The Discontinued Cereal Nearly 25% Of People Want To Come Back

From the meal of Saturday morning cartoons to filling up before school, cereal has long been a breakfast staple. According to a 2020 South Florida Reporter article, the average American eats 160 bowls each year. Eat This, Not That! explored both the pros and cons of eating cereal every day, and the reality is that many people find comfort in putting that spoon in the bowl, and many long for that familiar flavor from childhood.

Although the term is a broad-based one for various types of grains that could be in a bowl, many well-known companies line the shelf with their cereal offerings. From Kellogg's to Post to General Mills, several popular brands quickly come to mind. While everyone might have a favorite flavor that is always sitting in the pantry, the reality is that sometimes a brand will stop making one of those beloved picks, and you might see it suddenly disappearing from store shelves. Whether it was waning popularity, a change in food trends, or something else entirely, it leaves those that fell in love wanting more.

When it comes to discontinued cereals, a new Mashed survey shows that nearly 25% of people crave this one in particular and are hoping for its eventual comeback.

A recent survey conducted by Mashed attempted to find the most longed-for discontinued cereal — 603 US-based participants were able to choose from the following options: Choco Donuts, Cinnamon Mini Buns, Marshmallow Krispies, Mini Trix, S'mores Crunch, and Sprinkle Spangles. If these names sound familiar, that's because they come from popular cereal brands including Choco Donuts that was offered by Cap'n Crunch, while Cinnamon Mini Buns and Marshmallow Krispies were from Kellogg's. And General Mills produced Sprinkle Spangles, a star-shaped cereal; S'mores Crunch, a chocolate graham cracker cereal with mini marshmallows; and Mini Trix, the colorful rabbit-themed cereal.

Per the survey findings, Marshmallow Krispies were the second most-missed cereal, coming in at 22.72% of the vote. Next up, S'mores Crunch landed 20.23% of the vote, followed by Mini Trix (16.42%), Choco Donuts (10.28%), and Sprinkle Spangles (5.64%). As for the winner, though, Cinnamon Mini Buns came out on top, with 24.71% of respondents wanting to see it back on store shelves. As shared by Mr. Breakfast, the 1990s cereal was described "like cinnamon buns," but in "the size of cereal." In some ways, it sounds like the cinnamon bun was shrunk to a more convenient eating form — and more importantly, this breakfast didn't require turning on an oven.

While Cinnamon Mini Buns are no longer on shelves, Kellogg's does offer Cinnabon Jumbo Snax. This snackable cereal might be a suitable replacement for now as it captures similar flavors of the discontinued cereal, but without the bowl requirement.

Long before there was the TikTok mini-cereal trend, in the '90s, Kellogg's Cinnamon Mini Buns appealed to cravings for mini-bakery treats. As the Kellogg's commercial once said, the "mega taste" of the "best buns in the business" were conveniently shrunk onto the spoon to be enjoyed every morning (via YouTube). And the marketing campaign even spun the idea that "eating 70 cinnamon buns can be nutritious" since it had no added fat or artificial flavors (per The Daily Meal). From the sprinkling of the sugar to the great swirling visual packed into each mini-bakery goodie, this Kellogg's cereal looks just like its full-size counterpart. And, as it turns out, some parents preferred the idea of giving kids a bowl of the cereal over a plate of cinnamon buns at breakfast.

Whether it was the idea of a new way to enjoy a favorite bakery breakfast item or just a tasty cereal that won people over, it soon found an audience. While some questioned whether the commercials were either amusing or confusing, it really came down to the flavor in the bowl that sold consumers. Although Cinnamon Toast Crunch might reign supreme on the cinnamon cereal list, this Kellogg's pick had a fun shape that couldn't be denied. In some ways, that tiny food trend was popular long before social media platforms discovered it. 

Although the bright blue boxes of the Kellogg's Cinnamon Mini Bun cereal seemingly disappeared from store shelves in 1993 (per PopSugar), in some ways they really didn't. While that name and tell-tale box isn't on store shelves, the concept and flavor of a shrunken cinnamon bun cereal is still around.

As Cereal Time TV discussed on YouTube, Cinnamon Mini Buns cereal was transformed into Mini Swirlz, then Cinnabon cereal. While the names are different, the concept and the flavor is quite similar. Maybe instead of recalling the "shrunken" kid from the 1990s Cinnamon Mini Buns commercial, cereal fans could just close their eyes when eating one of the newer concepts — that spoonful of nostalgia is waiting to be served in the cereal bowl, you just have to look beyond the name.