Not Lucky Charms Or Reese's Puffs: These Are The Best Cereal Bars On The Market

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Cereal is one of the quickest and easiest morning meals, but sometimes you lack even those precious five minutes necessary to enjoy a bowl, and need an on-the-go breakfast as you dash out the door. Cereal bars are a good substitute for those who seek a mobile breakfast, but still crave a cereal-like experience. In an effort to find the best bar, our reviewer tried 10 cereal bars and ranked them worst to best. Surprisingly, it wasn't a popular brand-name cereal bar that topped the list, but a humble bar from Trader Joe's. The first place spot was awarded to Trader Joe's This Blueberry Walks Into a Bar Cereal Bars. 

Our tester loved that the exterior of the Trader Joe's bar was less sugary than those of the other cereal bars. In a positive contrast, our reviewer did find the filling to be sweet, but the strong blueberry flavor provided enough tartness to keep it from seeming overly saccharine. The Trader Joe's cereal bar also had a pastry that was tender, with our reviewer referring to its texture as "melt-in-your-mouth." This softness was a pleasant departure from the often dry and tough exterior of crunchy cereal bars. In fact, unlike half of the other bars in our ranking, the Trader Joe's bars are made in a soft-baked style. This means that rather than the outside of the bar having large, crunchy pieces of actual cereal, it has a soft exterior that gives way to a jammy fruit filling. 

Trader Joe's This Blueberry Walks Into a Bar Cereal Bars have also earned high praise online. One Reddit user posted on the Trader Joe's subreddit saying, "Please put the filling for 'blueberry walks into a bar' in a jar. So that I can eat spoonfuls at a time. Thank you." The Trader Joe's bars have received praise on Amazon as well, with one reviewer writing, "These bars are delicious! Good with coffee for breakfast, or for a midday snack!" Another reviewer said the bars are "Full of flavor but not too heavy" and that "you won't be able to eat just one."

Trader Joe's is full of great breakfast items that are worth picking up on your next visit, but none might be as ready-to-eat as its breakfast bars. If you're worried just a single bar won't be filling enough to tide you over until lunch, you could crumble the bar on top of a bowl of Greek yogurt and add on fresh blueberries for extra fruitiness. The bar isn't strictly limited for the morning hours either, as it makes a great snack to keep in your car, purse, or backpack for an afternoon treat on the go. If you're a big fan of soft breakfast bars, you may also find something you'd like on our list of the absolute best store-bought oatmeal breakfast bars.