Raisin bran as we know it needs to evolve. Can Nature Valley’s new Raisin Oat Clusters help bring it from its Cro-Magnon hunch to an upright state?
See, bran flakes with raisins is one of cereal’s oldest traditions, dating all the way back to Skinner’s Raisin Bran. But while species of Toast Crunch cereal evolved from swirled squares to full on maple glazed mini bread slices in just over a decade, all raisin bran has done in its 90 years of existence is add oat clusters and maybe a few measly almonds.
Sure, there’s been the occasional innovator, like Raisin Nut Bran with its nut-coated raisins or the unfortunately discontinued Raisin Bran Extra! But by and large, survival of the fittest has been more of a “survival of the fattest, juiciest raisins.”
I demand more. I demand a raisin bran that will blow my mind instead of just my colon. It’s time to find out if Raisin Oat Clusters, one of Nature Valley’s two newest cereals, is up to the task.
On the surface, Raisin Oat Clusters don’t seem too different. They have flakes, raisins, and clusters. But the difference here is the bran: out with the wheat bran and in with the corn bran. There are both wheat and corn flakes here—dotting the cereal with rustic speckles of yellow and brown like the color scheme of a barnyard birthday party—but only corn bran is listed in the ingredients.
And, drumroll please…
…this ends up being a bad choice on Nature Valley’s part. The flakes are all fragile, mealy, and bland, without the hearty crunch of most wheat raisin bran cereals or the earthy sweetness of Quaker’s Corn Bran Crunch.
But luckily I didn’t buy a box of just Nature Valley Disappointment Flakes; the raisins and granola clusters try their best to salvage this flaky fiasco. The raisins here are smaller than expected, but they have a pleasant chewiness—it’s a good, squishy chew, too, and not the filling-ripping kind you’d find in a Grape Lemonhead.
The raisins aren’t very sweet, but if you chew them long enough, they start to become juicy and winey. If we pretend that all the cereal raisins in the world came from the same batch, then these must have been the ones that dared to stay in the sun the longest. Age has made them wrinkled and wise.
But I’m not surprised Nature Valley went with the “ripe raisin” route here. After all, it isn’t called “Industrial Freeze Dried Valley.”
Thankfully, it’s the clusters that muster up the most support. They’ve got a great crumbly crunch and a flavor profile that’s equal parts oatmeal and honey graham. But the problem is that they’re rarer than shiny Pokémon. It’s a crime against humanity that should be put to trial in a Supreme Court consisting entirely of 9 Judge Judys.
When eaten together, a floral and lightly oily sunflower honey flavor dominates. But it’s absolutely imperative that when you “eat this cereal together” that you actually get at least one raisin and cluster in every spoonful. Otherwise, the flakes ruin the sunflower fun with their Dementor-levels of flavor suckiness.
Milk is good for intensifying the golden sweetness, but it also makes the flakes mushy too quickly. I’d advise mixing this cereal into some vanilla or strawberry yogurt instead for an added burst of flavor without the dreaded sog.
So the bad news is that Nature Valley Raisin Oat Clusters isn’t leading a raisin bran revolution, but it is a passable new RB iteration if you want to put in the effort and curate every spoonful. All of the previous Nature Valley cereals I tried wowed me by tasting like freshly made bakery goods, but this one falls just short of par.
I’m just saying: all Nature Valley had to do was add a little cinnamon, and we could have had the Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Bites Cereal I dream about nightly.
The Bowl: Nature Valley Raisin Oat Clusters
The Breakdown: With a weak substitution of corn bran for wheat, this cereal is barely held together by raisin gurus and Teddy Graham clusters.
The Bottom Line: 6.5 “Cro-Magnon Bran” fossils out of 10
(Quick Nutrition Facts: 210 calories, 4 grams of fiber, 16 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein per 1 cup serving)
To each his or her own. I personally like them and don’t care what other cold cereal eaters think.. I see that GM has decided to quit making this now, and so my attention is now focused on Raisin Bran with clusters. I will not purchase the 4 to 5 dollar bag of any Nature Valley snack treats. I guess that some of you eaters make your own cereal and that’s fine, like I said to each his or her own.
I got the nature valley raisin oat clusters. I thought it was a tad bland, but i use lactaid milk whuch is a tad sweet. So it’s just perfect. I hate cereals that are overly sweet, so all is good ….But, the raisins were way toi small and hard as rocks, almost broke my tooth in several occassions. Yes, i soaked them in milk several times each time longer, never really got better. Or were they stale, i don’t know. What i do know, I’d like to be compensated, so i can get another flavor of your cereals, without the raisin. Thx Wanda
Wanda, I don’t work for Nature Valley or General Mills. This is my personal blog for independent product reviews. You’re better off visiting generalmills.com or finding them on Facebook with your problem. Best of luck.
The next step of raisin bran evolution is to get rid of the raisins altogether and bake the taste into the oat squares that Nature Valley makes. Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bran; with an icing, of course.
Really, though, I never could get into raisins, but I love the other elements of Raisin Bran Crunch, and I like the idea of fruit in cereals. Just not fruit which makes me think of the lowest item of the trick-or-treat totem poll.
That raisin squares idea is FANTASTIC. I’ll be trying the Chocolate Oat Squares really soon, so I’m eager to see if Baked Oat Bites’ legacy carries over to chocolate.