Gwynedd Stuart
Pumpkin spice cereal has become a little bit of a fall tradition. When September rolls around, it’s almost like we begin to biologically require warm fall spices like cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, especially in the mornings. But as a person who has taste tested a lot of seasonal pumpkin spice products over the past two years, I can report that not all of them actually taste good. If there’s too much nutmeg in the mix, they can start to taste bitter. If they’re too cinnamon-forward, then they don’t read as pumpkin spice. Cinnamon cereals already exist and you can buy and eat them all year round! Nothing special about that.
For this taste test, I judged the cereals on intensity of pumpkin spice flavor (it should be present but not overwhelming), the balance of spices, and how well the flavor of pumpkin spice goes with the cereal itself. From Pumpkin Spice Cheerios to Pumpkin Spice Frosted Flakes, these are the best pumpkin spice cereals at the grocery store this fall.
- Pumpkin Spice Cheerios
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Cheerios are a real blank slate cereal. Suffice it to say, the pumpkin spice flavor really comes through with a vengeance. Pumpkin Spice Cheerios are very, very aggressively pumpkin spicy. Do I like that? No. Do I think people who really, really like pumpkin spice products will like that? I sure do. If you want big, bold pumpkin spice flavor and don’t care that it covers up the delicate oaty flavor of the Cheerios themselves, you’ll like this pumpkin spice cereal.
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Pumpkin Spice Frosted Mini Wheats
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If you like pumpkin spice and you like Frosted Mini Wheats, you’re definitely going to like these. The frosting is orange, which is adorable, and it really packs a lot of pumpkin spice flavor without being overpowering or overwhelmingly sweet. Pumpkin Spice Mini Wheats honestly made me want to try more flavored Mini Wheats (I bet the strawberry ones are really good, if not seasonally appropriate).
Credit: Merc / Target
- Pumpkin Spice Special K
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For being a “diet” cereal, Special K sure tastes good. The flakes are sweet and super crunchy and have a bold, rice-y flavor that meshes really well with pumpkin spice. Nutmeg is the predominant spice in Pumpkin Spice Special K, but the flavor isn’t overwhelming. I’m sensitive to too much nutmeg (I hate how bitter it can be), but I really liked this cereal. The spice is tempered by the sweet, yogurty coating on the little morsels nestled among the flakes.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Pumpkin Spice Frosted Flakes
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Every time I eat Frosted Flakes, I’m like, “Why don’t I eat Frosted Flakes more often??” They’re so light and crispy and deliciously corny. And Pumpkin Spice Frosted Flakes have a really interesting flavor profile—I swear it’s more than just pumpkin spice; you almost get notes of something mapley, which makes them a little sweeter, otherwise I think they would be aggressively cinnamony. Pumpkin Spice Frosted Flakes taste like a more fully realized, more complete fall treat and that makes this the best pumpkin spice cereal you can buy.
Credit: Merc / Target
Pumpkin Spice!
Pumpkin Spice!
Pumpkin Spice!
Best of the Best
Danny Palumbo
Justine Sterling
Jordan Myrick
Vinz Karl
Cheerios are well-known for all their flavors – honey nut, apple cinnamon, peach, chocolate, banana, etc. – but I think Frosted Flakes are always so much better at adopting those alternate flavors, like the incredible cinnamon Frosted Flakes that were a better cinnamon roll cereal than actual cinnamon roll cereals. So I was very pleased to see Tony take the W again. It just works!