate quotient.
On the BeerCook site scroll down, there’re even a few baking recipes…including one for IPA donuts.
I found the IPA donut recipe on the Beer Cook site, and it looks reasonably easy to do. I’ll have to track down a donut form pan and give it a whirl in the fall, after Fringe Fest madness winds down for the season. Lord knows I’ll be eating enough mini donuts and drinking enough beer to power me through the duration. 🙂
Ok, just covering all my bases, so to speak – some good recipes, people ought to know about them. There’s also the chocolate cake recipe, I believe using a wheat beer. And that Apricot Ale Frozen Custard might be nice in the next month or so…Lagered Cornbread…found one that just may start me baking, Porter Gingerbread with Caramel Malt Glaze*drool*. Wow! Speedy Stout Mocha Freeze – 3 ingr. coffee ice cream, stout & shaved chocolate!:-) I am So there!!