When Cereal Killer Café opened in London in 2014, it introduced an idea to the UK (and the rest of the world.) The restaurant serves 100 or more kinds of cereal – and that’s all they serve. They got a lot of attention and cereal was on its way to being acknowledged as a category of cusine. US pastry chef Christina Tosi was way out front of the “cereal as cuisine” trend when she invented cereal milk soft serve ice cream in 2008.
This trend might never have taken flight if Post cereal and its licensing deal with Hanna Barbera’s Flintstones hadn’t made Cocoa Pebbles and Fruity Pebbles possible almost 50 years ago. Sure, some people like other cereals, like Cheerios or Frosted Flakes. But I don’t think those aren’t the cereals that helped launch a full-on food trend that shows no signs of slowing down. #YabbaDabbaDoo
Enough talk – let’s have some cereal. How do you like your Fruity Pebbles?
Bonus Fun Stuff:Here Are the Best Places to Get a Scoop in DFW
Out of the Box
I don’t always eat Fruity Pebbles, but when I do, I eat them straight out of the box. I highly recommend it, but I expect you were looking for some outside the box ideas. I’ve got ‘em for you.
Before you go adding milk, maybe just make some “Better than Rice” Crispy Treats. You can find recipes online or use my mini treat secret. Microwave one full sized marshmallow and a tiny bit of butter in a mug or microwave safe bowl for around 30 seconds. Stir the gooey result and then pour the amount of Fruity Pebbles you want on top. It’ll stick to the spoon, but that’s OK. Stir again and wait a minute or so before eating. I know it’s hard to wait butlet it cool off or you’ll burn your mouth. (So I hear.)
If you don’t want to fire up the oven or microwaveyour treat, you can order some from the Marshinator and have them shipped right to your door. Their version of a colorful crispy marshmallow treat is called the Fruit Blast (possibly for trademark reasons), but if you look at the picture online, you’ll recognize your favorite cereal.
OK, if you want to, now you can add milk. Grownup milk, that is.
With Milk…and Booze?!?!
If you’re having brunch at City Council Restaurant and Bar in Uptown, you can order boozy cereals including Apple Jacks, Coco Puffs, or everybody’s current favorite, Fruity Pebbles. Your cereal bowl is served with a small carafe of milk – with addedStillhouse peach tea whiskey, plum and cherry bitters, plus raspberry and vanilla syrup. It’s like a drink you eat.
City Council Restaurant and Bar – Uptown
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On a Donut
We’re still in breakfast territory and there are more varieties to come. Several of DFW’s best donut shops offer Fruity Pebbles donuts.
Photo courtesy of Peace, Love and Little Donuts of Southlake
It’s hard to top these adorable little mini donuts – unless you top them with Fruity Pebbles. That variety is part of their Funkadelic collection. I believe I could eat an entire Disco Dozen – that’s 4 Groovy, 4 Far-Out and 4 Funkadelic little treats.
Photo courtesy of Kneady Doughnuts
All the creative doughnuts here are handmade, and a Fruity Pebble flavor is in the rotation of their glazed varieties. They also serve glazed donuts topped with lesser cereals like Apple Jacks and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. You’ll probably want to sample some of their other unique flavors like Matcha Coconut, S’mores, or the Bart, which is chocolate glazed and topped with crushed Butterfingers. Their menu rotates frequently so call (or message) ahead if you’re hankering for something specific.
Photo courtesy of WOW Donuts & Drips
You’ll have to keep your eyes on the prize at this Plano shop with something for everyone. Before you even get to the donuts, you’ll come face to face with the Steampunk, a custom coffee and tea brewing machine. Choose your perfect cup from their international coffee and small batch tea selection. Now you can move on to the donuts, where the colorful Fruity Pebbles donut is displayed with around 90 other eye-popping gourmet flavors. Unlike many other donuts shops, WOW is open all day and into the evening. It’s a great place to relax and enjoy your fruity pebbles and beverage of choice. Think of it as a spa where your taste buds are the part that’s being massaged.
Frozen
If you are ready for a not-just-for-breakfast, totally different option, you can have a Fruity Pebbles popsicle.
Photo courtesy of Frios Gourmet Pops – McKinney
These popular popsicle shops will have you doing a double take. Their flavor list is extensive and fun, which is impressive in and of itself. Then you’ll discover as I did, that many of the pop flavors have 5 ingredients – and you can pronounce all of them. Their fruity flavors and creamy flavors (like the Fruity Pebbles pop) are made with the freshest and best ingredients possible. If that’s hard to believe, here’s the ingredients list for the Fruity Pebbles popsicle:Organic Whole Milk, Cream, Fruity Pebbles Cereal, Organic Cane Sugar, and Pure Vanilla Extract. That’s all folks.
It’s not just the flavors and the freshness behind this new(ish) to DFW company’s success. Their reviews are off the charts. After 22 Yelp reviews, the McKinney location maintains a perfect 5 stars. The Allen shop has a 5-star Google rating after 31 reviews. If I were you, I’d put one of these places on my “next time I head north of Dallas” bucket list.
