When I saw Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal on the grocery store shelf, I didn’t realize it was a new product. Even though it is new cereal season (and new ice cream season—the most wonderful time of year indeed), I thought I had tried the product before.

I may have gotten Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal confused with Peanut Butter Toast Crunch, which this site reviewed in both 2004 and 2013. However, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal is a different product. Unlike the previous variety, which boasted a purely peanut butter flavor, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal combines peanut butter flavor with the brand’s signature Cinnadust.

The package doesn’t make this distinction obvious, unless you read the back of the box. I was not motivated to read the back of the box because I hadn’t done so since cereal boxes promised prizes inside. My cereal-related memory is so long that the only prize I look for now is added fiber.

With the cereal’s identity clarified, Cinnamon Toast Crunch’s latest decennial experiment with peanut butter is just okay. The familiar toasty, crispy squares do not have a consistently noticeable amount of peanut butter flavor. The cinnamon sugar taste is more prominent, although the cereal appears to use less Cinnadust than standard Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The result is a lightly spiced, subtly nutty cereal.

If you are dubious about peanut butter and cinnamon complementing each other, the flavor combination works and is reminiscent of cookie butter. In this cereal, the flavors aren’t bad, just diluted. Imagine spreading peanut butter on your toast, scraping it off, and applying a little cinnamon sugar instead. Maybe you only have a few grains of cinnamon sugar left, or maybe a small gust of wind blows through your kitchen and lifts the Cinnadust right off your toast. What a way to start the morning—you should have gone with the fiber.

In milk, the peanut butter wakes up and asks to be noticed. It still is light compared to other peanut butter cereals, but the milk gives the peanut butter flavor a richer, creamier vibe while weakening the Cinnadust. The cinnamon milk that gets left behind still satisfies.

Compared to original Cinnamon Toast Crunch or really good peanut butter cereal (see: Peanut Butter Lovers Reese’s Puffs), Cinnamon Toast Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal tastes like a partial attempt at both cinnamon and peanut butter. To everything, there is a season, and maybe Cinnamon Toast Crunch will produce a perfect peanut butter pairing next time.

Purchased Price: $5.69
Purchased at: Giant Eagle
Size: 12.3 oz (348 g) box
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 1 cup) 170 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 270 milligrams of sodium, 32 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.