Tasty Cereal You Can Eat at Your Leisure

[Chris Amirault]

This bowl of cinnamon Life is delicious -- for about three minutes, at which point it goes from crunchy to soggy with amazing speed. I love it for those three minutes, but some mornings I want something that lasts a bit longer.

It seems to me that there are dozens of these sorts of rapidly soggifying breakfast cereals out there. But what are your go-to brands for long-lasting crunch?

[weinoo]

Grape Nuts.

[feedmec00kies]

I find that some of the Kashi cereals I've tried tend to last longer, particularly Heart to Heart (the Cheerios-type one) and Go Lean Crunch. I don't know about the ones that are more flake-like, but I'm not big on flake-y cereals.

I haven't tried the rest of their cereals, but Whole Foods has their own generic Cocoa Puffs (Cosmic Cocos) that survive really well in milk. I suspect their others might also do well.

I've always been really picky about this, and tend to avoid cereals that turn to mush within minutes. I also pour the milk into the bowl before the cereal (and might pour in a portion of the cereal at a time). I started doing this as a child; I'm not sure how I figured it out. I think I heard years later that child actors who did cereal commercials would do this (at least when kids used to actually eat the cereal in commercials). Anyway, it means only the bottom layer of cereal is wet, which is pretty important to keeping things as crispy as possible.

[Katie Meadow]

Barbara's shredded wheat seems to age very well in the bowl. It isn't exactly a crisp factor, but even though it loses some of its bird's nest crunch its changes always seem positive if you know what I mean. Do I sound like a lunatic?

[butterscotch]

Early Bird Granola is incredibly addcitive and holds up very well in milk. Locally made in smll batches weekly.... always very fresh, not too heavy or sweet. Made with olive oil, maple syrup and a bit of sea salt.

I can't stand eat any other brand since I tried it last year, they taste stale and heavy to me. . I love the Farmer's choice with pecans, but the other flavors are popular around our office too.

Edited February 27, 2011 by butterscotch (log)

[tsquare]

Nature's Path Heritage O's - you may or may not like the taste, but I haven't had them go soggy yet. We call them razor wire O's around here.

[jmolinari]

we really need a non-nutritive cereal varnish.

i hate soggy cereal

[Emily_R]

My solution is to literally start eating cereal the minute the milk is poured, including several bites while walking to the dining table. But I agree with grape nuts, which I think actually need about 45 seconds to reach their best consistency.

[naguere]

I use a modest amount of 'Grape Nuts™' as a 'sugar' sprinkling on to Weetabix™, which are not very robust under milk.

It gives a crunch.

[Chris Amirault]

I use a modest amount of 'Grape Nuts™' as a 'sugar' sprinkling on to Weetabix™, which are not very robust under milk.

What a great idea: adding Grape Nuts as texture to an otherwise soggy cereal. Sort of like bread crumbs atop macaroni & cheese.

[TongoRad]

Puffins might fit the bill, and they even have a cinnamon flavor. I've had them while visiting my parents' house- I think my mom gets them at Trader Joe's- and they do indeed stay crunchy for a while.

[Chris Amirault]

I find Puffins to have the consistency of styrofoam peanuts, sadly.

[Katie Meadow]

I agree that puffins are bad, but Barbara's oat squares are quite good, and they keep their crunch.

[Chris Hennes]

I just had a bowl of Kellogg's new "Crunchy Nut" cereal and it stayed crunchy the whole way through, easily. A little sweet for my tastes, but you might give it a try.

[Toliver]

Perhaps you're over-pouring the milk?

Why not under-pour and you'll still have crispy cereal in the bowl as well as "wet" cereal. Just a thought...

[TongoRad]

Jeez- I didn't think the puffins were that bad. I'll have to try them again the next time I'm up there, just out of curiosity now.

[andiesenji]

This bowl of cinnamon Life is delicious -- for about three minutes, at which point it goes from crunchy to soggy with amazing speed. I love it for those three minutes, but some mornings I want something that lasts a bit longer.

It seems to me that there are dozens of these sorts of rapidly soggifying breakfast cereals out there. But what are your go-to brands for long-lasting crunch?

I don't eat many sweetened cereals because of diabetes. However, I have some and instead of milk, I stir them into yogurt.

They don't become soggy as rapidly, I like the contrast of the sweet with the yogurt and it is healthy.

At present I have some of the Kellog's Frosted Mini-Wheats and one of the Honey Bunches of Oats cereals. I don't recall which one, it is in my cereal dispenser.

[annabelle]

Chris, try my mother's trick of eating cereal out of a very small bowl or a coffee cup. She like cornflakes, but hates them soggy. You eat a few spoonfuls, pour in more cereal and more milk, if necessary, and repeat as often as preferred.

[tpogue@comcast.net]

We like Raisin bran crunch. I top it with frozen blueberries and a little milk. It stays crunchy pretty well. Cheerios don't get too soggy, again I top with frozen blueberries. Somehow I think the frozen fruit helps and I don't use much milk.

Terry

[BadRabbit]

I know this is a little away from the intent of the thread but there are several that I prefer soggy.

I think Raisin Bran is better once it's mush, ditto for frosted flakes.

I realize that I am in the very small minority here.

[cadmond]

Chris, try my mother's trick of eating cereal out of a very small bowl or a coffee cup. She like cornflakes, but hates them soggy. You eat a few spoonfuls, pour in more cereal and more milk, if necessary, and repeat as often as preferred.

I do the same thing and have never looked back, but keep in mind that it does use a separate bowl and cup for the milk (unless you just sit down with the box of cereal and the whole carton of milk)

Of course, my brother takes it to the next extreme and uses his mouth as the "second bowl" by eating the dry cereal and drinking some milk out of a glass immediately afterward, but that's a little too weird for me...

[LindaK]

I know this is a little away from the intent of the thread but there are several that I prefer soggy.

I think Raisin Bran is better once it's mush, ditto for frosted flakes.

I realize that I am in the very small minority here.

Me too! I don't care for sweetened cereal like frosted flakes, but mushy raisin bran is the best.

As someone who has tested many of them over the years, the one that takes the longest to turn to mush is shredded wheat. But it too succumbs, thankfully.

[ellevan]

I love WF brand raisin bran, crunchy bran flakes that take quite a while to go soggy. My six year old daughter eats a box every week.

[merstar]

Grape Nuts.

Ditto!

[Chris Amirault]

Update: My parents left a box of Total Raisin Bran in the house, and it's crunchy to the last spoonful.