The Good: Nutritious, Comparatively inexpensive, Nice sweet taste.
The Bad: Not superlative in any real way.
The Basics: General Mills Dulce De Leche Cheerios cereal is a surprisingly tasty and healthy breakfast option, even if they are not really remarkably in any noticeable way!
I’m not sure why the local grocery stores near me continue to severely discount cereals just because the boxes are damaged (but the inner seal is not punctured!). Recently, I snagged a box of Chocolate Cheerios (reviewed here!) at half price, simply because the box was damaged. At the same store, I just picked up a box of Dulce De Leche Cheerios for half price for the same reason! It’s pretty wonderful to get a box of cereal these days for only $2.10! Fortunately for me, the Dulce De Leche Cheerios are an enjoyable and worthwhile cereal, making even my meager investment in a box a great value.
I’m debating whether or not the cereal is actually worth it at full price, though; this is a good cereal and I am glad I tried it, but it is not superlative in any way.
Basics
General Mills Dulce De Leche Cheerios cereal is a new twist on an old cereal – Cheerios has been around my entire life! It looks like a mostly smooth ring made of baked corn or oats. The corn Cheerios in this mix are bright yellow, the oat Cheerios are dull brown. Each Cheerios ring is approximately 1/2” in diameter and about 1/8” tall.
The standard box of Dulce De Leche Cheerios cereal is 12 oz. That represents approximately twelve servings and that seems to be accurate given my experience so far. This cereal is comprised of just the cereal rings themselves, with nothing else in them.
Ease Of Preparation
Dulce De Leche Cheerios cereal is a breakfast cereal, so this is one of the low-impact breakfast options as far as preparation goes! Simply open the box of Dulce De Leche Cheerios cereal, pour out a three-quarter cup serving (I recommend actually using a measuring cup, especially if you are monitoring your intake) and add 1/2 cup of milk to it. I have discovered, as part of getting healthy, that one of the biggest challenges one might have with breakfast cereal is actually eating the serving size recommended by the manufacturer. This is not a problem with Dulce De Leche Cheerios, though, as the 3/4 cup serving seems to be a pretty decent amount of the cereal!
For the purposes of my reviews, and my regular consumption, I only use skim milk (fat free) milk with cereal.
Taste
Dulce De Leche Cheerios smell very subtly of caramel. The aroma is almost in balance with the corn scent of the Cherios, but the caramel wins out just a little bit.
As for taste, dry Dulce De Leche Cheerios cereal is delightfully sweet. Each Dulce De Leche Cheerio is coated with a sweet, somewhat subtle flavor that prevents these Cheerios from simply tasting dry.
Covered in milk, the Dulce De Leche Cheerios take on a more overtly caramel flavor. This is an intriguing taste as caramel often has a dry aftertaste to it. The Dulce De Leche Cheerios do not. Instead, they are remarkably light and sweet, with just a hint of caramel’s salty quality. If ever there was a Cheerios that was sweet and smooth, this is it! The flavor of Dulce De Leche Cheerios is very inviting.
Nutrition
General Mills Dulce De Leche Cheerios cereal is fairly nutritious on its own and with skim milk! Made primarily of whole grain corn, sugar, and whole grain oats, the Dulce De Leche Cheerios ingredient list degenerates into a chemistry equation after “corn brand,” but there’s not much to the ingredients list after that. This cereal has some preservatives in it, but it also has a separate list of vitamins and minerals, which implies that this is another cereal that has nutrients sprayed onto it. That makes it very important to drink the milk after one has consumed the actual cereal.
A single serving of General Mills Dulce De Leche Cheerios cereal is 27 grams, 3/4 cups. In that serving, there are 100 calories, with 15 calories coming from fat. There are no saturated or trans fats in this cereal, nor is there any cholesterol. With 135 mg of sodium and 2 grams of dietary fiber, this is not a bad dietary choice for those striving to improve heart health. With two grams of protein and 75mg potassium, Dulce De Leche Cheerios is not the absolute healthiest cereal on the market, but it is a decent start to one’s day, at least on the dietary front. On its own, this cereal has significant percentages of nine vitamins and minerals, most notably 50% of the RDAs of Folic Acid and Iron!
Storage/Cleanup
Dulce De Leche Cheerios is a cereal, so as long as it is kept sealed in its box, it ought to remain fresh for quite some time. The box of Dulce De Leche Cheerios cereal I purchased on August 3, 2012 had an expiration date of February 10, 2013. I am quite positive it will be gone well before then. Obviously, when you are done pouring the cereal from the box, fold down the plastic inner wrap to help maintain the cereal’s freshness.
Cleaning up after Dulce De Leche Cheerios cereal is simple as well. Simply brush away crumbs left by it and you are done! It is that simple! This is a cereal that discolors the milk added to it, but because you should drink that up to get all the vitamins and minerals General Mills added to the cereal, that shouldn’t be an issue with staining.
Overall
Dulce De Leche Cheerios cereal is healthy, but its light taste and minimal nutritional benefits make it a tougher sell than some of the healthier cereals with more distinctive flavors. Even so, for a good, lightly sweet cereal, Dulce De Leche Cheerios truly live up!
For other cereals, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Honey Kix
Original Life Cereal
Quaker Oatmeal Squares with a hint of brown sugar
6.5/10
For other food reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the food reviews I have written!
© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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