Best 1990s Breakfast Cereals
For 90s kids, television commercials reminded us that cereal was “part of a balanced breakfast” – even though most of our favorites were simply sugar disguised as rice crisps. Still, most of us can remember our parents encouraging us to eat a heaping helping of cereal every day, and this type of breakfast paired especially nicely with Saturday morning cartoons.
So what were the best cereals of the 90s? Let’s take a look:
-
French Toast Crunch
General Mills introduced French Toast Crunch in 1995, stocking grocery shelves with the iconic red box. All kids fell in love with the delicious, cinnamon sugary flavor. The cereal even looked like miniature slices of French toast, making it practically a balanced breakfast, probably. Although the cereal was discontinued in 2006, fans insisted on its return. General Mills brought the cereal back to stores in 2015, after an overwhelming amount of feedback – including a lot of pleading from 90s kids. The syrupy goodness of French Toast Crunch seems to be here to stay, but you should probably pick up a box on your next shopping trip just in case.
-
Corn Pops
As far as cereals go, Corn Pops was pretty non-descript. This yellow cereal was actually somewhat healthy, compared to lots of others on the market, considering that it was just sweetened corn puffs. What made Corn Pops an iconic 90s cereal, however, was its extremely effective ad campaign. If you were a 90s kid, you probably saw a Corn Pops commercial at least once a day. “Gotta have my pops,” was a catchy slogan, and Kellogg’s often used live action ads instead of cartoons, drawing in teens as well. Hearing that tagline again is almost certain to make you crave some Corn Pops.
-
Oreo O’s
Oreo O’s were the kind of cereal that only cool parents would buy. Introduced to store shelves in 1997, Oreo O’s may have been one of the least healthy options on a long list of sugary cereals. It consisted of chocolatey Oreo-flavored rings, and would eventually have marshmallows that tasted like Oreo filling added. For 90s kids, it was the ultimate way to show your friends that you were allowed to eat just about anything for breakfast – even cookies. Unfortunately, it’s rare to see this cereal outside of South Korea now, so good luck trying to track down a box.
-
Waffle Crisp
Waffle Crisp took the concept of French Toast Crunch and simply made it a little more waffle-y. Post was the mastermind behind this creation, which debuted in 1996. Waffle Crisp is still sold today, but it isn’t quite the best-seller that it used to be. That’s probably they did away with their funny commericals from the 90s, which featured kids attempting to infiltrate the Waffle Crisp factory to steal more Waffle Crisp from the elderly ladies who made it. Perhaps those kids should have tried to break into the French Toast Crunch factory instead, since both taste like syrupy goodness.
-
Cookie Crisp
Like many of the cereals on this list, Cookie Crisp has been around for a long time and can still be purchased today. But this was another cereal that really hit its peak in the 90s. That’s when the Cookie Crook and his faithful dog, Chip, made famous the slogan “Coooooooookie Crisp!” Honestly, what were our parents doing? This cereal was literally just miniature, crunchy chocolate chip cookies. The commercials in the late 90s even featured grown-ups telling kids not to eat cookies for breakfast, and yet, somehow this only made Cookie Crisp more popular.
-
Rice Krispies Treats Cereal
Rice Krispies was a fairly healthy cereal. Crisped rice was just sweet enough to lure us in as kids, without offending our parents’ sensibilities. Consequently, Kellogg’s decided to up the ante and make this cereal even more sugary. Rice Krispies Treats Cereal debuted in 1993, and featured regular Rice Krispies clumped together in bunches, thanks to a marshmallow coating that served to make them more like the delicious snack bars we all know and love. This 90s experiment didn’t last, so you can’t find these in stores – which is probably a good thing for our waistlines, because they were delicious.
-
Sprinkle Spangles
Springle Spangles were absolutely the least nutritious cereal of the 90s. These star-shaped bites were made with sugar and sprinkles, and there was basically nothing else to this. That’s probably why this cereal didn’t even make it through the 90s – parents eventually had to draw the line on candy for breakfast somewhere, and Sprinkle Spangles were that line. As far as ad campaigns go, sprinkle-dotted cereal practically sells itself, but General Mills did create a delightfully colorful genie mascot that appeared on boxes and in commercials. What genies had to do with Sprinkle Spangles is unknown, but it only made us want more of them!
-
Count Chocula
General Mills loves its monster cereals, but Count Chocula was undoubtedly the best of the bunch. Franken Berry and Fruity Yummy Mummy were delicious, but if we wanted to eat fruity bites, that’s what Trix were for. Count Chocula, on the other hand, featured airy chocolate bits and – most importantly – lots of marshmallows. Every 90s kid can remembering fighting with their siblings over whether someone was taking more than their fair share of those crispy marshmallows. This cereal is a bit of a tease, since it typically only comes out during Halloween, but it is still in production if you’re craving a bowl now!
-
Reptar Crunch
Reptar Crunch had a pretty limited shelf-life, given that it was just a promotion for the Rugrats Go Reptar film. There were plenty of one-shot promotional cereals on the market throughout the decade, but this one earned itself a place in the hearts of 90s kids by being an edible representation of our favorite cartoon. Rugrats was the greatest cartoon of the 90s in the minds of most kids, so having a cereal box with Angelica and friends on it was basically like tv for breakfast. Plus, the rice crisps were purple and green – that’s a recipe for making any kid happy.
-
Hidden Treasures
Hidden Treasures was a very short-lived cereal, lasting just two precious years, but it symbolizes the weirdness of what our parents let us eat in the 90s. This cereal was made of sweetened corn on the outside, and was meant to look identical so that you could be surprised when you encountered fruit filling. Yes, in your cereal. The squares might have cherry, orange or grape filling – or absolutely nothing. That’s all part of the intrigue, of course! To be honest, mixing so many flavors along with corn cereal and milk was less than appetizing, but the commercials made it look delicious enough to beg your parents for.