The Glorious Return of French Toast Crunch

Recently, during my daily visit to Kenji's stuffing waffle article, I was pondering the question he posed: "What's your favorite thing about your favorite thing?" Well, my favorite thing is cereal and my favorite thing about cereal is discontinued cereals, the ones we have loved and lost and can sometimes love again. Whether I'm busting myths (I mean, how many more times do I have to say it: Rice Krispies Treats Cereal STILL EXISTS), hunting down nearly extinct cereals (okay, I did nothing, someone did that for me) or just sitting around endlessly talking about the topic with my friends (by friends I mean you all). Which leads me to the topic of the hour—the return of the discontinued French Toast Crunch.

Back in 2012, cereal hero Adam sent me a box of French Toast Crunch that he procured in Canada. Folks there have been enjoying Croque Pain Doré uninterrupted for years. I'm embarrassed to say I had no experience with French Toast Crunch in my youth. I honestly have no idea how I could have possibly missed this cereal. But hey, when you only get sweet cereals on birthdays and Christmas, it's a little difficult to sample all of the wares, so...I'm gonna go ahead and blame that one on you, MOM. So even though I want to somehow make the return of French Toast Crunch about me, I really can't. I just need to sit back in awe and teary-eyed pride at the strength and courage of the cereal community and congratulate those who did the impossible.

You see, passionate cereal fans created a Facebook page and online petition, tirelessly contacted General Mills customer service, and even paid the high price to get boxes sent from Canada. General Mills took notice and is giving the people what they want: French Toast is back on the shelves and will be available nationwide by mid-January. Here's a brief timeline outlining FTC's lifespan:

Now, I sampled the Canadian FTC a few years ago and found it very tasty. I'm embarrassed to say that I made some unsavory comments about real maple syrup that I need to apologize for. This is cereal, my friends, and I yell at people on a daily basis for judging cereals based on how "authentic" the flavors are. I broke my own rule and I need to publicly apologize for it. Upon my second trial of French Toast Crunch, I found the cereal to be exquisite.

The only thing better than the maple-y, sweet, slightly cinnamon-y taste is the cereal's precious toast shape. The slightly irregular cereal pieces are shaped like mini pieces of French toast complete with crust and flecks of cinnamon. I like stacking them up four or five squares high and then biting into the stack, crushing their crunchy, airy little toast bodies between my teeth. Lovers of discontinued cereals, take hope: some cereal dreams do come true.