The Good: Fairly nutritious, Tastes wonderful with milk, Affordable
The Bad: Not the most distinctive taste when dry
The Basics: Kellogg’s Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal is good, but only becomes a delightful flavor experience when milk is added to it.
Just because Easter came and I have been devoting some attention to one of my favorite subjects (candy!), does not mean I have given up on the breakfast cereal reviews I wrote, like Kellogg’s Special K MultiGrain Oats & Honey (reviewed here!). Instead, I am actually returning to that healthier topic as my wife has fallen for a different flavor of Special K. From their extended line-up of breakfast cereals, Special K now makes Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal. I will admit, initially, I was not wowed by this cereal. However, when I put the milk in, I realized how much I was enjoying it by the fact that I downed two bowls in rapid succession!
Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal is a flake-based cereal which is sweeter than traditional Special K and also a little darker (the color of the physical flakes). This is a cereal that is ideal with milk.
Basics
Kellogg’s Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal is a relatively new cereal with flakes of wheat, and rice. It looks like a very typical collection of flakes, most about 1/2” to 3/4” in two directions, thin and textured in its height. This cereal is part of Special K’s expanding line of breakfast cereals.
The standard box of Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal is 12.8 oz. That represents approximately eleven servings and that is about what my wife and I have gotten out of the five boxes of this cereal we have gone through already. In addition to having traditional flakes the Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal features a smattering of oats which surround little bits of strawberry and little white balls of yogurt flavoring.
Ease Of Preparation
Special K Fruit & Yogurt 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 Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal, pour out 3/4 cup (I’ve taken to using a measuring cup) 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. Given that I have been monitoring my intake for several weeks now, I am now able to enjoy only 3/4 cup of Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal in a sitting, though it is not as filling as some other cereals I have had.
For the purposes of my reviews, and my regular consumption, I only use skim milk (fat free) milk with cereal.
Taste
Opening the box, Special K Fruit & Yogurt smells entirely fruity. The box smells like dried strawberries when it is first opened and that is a surprisingly inviting aroma. The slightly acidic fruit smell overwhelms any scent from the grain in this cereal.
On its own, the MultiGrain Fruit & Yogurt is very dry and only a little sweeter than the classic Special K. The sweetness comes from the yogurt-covered balls that are found throughout the cereal. The oats that are baked to the dried fruit help to cut the sourness of the dried strawberries exceptionally well. In fact, even without milk, the grain and sweet yogurt balls easily overwhelm any flavor that might have come from the fruit.
With milk, the fruit flavor actually comes out and spreads. This cereal actually uses the milk to spread the subtle flavor of strawberries throughout the whole cereal and the crispy flakes soon become sweeter with a tart strawberry aftertaste! With milk, the flakes begin to get soggy after a few minutes and the flavor spreads more into the milk than the solid portions of the cereal. The inclusion of milk also transforms this very dry cereal into one that has no real aftertaste, making it a very satisfying taste experience!
Nutrition
Kellogg’s Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal is very nutritious on its own and with skim milk! Made primarily of rice, whole grain wheat and sugar, there is nothing unpronounceable in Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal. Given that there is a separate listing of vitamins and minerals, I suspect that Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal is one of those cereals where the nutrients are then sprayed onto the cereal, making it important to drink the milk with this cereal in order to get all of the nutritional benefits out of it.
A single serving of Kellogg’s Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal is 32 grams, 3/4 cup. In that serving, there are 120 calories, with ten calories coming from fat. There is no saturated fat in this cereal, nor is there any cholesterol. With only 140 mg of sodium and 3 grams of dietary fiber, this is a good dietary choice for those striving to improve heart health. With two grams of protein and 60mg potassium, Special K Fruit & Yogurt is very healthy. On its own, this cereal has significant percentages of eight vitamins and minerals.
Storage/Cleanup
Special K Fruit & Yogurt 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 Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal we purchased in March of 2012 had an expiration date of November 3, 2012. 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 Special K Fruit & Yogurt 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, so if that spills on light fabrics special attention must be paid!
Overall
Special K Fruit & Yogurt cereal is healthy, but only really comes alive on the tastebuds when it is saturated with milk. It is good, worth having, especially for those who want a healthy cereal that is anything but bland.
For other components of breakfast and cereals, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Kellogg’s Fiber Plus Antioxidants Cinnamon Oat Crunch
Quaker Oatmeal Squares Honey Nut
Kellogg’s Pumpkin Pie limited edition Pop Tarts
7.5/10
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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