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REVIEW: McDonald’s Glazed Pull Apart Donut

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 Sean 15 Comments

McDonald s Glazed Pull Apart Donut Full

When Dunkin’ dropped the “Donuts” from its name, I never would have guessed good ol’ Ronald would be the one to stumble over from the 2 am drive-thru line and try to pick it up.

Sure, McDonald’s added several baked goods to its McCafe menu last year, which is clearly competing with Dunkin’ and Starbucks for morning notoriety, but a donut at McDonald’s? It all feels a little too “dreams do come true” for my Standard American Diet heart to handle. But that’s exactly where we are with McDonald’s first Limited Time Only offering to its McCafe Bakery menu: the Glazed Pull Apart Donut.

The donut is described as light and airy and coated in a delicious, sweet glaze. Visually and conceptually, a bunch of donut holes all shoved together in a pull apart fashion, I love this donut. In terms of its execution, it’s just okay. Before I go any deeper, can we address the elephant in the room — why wasn’t this called the McDonut? Gold.

I asked the cashier if it’s served warm like the Cinnamon Roll, and she said they could warm it if I wanted, which I opted out of so I could try both ways when I got home. At room temperature, the donut is relatively firm but soft — it doesn’t give under the pressure of my fingers but has a gentle and slightly bouncy chew.

McDonald s Glazed Pull Apart Donut Innards

The fluffy texture of the yeasty dough reminds me of the bun on McChicken in the best way. It has that artificial squish akin to Wonder Bread, and I find it endearing in this context. The sweetness of the glaze is relatively mild with a vanilla flare and a touch of salt. I get much more of a fried bread flavor than I was expecting for a fully glazed doughnut; it’s kind of savory when compared to Dunkin’ or especially Krispy Kreme, and I wish it were a touch sweeter.

Warmed up, it tastes mostly the same but has a softer and almost melty texture that helps tame some of the more bready notes that jump out at room temperature. The heat helps activate the sweetness, and I found myself nodding my head in approval — this is what I was looking for. I’m not usually one to warm my pastries unless it seems absolutely necessary, and in this case, I 100% recommend it.

McDonald s Glazed Pull Apart Donut Center

The biggest point of intrigue is the center — is it the best part like a cinnamon roll? Yes, yes, it is. While it doesn’t reach the same ooey-gooey heights that the center of a Cinnabon does, it is softer and a bit more glaze-soaked than the outer wannabe Munchkins are and delivers deliciously sweet satisfaction.

McDonald s Glazed Pull Apart Donut Top

As fun as it was to devour an entire family of donut holes, picking them off one by one like a 90s slasher movie antagonist, I can’t help but wonder how much better it could have been if it were just a touch sweeter and softer. I enjoyed the McDonald’s donut experience, but unless I’m already in line with a massive craving for a donut on the side of my Big Mac, I have zero inclination to go out of my way to eat it again, no matter how fun the form factor is.

Purchased Price: $1.79
Size: N/A
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 donut) 310 calories, 17 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 280 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 15 gram of sugar, 4 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Nashville Hot Cheetos

September 2, 2021May 16, 2022 Marvo 4 Comments

Nashville Hot Cheetos Bag

What are Nashville Hot Cheetos?

According to the back of the bag, “A new way to get a kick of heat from your favorite Nashville Hot seasonings with the crunch you love from Cheetos.” This is not the first Nashville Hot seasoned snack from Frito-Lay, who pumped out potato chips with the flavor last year.

How are they?

Nashville Hot Cheetos Closeup

They smell like, um, let’s just say you wouldn’t recognize them as Nashville Hot-seasoned snacks by their smell. When I give them a quick sniff, they smell like unseasoned corn puffs. Only when I put my nose right up to them and take a long yoga-like nasal inhale do I get a whiff of something and a little itchy nose. But, again, not something that would be recognized as a regional spicy fried chicken dish.

Nashville Hot Cheetos Stick

They have a noticeable flavor that could be considered fried chicken-like, but the “authentic blend of spices” that supposedly creates the Nashville Hot flavor is bland. Initially, I thought my taste buds were broken, so I ate other things to ensure they weren’t. They were working. There’s a “kick of heat,” and it registers just below Flamin’ Hot on the Scoville, I mean, Fritoville scale. But, overall, this basically has just chicken flavor and a bit of spiciness.

Anything else you need to know?

This is currently a Circle K and Dollar General exclusive.

Conclusion:

Nashville Hot Cheetos’ seasoning isn’t that flavorful. It’s not something I must lick off my fingers or knees. And that makes for a disappointing and unsatisfying snack.

Thanks to TIB reader and regular Spotted contributor, Robbie, for sending me this bag.

Purchased Price: $3.00
Size: 8 1/2 oz bag
Purchased at: Dollar General
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (about 21 pieces/28 g) 160 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of sodium, 200 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 0 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Limited Edition Fantastic Chocolate Dr Pepper

September 1, 2021August 31, 2021 Marvo 9 Comments

Limited Edition Fantastic Chocolate Dr Pepper

Most of us know about Dr Pepper’s blend of 23 flavors. But we don’t know what those 23 flavors are, which I imagine are behind 23 doors and locks. It could be molasses. It could be moles (animal, skin blemish, or both). So when the brand comes out with a new variety, like this Limited Edition Fantastic Chocolate Dr Pepper, we don’t know if the chocolate is a 24th flavor or one of the 23, but with a lot more of it.

