Toast is a great breakfast food. Oatmeal is a great breakfast food.

But by flinging gobs of oatmeal into your toaster, you can make an even better breakfast food: Toasted Oatmeal Flakes!

(Note: this is probably not how Toasted Oatmeal Flakes are made. This is probably how “Toasted Kitchen Curtains” are made, though.)

Before this weekend, I had no idea that Barbara’s even made a Toasted Oatmeal Flake cereal. In fact, I had no idea that any other cereal producer, other than Trader Joe’s, made Toasted Oatmeal Flakes.

But then I took a trip to one of those weird, slightly skeevy surplus grocery stores that often sells cereals and toaster pastries that are too close to their expiration dates for any major grocery chain to comfortably carry.

It’s where I found Barbara’s Toasted Oatmeal Flakes—and a questionably ancient box of Scooby-Doo cereal, but that’s a story for another day At a price of $1.50 per box, I couldn’t resist trying this cereal, even if it meant possibly eating stale flakes that taste more cardboard-y than the box.

The aesthetics of these flakes are quite pleasing. They have a relaxing caffé latte color and little flecks of actual oats glued onto them by a faintly glistening glaze.

The taste of this Barbara’s cereal is extremely similar to Trader Joe’s Toasted Oatmeal Flakes. Each bite begins with a loud, satisfying crunch that makes me imagine myself as the Cloverfield monster chewing on a spoonful of tiny Statue of Liberty heads.

There are strong notes of earthy bran, as well as a pleasant finish of sunflower honey and faint molasses. The cumulative taste experience is somewhere between “brown sugar oatmeal”  and “sweet honey wheat bread toast.”

I’m glad my university professors don’t know I spent my weekend writing sentences like that instead of doing homework.

Adding milk to these Toasted Oatmeal Flakes is highly recommended. Without milk, they can be almost painfully crunchy (just picture my face when I accidentally bit down on one sideways), and the sugar honey coating on each flake is really “activated” with the addition of liquid creaminess.

Plus, they leave behind a golden sweet endmilk that could give Honey Nut Cheerios a run for its money—or at least its honey.

In fact, the taste of these flakes is so similar to TJ’s version that I had to buy a box of both for comparison. The nutrition facts are identical outside of vitamin and mineral differences, and the ingredients list only differs in Barbara’s inclusion of Tocopherols (“for freshness,” of course).

Could it be that these two sets of flakes are actually long lost siblings? Did Barbara and Trader Joe have a secret fling back in the day? Do I smell a sitcom?

After several alternated handfuls (with break periods in between to rest my crunching teeth), I began to notice tiny differences in the flakes. Trader Joe’s flakes are more golden browned and shiny, and they have a stronger dark molasses flavor. Barbara’s flakes, meanwhile, have bigger oat bits and a bolder sweet floral honey taste.

It’s like Trader Joe’s flakes are the yin to Barbara’s flakes’ yang. Or maybe one brother just likes winter and gingerbread men, while the other likes the sunny flavors of summer. Either way, even though neither is sweet enough to permanently replace my Honey Bunches of Oats, both Toasted Oatmeal Flakes varieties are wholesome and tasty cereals that deserve a repeat family reunion in my pantry.

Now I’m just hoping there’s a Toasted Oatmeal triplet out there who tastes like maple syrup.

The Bowl: Barbara’s Toasted Oatmeal Flakes

The Breakdown: A light, yet lip-smacking sunflower honey sweetness and a hearty oat crunch makes for a guilt-free breakfast worth scarring the roof of your mouth over.

The Bottom Line: 7.5 bowls of J.J. Abrams’ Slush-Os out of 10

(Quick Nutrition Facts: 110 calories, 3 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein per 3/4 cup serving)