French Toast Crunch - Target: Marlton, NJ (Throw Back Thursday?)

French Toast Crunch - Target: Marlton, NJ

It's nostalgia time! I was a 90's baby (born late 80's, but who has memories from before they were 3?), and to be honest, I don't get all the hype. I'm no where near as nostalgic about the time period as my peers. I mean, we're getting a Full House sequel, Boy Meets World has turned into Girl Meets World, and there are "retro" 90's T-shirts being sold at the mall. I am not on board with all the 90's hype, but I will say, I do love me some 90's food.



There were a bunch of food items I grew up with that are no longer on the shelves: String Thing (I can still hear the commercial in my head, along with Crossfire!), berry-shaped Berry Kix, Ecto-Cooler, and tons of sugary breakfast cereals. One of which recently made a comeback.

French Toast Crunch was a variation of Cinnamon Toast Crunch that was available in America during the 90's. This product was discontinued in the US sometime in the early 2000's, but it wasn't out of production. (Apparently it's been available in Canada this whole time.) Growing up, my sister and I rarely ate name brand cereals, but for some reason I remember having this fairly often. I figured it'd be fun to pick up a box for us to relive the days of waking up early, eating cereal, and watching One Saturday Morning. (Plus it wouldn't hurt to give it a little review.)



The packaging is similar to the box from the 90's, but there are a few tweaks here and there. There's no more Rocco's Modern Life-esque yellow background shape, the red background now has radial lines drawing your eye to the center of the box, there's no more little Chef-mascot-guy, and there's an obvious nod to the return of this product and 90's nostalgia. If you turn the box over...

90's TO THE MAX! I'm having some fun dropping some 90's references into this post, but really, I'm not longing for this decade's return, so the box design seems a bit obnoxious to me, but I'm sure the 90's-obsessed masses absolutely love it. (Although the trivia is really weak. Come on, you know it's adults and 20-somethings buying this stuff, step up your game a little.) This packaging preys on nostalgia to make sales, and it works, so good for them.

On to the actual cereal review!

I opened up the plastic bag, and the scent is just what I remembered. These little toast-shaped cereal bits smell sweet, like artificial maple syrup, and there's this weird almost egg-y aroma to them. I poured myself a bowl and headed over to my photo set-up for some commercial-worthy photos.

I snapped some shots and took a bite. Oh man, this tastes just like I remembered. There's no way you'd ever mistake this stuff for a plate of homemade French toast, but it's still pretty enjoyable. I'd say this is more like a crunchy version of those spongy microwavable French toast sticks you can buy in the freezer aisle. It tastes obviously artificial and bad for you, but that's what I loved about it as a kid. This cereal has a fake maple flavoring with a hint of egg-wash that really does evoke it's namesake, although it's in a completely artificial way. As an adult revisiting this cereal, I gotta say, I still like it. It's boldly flavored, it leaves you with a delicious maple cinnamon flavored milk, and it's unlike any other cereal on the market.

Would I buy this again? I'm not too sure. My sister and I did enjoy it, but neither of us feels the need to run out and stock up or buy a second box, which may be why it was discontinued in the States in the first place, but it was really fun. If you feel like talking a stroll down memory lane, or if you really like maple flavored things, this cereal is worth buying at least once.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

Like Sometimes Foodie's Facebook page to keep up with all my foodie adventures!