Shaken, Stirred, Frozen?
What if you saved your cereal milk and froze it- would that be good? Judging by the popularity of the Fruity Pebbles soft serve flavor at Sweet Daze in Richardson, I’d say that’s a yes. If you’re like me, you see some kind of Sweet Daze sweet on Instagram every day. If you’re able to scroll past them, you have more will power than I do – these guys are killing it in the trendy treat department.
Sweet Daze- Richardson
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The Fruity Pebbles flavor of soft serve (along with most of their other flavors) rotate on and off the menu, but you can always top another flavor of soft serve with your favorite cereal. And isn’t ice cream better with cake? You can order a whole Fruity Pebbles cake for a special occasion or just to make your friends jealous. You may also find this cereal favorite on a donut or in a cereal pop – like a Rice Krispies treat on a stick (and made with other cereals too.) This hoppin’ shop sells out of things sometimes, so if you’re making a special trip for something, call first to see if it’s a) on the menu and b) not sold out.
Photo courtesy of Bingbox Dallas
Fruity Pebbles cereal is also a topping choice on taro snow cream or soft serve ice cream at the newly opened (as of this writing) Bing Box in Trinity Groves.If you haven’t tried snow cream yet, it really is something special. The airy texture is especially complemented by some traditional Asian flavors, but even plain vanilla is elevated.
Phot courtesy of Milky Treats
The newest place in DFW’s ice cream scene (opened July 7th) combines love of ice cream with love of cereal to reach sweet treat nirvana. Their eight signature swirls include Puff Daddy with Reese’s Puffs, Cookie Monster with Cookie Crunch Cereal, and best of all, Stormy Webster with Fruity Pebbles, M & M’s, Crunch Berries and rainbow sprinkles.
If you want to go the DIY route, choose one of 15 fascinating flavors – Cereal Killer is a great choice – and your choice of cereal will be mixed in with the ice cream, infusing it with flavor. More cereal is sprinkled on top of your choice of cup or waffle cone or you can have your mixture sandwiched inside a donut.
The owners say they took the “Generation I” slight to millennials and turned it into fun, energy, and good vibes. They now proudly call themselves Generation I-ce Cream.
Inside a Donut Ice Cream Sandwich
Donut Ice Cream Sandwiches make your favorite cereal even better, and this specialty shop made Lower Greenville even cooler.
Photo courtesy of Milk • Cream
Choose a donut-like bun, choose an ice cream flavor, choose mix-ins and toppings, and – wait for it – warm the whole thing up so the bun is warm but the ice cream isn’t melted. Boom! Ice cream sandwich heaven, especially when Fruity Pebbles are in the mix.
A Cereal-Topped Waffle Pop
Don’t’ try this at home – on second thought, maybe a cereal coated waffle on a stick is a simple DIY. But I’d recommend you do some research first.
Photo courtesy of Sno Tea
Milk teas, flavored teas, boba teas – you can see where this place got its name. The fun didn’t stop there and their motto “Treat Yo’ Self” is well-earned with plenty of other treats. Snow ice cream is also on the menu along with waffle pops. If you don’t love Fruity Pebbles (what??) there are 5 other flavors, and you can add on a scoop of ice cream too.
The French Version
An infusion of Fruity Pebbles can be a little more delicate (or just more little) if you want to try a Macaron Ice Cream Sandwich.
Photo courtesy of JOY Macarons
A place called JOY can’t be wrong, and they’re onto something with the Frozen section of their menu. It’s like someone had an idea – take two lighter-than air macarons, sandwich a circle of Fruity Pebbles cereal milk ice cream between them, dip one side in white chocolate and then into Fruity Pebbles. It was a brilliant idea. Take two; it’s a good call.
On French Toast
I introduced you to City Council Restaurant and Bar earlier. Now’s a good time to tell you that this slightly posh place also serves Fruity Pebbles French Toast during weekend Brunch. Cinnamon vanilla cream cheese is tossed with Fruity Pebbles, then stuffed into artisan bread before it’s griddled and topped with raspberry whipped cream.
Let Them Eat Cake
Some of you want to marry fruity pebbles, but I think that’s out of the question. If your fiancée loves them as much as you do, don’t hesitate to ask for a Fruity Pebbles wedding cakes, grooms cake, or individual guest cupcakes. I assure you, it’s a thing.
I know you can find a great DFW bakery who’ll make that custom design for you on your big day or any other cake-able occasion.
Photo courtesy of Beyond Frosting
If you want something less fancy, you can make your own Fruity Pebbles cake with this Beyond Frosting recipe for Cereal Milk Poke Cake. Don’t’ let the name poke cake fool you – this isn’t cake mix and Jello. Making this is a decidedly adult undertaking with a surprisingly sophisticated result.
I hope you’ve discovered some new ways to eat your Fruity Pebbles. I’m going to have to wrap up –I seem to have demolished a large quantity of cereal in the last few minutes – straight out of the box. If I missed your favorite cereal concoction, let me know in the comments or on our Facebook page.
Featured Image: “fruity pebbles” flickr photo by Rakka shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license
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