Are New Chocolate Honey Bunches of Oats as Good as the Original?

Honey Bunches of Oats (with Almonds) is the most important cereal in my life. Not because it’s the best (it’s not), but because my dad ate a heaping bowl of it every single day of my childhood…and still does. So, it’s safe to say, I am extremely familiar with the original cereal, whether I like it or not, and therefore I feel qualified to give you an honest, informed review of Post’s brand new Honey Bunches of Oats Chocolate. 
Honey Bunches of Oats Chocolate is the first of its kind in that every particle of cereal is chocolate-ified. Don’t confuse it with the very short-lived Honey Bunches of Oats with Chocolate Clusters from 2008, which had chocolate oat clusters and regular flakes. My hopes and dreams for this new Chocolate Honey Bunches is that it still tastes like Honey Bunches, not like Cocoa Pebbles or any other chocolate cereal. But I’m looking for a few bites that are distinctly chocolate, like little prizes for choosing one of the “healthier” cereal options (I know it’s not true, please don’t remind me). Let’s see if Post and I are on the same page.

New Cereal!

Honey Bunches of Oats Chocolate

Instacart

Pros: The new Chocolate Honey Bunches is definitely still Honey Bunches. It’s almost like the chocolate flavor is a fine mist they wafted over a bowl of the original cereal giving it a semi-sweet chocolatey aftertaste, as opposed to a complete reimagining of the original variety. It honestly looks more chocolatey than it tastes, probably because the cocoa they dust over everything is just that, a dusting. It’s not baked into the flakes themselves. If you eat your cereal in milk, your experience with these may be akin to eating a bowl of regular Honey Bunches in chocolate milk, as most of the cocoa dust will dissolve off the flakes pretty much instantly. Overall, I appreciate the subtlety of the cocoa dust flavor and I’m impressed with how they kept the original hint of honey intact.

Cons: This new cereal is described as being “made with real chocolate chips,” which led me to believe there would be chocolate chips mixed in with the cereal, which, of course, made me very excited. I’m bummed to report that after picking through the bag I found exactly one (1) truly teeny tiny piece of chocolate in a shape that vaguely resembled a chip. Apparently, what they really meant was that the chocolate they melt to coat the oat clusters (which were uncharacteristically few and far between) was once in the form of chips…weird flex. Nonetheless, I’d still say the new Honey Bunches of Oats Chocolate is worth a try if you’re an original Honey Bunches of Oats fan.

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

7/10

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