While you ponder that for the rest of your life, I should let you know that this isn’t the first time chocolate has been added (or enhanced?) in a Dr Pepper variety. In 2008, there was Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr Pepper, which had an unusual chocolate flavor that made it hard for me to drink in one sitting.

However, this Limited Edition Fantastic Chocolate Dr Pepper is (yes, I’m going to use it) fantastic. It somewhat tastes like someone added a little Hershey’s syrup to Dr Pepper. Besides the chocolate, there’s also a noticeable marshmallow or vanilla taste that goes along with it. I know it makes absolutely no sense that the addition of chocolate would do that, but that’s what my taste buds noticed.

I don’t know if this is a sign of how much I enjoyed this, but I drank both cans I received from Dr Pepper without remembering to take a photo of the beverage in a glass for this review. “So good that it makes you forget to take pictures of it” is probably something Dr Pepper should print on the can.

But here’s the deal with obtaining this soda, you can only get it by signing up for Pepper Perks, buying a bunch of Dr Pepper products for points, and then redeeming those points for the limited edition soda. If you’re a regular Pepper drinker, I think it’s worth the effort.

Although it’s not better than getting it from a brick-and-mortar store, I like this idea. Because, as the internet has shown us, if you put up something for sale online in limited quantities for everyone with very little friction, it’ll sell out faster than $99 50-inch HDTVs on Black Friday at Walmart.

With the football on the can, I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to drink this while watching a game. But I drank both while watching our solar system’s favorite ball, the sun, as it went down on the biggest and highest definition screen, the sky, during the biggest game, life.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free product samples. Thanks, Dr Pepper! Doing so did not influence my review. Although I can see how some might think so.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 12 oz cans
Purchased at: Received from Dr Pepper
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 150 calories, 0 grams of fat, 55 milligrams of sodium, 40 grams of carbohydrates, 39 grams of sugar, 39 grams of added sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW Limited Edition 2021 Mtn Dew VooDEW

August 31, 2021August 30, 2021 Holly 71 Comments

Limited Edition 2021 Mtn Dew VooDEW Cam

“This is, as you may recognize, a review for a mystery flavor beverage. That means the author will most likely try to explain what flavor they experienced and it might influence you to taste that flavor. If you don’t want to be spoiled, turn back now. Consider this your spoiler alert warning. Otherwise, proceed with caution or you might just be the next person in The Impulsive Buy Zone.”

-Rod Sterling (probably)

Normally when I write reviews, I will do extensive history searches for the item(s), but I wanted to go in absolutely blind with this. Googling anything risked me being spoiled.

Limited Edition 2021 Mtn Dew VooDEW Grim

The first thing that caught my eye was the can’s design. Despite being a Halloween item, the cool blues and yellow accent felt oddly out of place. The art with the grim reaper looks very cool with lots of little easter eggs of the number 3 all over. Mtn Dew has nailed a really cool and cohesive brand design these past few years.

Opening it and taking a sniff, I was slapped with (what my brain perceived to be) fruit punch smell. Taking a sip, however, yielded a whole other experience. The initial sip was a sugar shock. I don’t drink a ton of sugary beverages, so when I do it takes my taste buds a few seconds to move past the first sugar rush. After a moment, I was able to start working through the flavor. It was so familiar and at the tip of my tongue.

I poured the rest into a cup with ice and sipped it while trying to distract myself. It was here that I noticed its cloudy white color. The lack of color made my brain even more confused as to what it was tasting. I figured if I wasn’t actively TRYING to figure it out, it would come to me. Then, as if I discovered a new element, I exclaimed, “BLUE RASPBERRY!”

After being more or less sure of this, I sought out some history on the previous versions of this mystery beverage. The first release in 2019 was revealed to be candy corn and 2020 was fruit candy explosion (Skittles). It was also then that I learned the packaging had given hints in previous years as to what the flavor was with its color scheme.

Limited Edition 2021 Mtn Dew VooDEW Glass

Once again, I had an epiphany: the flavor is blue raspberry taffy. Three reasons I believe this to be right: The pattern of the flavors seem to be candy, the can itself is supposed to give a hint (and it’s blue raspberry blue), and going with the theme of three’s the name Blue Raspberry Taffy is three words. Okay, the last reason might be a little odd but I’m sticking with the pattern of threes here.

My only real complaint is that initial overpowering sweetness, but that’s totally a me thing. Putting it over ice allowed me to really taste the flavor, not just the sugar. I’m so excited to see more people try and share what they taste because I just know that it’s probably going to be all over the board. However, we’ll find out on October 31st what the flavor is from Mtn Dew. I will save a can to (hopefully) cheers my being right.

Purchased Price: $4.98 (12-pack)
Size: 12 oz can
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 160 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 55 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 44 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Candy Corn Red Vines

August 30, 2021May 16, 2022 Mark 4 Comments

Candy Corn Red Vines Box