There is a storied era in my life, one marked by a fleeting—or perhaps flaking—fixation with Fiber One. This was no regular phase (and yet, it very much was); in fact, I look back at it fondly as the deliberate death and rebirth of my true cereal passion.

At the time, I grew worried that my sugary cereal habits were contributing to a hollow hunger dissatisfied with airy rice and now-empty bowls of emptier calories. To make up for it, I dived headfirst into every cereal Fiber One released at the time, to knock off those gnawing cravings with a real gut-buster/duster/cluster. Chocolate Squares, Honey Squares, Honey Clusters, and even original Fiber One—a bona fide gut-readjuster at 55% of your daily recommended fiber per 1/2 cup serving…

…which I’d eat a full cup or more of before even leaving the house. Some say the gargantuan belly gurgles that followed were nationally registered as deep-sea sonar anomalies.

I eventually grew tired of these breakfast bombshells and used the experience to synthesize a happier balance of morning sweets and sticks, ultimately making me a more well-rounded cereal blogger. That’s why I’m more than happy to both review and defend Fiber One from dismissive cereal critics. Because if a Fruity Pebbles-centric diet has left you groggy and gravelly, something like these new Strawberries & Vanilla Clusters might just mix things up without churning them up.

Let’s get the flakes out of the way first. To call them filler would do them a tasteless disservice, as their palatably fortified plainness ultimately serves a grander function. The best analogy, as always, is a Raisin Branological one. Imagine the hypothetical midpoint between Kellogg’s original Raisin Bran flakes and those found in Raisin Bran Crunch: Fiber One Strawberries & Vanilla Clusters flakes combine the titular crunch of the latter with the more neutrally wholesome profile of the OG RB.

But where Kellogg’s flakes act as textural catalysts for contrasting the juicy chew of raisins, Fiber One’s S&VC shards are necessary buffers of both mouthfeel and flavor. For while their modest, generically toasted grain flavor wouldn’t earn a footnote on a footnote in any cereal history book, these flakes deserve to be honored for their munchie martyrdom in what I call “The Taming of the Chew.”

Though with the puck-ering yet to come, I might as well go with “A Midsummer Night’s Strawberry Cream.”

I’m referring of course to the dried strawberry bits, which are massive in both size and quantity. There have been many strawberry cereals, but few take the literal approach and instead rely on strawberry concentrate or puree. Fiber One’s decision to patch in the real fruit is ultimately a double-edged trowel: while each dried strawberry brings pleasing pops of unmistakably genuine flavor, biting right into one is an experience both tart and styrofoamily chewy.

Thankfully, we have those aforementioned flakes to form a protective shell around this cereal’s potent packing peanuts. The more flakes you get in a spoonful, the better balanced the experience, and the same goes for the sparsely scattered vanilla clusters. These bits really do taste like microcosmic greek yogurt, but their population is stagnant compared to the strawberries, which seem to asexually bud and reproduce as you progress through a bowl.

Though this last part isn’t surprising: the flakes would make great fertilizer.

Trying to get a flattering photo of milky berry bits in the dark of winter on a work night: not recommended.

I would personally recommend milk with Fiber One Strawberries & Vanilla Clusters, but the rapidly mushifying consistency of dairied strawberry slices is likely to be even worse than their dry composure for some cereal eaters—likely those turned off by the word “moist.”

Milk is an unequivocal improvement for the arid (by taste and nature) flakes, but the main complication it introduces is cluster sinkage. Already an endangered species, the vanilla clusters plummet, bloated and swollen, to beneath the bovine brine. If you do take the plunge and try milk, I suggest swapping your spoon for a bite-sized pool skimmer.

Overall, while the vanilla clusters are the cream of a crunchy crop, it’s ultimately the dueling tart/heart-smart intersection of strawberry and flake that makes Strawberries & Vanilla Clusters a uniquely flavored and textured option for health-conscious fruit lovers. More authentic than most strawberry cereals, the price of entry into this box is worthwhile for mix-in potential alone.

Because whether you fling the flakes or not, I know a certain Cap’n whose cake could use some real fruit and creamy icing.

The Bowl: Fiber One Strawberries & Vanilla Clusters

The Breakdown: Still more boring than the average fructosed fruit cereal, Fiber One’s abundant harvest of grain, berries, and occasional clustered treats makes this a stomach safeguard worth considering.

The Bottom Line: 7 Shake-spoonian comedies out of 10