Are Cocoa Puffs High in Sugar? Are There Sugar-Free Options?

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Are Cocoa Puffs high in sugar? Are there any sugar-free options? Cocoa Puffs. They are the old-school round chocolate balls that kids (and adults alike) love to munch down for breakfast. You know, the breakfast cereal that turns your milk chocolatey (so you just have to drink it – I mean even the Cuckoo Bird on the front of the box has a straw for his chocolatey milk). This was my favorite part of Cocoa Puffs growing up. But how much sugar is there exactly in Cocoa Puffs and are they high in comparison to other cereals? This is the question I wanted to answer in this post.

In order to answer this question, I collated the sugar content data for a cup serving of Cocoa Puffs as well as the sugar content data for a cup serving of Cocoa Puffs alternatives (you know grocery store’s own brand versions). I also managed to track down one extremely low-sugar Cocoa Puffs alternative (1g of sugar per serving) and one sugar-free Cocoa alternative – so you are definitely going to want to read right to the end to find out about these low-sugar and sugar-free Cocoa Puffs alternatives.

So, let’s dig in – are Cocoa Puffs high in sugar and are there sugar-free Cocoa Puffs options?

How Much Sugar is in Cocoa Puffs?

As a general rule, a cup serving of Cocoa Puffs and equivalent cereals contains 12g of total sugar per cup serving. Therefore, Cocoa Puffs is not a low-sugar cereal. However, there are some Cocoa Puffs alternatives that contain as little as 1g or 0g of sugar per serving. 

Before I go on, if you want to find out more about the sugar content of various cereals, make sure to check out the following posts I researched and wrote –

• Are Rice Krispies Low in Sugar?
• What Are The Lowest Sugar Cinnamon Toast Crunch Options?
• Do Frosted Flakes Have A Lot of Sugar? 14 Brands Ranked.
• Are Cheerios High in Sugar and Are There Any Sugar-Free Cheerio Alternatives?
• Are Lucky Charms High in Sugar? How About Equivalent Brands?
• 17 of the All-Time Best No Added Sugar Granolas
• Is Special K Cereal High In Sugar? Are Any Sugar-Free?
• Are Froot Loops High In Sugar? Is There A Sugar-Free Dupe?
• How Much Sugar Is In Cap N Crunch? Are There Low Sugar Alternatives?

Ranking Sugar Content of Cocoa Puff Cereals

In this section, I will go through and rank 6 different varieties of Cocoa Puff styles cereals to help you find the lowest sugar option available. The list is ranked from highest sugar to lowest sugar available.

1. Cocoa Puffs – 12g of Total Sugar

The first entry on this list is none other than the original Cocoa Puffs. Yes, that’s right. Those little chocolatey balls contain 12g of sugar in a cup serving. That definitely doesn’t make Cocoa Puffs a low-sugar cereal (original Rice Krispies for example contain 4g of sugar and original Cheerios contain 2g of sugar in a serving).

However, at the same time, Cocoa Puffs also aren’t one of the highest sugar cereals. For example, Cap N Crunch, for example, contains 17g of sugar per cup serving, and even some flavors of Special K contain as much as 18g of sugar in a serving.

2. Cocoa Puffs Minis – 12g of Total Sugar

I also looked at the sugar content of a serving of Cocoa Puffs Minis to see if there was any difference in the sugar content of the mini version of Cocoa Puffs. The answer – these Cocoa Puffs Minis contain the same amount of sugar as the original version coming in at 12g of total sugar per cup serving.

3. Nature’s Path EnviroKidz Choco Chimps Breakfast Cereal – 12g of Total Sugar

Nature’s Path makes an organic alternative to Cocoa Puffs. They are known as Choco Chimps and even feature a cute chimp on the front of the box. They may be organic but are they also lower in sugar content? Well, the answer is no. There are also 12g of total sugar in a serving of Nature’s Path EnviroKidz Choco Chimps Breakfast Cereal

4. Millville Chocolate Puffs – 12g of Total Sugar

Next up is a Cocoa Puffs alternative from Millville (Aldi’s own brand). Now Millville has featured here at Low Sugar Snax several times. For example, in the posts, I wrote about Cinnamon Toast Crunch (What Are The Lowest Sugar Cinnamon Toast Crunch Options?), Lucky Charms (Are Lucky Charms High in Sugar? How About Equivalent Brands?), Froot Loops (Are Froot Loops High In Sugar? Is There A Sugar-Free Dupe?) and Frosted Flakes (Do Frosted Flakes Have A Lot of Sugar? 14 Brands Ranked). Well, that’s because Millville makes some pretty awesome cereals.

Millville’s chocolate puffs look pretty darn similar to Cocoa Puffs but is the sugar content similar? The answer is yes. There are 12g of total sugar per cup serving of Millville Chocolate Puffs.

I am definitely noticing a trend here!

Low Sugar Cocoa Puff Alternatives

In the above, I have pretty definitively established that a cup serving of Cocoa Puffs or a Cocoa Puffs alternative contains 12g of total sugar. Well, what if 12g of sugar is too much for you to stomach (no pun intended)?

In this case, I have some exciting news – I have managed to track down some very low-sugar and sugar-free alternatives.

5. Wonderworks Chocolate Breakfast Cereal – 1g of Total Sugar

*Sweetened with erythritol, stevia, allulose, and inulin*

The first of which is from Wonderworks. Wonderwork’s breakfast cereal is high in protein, keto-friendly, and most importantly contains just 1g of sugar per serving. Yes, you read that correctly – 1g. That is because it is sweetened with erythritol, stevia, allulose, and inulin.

Stock up now whilst you can from Amazon here.

6. School Yard Snacks Cocoa Cereal – 0g of Total Sugar

*Sweetened with allulose and monk fruit*

The other lower-sugar Cocoa Puffs alternative I managed to track down is from School Yard Snacks. Their cocoa cereal is sweetened with allulose and monk fruit. As a result, it contains 0g of sugar per serving (yes, you read that correctly – 0g).

This makes this cereal perfect for bringing the inner child out of all of us but without all that sugar.

I will have to admit School Yard Snacks Cocoa Cereal is a bit harder to track down than Wonderworks (the cocoa variety sells out quickly and for good reason), but you can find out more about the brand and product on School Yard Snack’s website here.

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Are Cocoa Puffs High in Sugar? Are There Sugar-Free Options? – The Final Bite

Are Cocoa Puffs high in sugar and are there sugar-free options? What have we learned from the above? Well, when it comes to sugar content Cocoa Puffs fall into the middle range. They are not overly high in sugar, but they are not low in sugar. On average you can expect to find around 12g of sugar per serving in Cocoa Puffs and its own-brand alternatives. The good news is that there is a sugar-free version available from School Yard Snacks. If this is too hard to track down, then your next best option will be from Wonderworks whose chocolate puff cereal contains 1g of sugar per serving.

Please note that all the sugar content above is before you add your milk of choice. Depending on the milk you choose this may add additional sugar. If you want to know the best milk to go with your cereal, then check out some of my “milk-focused” posts below:

• Which Milk Has The Least Amount of Sugar
• Which Alternative Milk Contain No Sugar (0g)?

And Remember…