Cheerios has come out with a slew of new cereals lately – banana nut, fruity, and now chocolate. The Chocolate Cheerios claim to satisfy your chocolate cravings without undoing your diet. I decided to test this claim and see how the Cheerios stack up.
First, how do Chocolate Cheerios measure up nutritionally?
Serving size: ¾ cup
Calories: 100
Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 170 mg
Total carbs: 23 g
Fiber: 1 g
Sugars: 9 g
Protein: 1 g
Also, the Chocolate Cheerios have at least 10% of the recommended daily value of vitamins A, C, D, B6, and B12, as well as calcium, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, and zinc.
The claim that they won’t derail your diet certainly holds up as long as you stick to one serving with a half cup of skim milk (which adds about 40 calories). The Chocolate Cheerios are made of corn and oat cereals and use real cocoa to add the chocolate flavor. In fact, reading the ingredients list there are only a few questionable ingredients; they are trisodium phosphate and BHT for freshness. The other ingredients are relatively tame and include corn, sugar, corn syrup, canola oil, and cocoa.
Now, how do Chocolate Cheerios stack up as far as a snack to satisfy your chocolate cravings? The cereal is not nearly as sweet as some, such as Cocoa Pebbles, but they do provide a wonderful chocolate flavor with less sugar and more nutrition. My husband, who was not a fan of Fruity Cheerios because they didn’t taste like Fruit Loops, loves the Chocolate Cheerios and even requested I buy another box of them. The two different cereals, oat and corn, have slightly different flavors, which creates a more unique chocolate flavor. Additionally, the cocoa from the Chocolate Cheerios flavors the milk so you have a wonderfully sweet, chocolaty finish to your bowl of cereal. Throw in a handful of sliced strawberries with the Cheerios and you have a bowl of chocolate covered strawberry cereal.
At $2.14 for an 11 ounce box of Chocolate Cheerios at Wal-Mart, each serving is approximately twenty-five cents before you add milk. There is almost no chocolate treat that can beat that cost. In addition to the health benefits and the great taste, the Chocolate Cheerios are a wonderful way to satisfy your chocolate cravings late at night or to tame an early morning sweet tooth. If you don’t believe me, just buy a box for yourself – General Mills is so confident you will like the cereal that there is a note on the side panel with instructions for receiving a refund if you are not completely satisfied.
