Insane Cereal Combos You’ve Never Thought Of

— -- Mad cereal scientist (aka pastry chef) Christina Tosi has gained fame for her inventive, quirky desserts, like cereal milk (literally cereal-infused milk) and cornflake cookies at Manhattan's Milk Bar.

And now she’s back with more next-level treats that pair Kellogg’s cereals with flavors you’ve never imagined.

"In Milk Bar, the dry storage part is full of cases of cereal in bags bigger than you’ve ever seen from a consumer standpoint,” Tosi said. “For breakfast every morning our cooks make a bowl of cereal and play a game of using Milk Bar toppings to spruce it up to get the day going and fuel and energize themselves, so this is so true to what we do.”

Tosi started by having every flavor of Kellogg’s cereal on her desk and trying each with different milks, yogurts and toppings.

The Pistachio Lemon, a combination of Special K, Frosted Flakes, pistachios, lemon zest and thyme, was born out of a request Tosi received for a pistachio-flavored wedding cake.

“We made this pistachio lemon layer cake, and they’re two of my favorite flavors to put together because they’re both nutty and fruity and sweet and savory and bitter and floral in these weird ways,” Tosi explained. “So I thought this would be a really cool way to really revamp what a bowl of cereal from the cupboard can be in terms of freshness and brightness.”

Applying savory notes to cereal is another Tosi specialty.

“We have family meal [at Milk Bar] at 1pm every day, and it’s usually a savory meal, and it’s amazing what people do with cornflakes and frosted flakes,” Tosi said. “We do a lot of breading of chicken and stuff like that. We’ll use it as binder in meatloaf and meatballs. You have to think, ‘What’s the cereal made of? What does it taste like if I’m not putting it with something sweet? How can I put it with something savory instead?’”

Another more savory combination Tosi came up with is the Tropical Mermaid, which combines Frosted Mini-Wheats, Rice Krispies, toasted coconut flakes, sesame seeds and fresh pineapple slices.

“It’s my favorite. The sesame seeds and the toasted coconut to me are just the right amount of savory, but there’s also something earthy and soothing about them,” she explained. “I like loud flavors, and I love that sweet salty savory acidic balance. I like tasting that range. For me that’s what makes flavors sharp and poignant and memorable.”

Tosi also concocted a Berry Au Lait combination, which consists of Frosted Mini-Wheats, ground coffee and fresh raspberries.

“I was thinking about what we typically eat for breakfast and have with breakfast, and I was like, ‘Coffee!’” she said. “I was really curious about this one, because it might be super-polarizing, but hopefully the concept of it being served as a bowl of cereal is grounding enough for people to be able to step out of their comfort zone a little bit. We drink coffee for breakfast with our cereal. So why not bring them together?"