REVIEW: IHOP Tuxedo Pancakes

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IHOP Tuxedo Pancakes

Two things I love in this world are pancakes and coffee.

So IHOP nearly broke my heart when it discontinued its delicious Latte Lover’s pancakes. But when I found out about these new Tuxedo pancakes I nearly lost my mind. I promised myself for Lent I’d give up coffee, but this was the loophole I had been waiting desperately for ten minutes after I made that commitment.

IHOP describes the new stack as: “One Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Pancake, layered with our world-famous buttermilk pancake and topped with vanilla bean mousse and mocha mousse and sprinkled with chocolate chips.” Surely, I had thought, this would taste exactly like the mocha cream on the Espresso Mocha Cream pancakes and the vanilla bean cream on the Double Vanilla pancakes, which were both around for the Latte Lover’s promotion.

I was half right.

The vanilla bean mousse tastes nearly identical to the vanilla bean cream. On its own, it has a nice vanilla bean flavoring, but is very subtle. I think I would have been able to enjoy it, but the chocolate chips on top are very distracting, especially once the chocolate mousse gets factored in. The mocha mousse doesn’t taste much like mocha and is missing that bubbly mousse mouthfeel. Instead, it feels more like icing. Compared to the mocha cream I had known and loved, this new chocolate mousse is a lot darker, richer, and sweeter.

If I were to compare it to anything it would be dark chocolate ganache, which is delicious, but it’s not the coffee-infused chocolate mousse I was hoping for. Furthermore, the amount of mousse allocated to a short stack isn’t much. So if someone were to order a full stack of four pancakes, the mousse would definitely leave one wanting more.

IHOP Tuxedo Pancakes 2

As for the pancakes themselves, the chocolate, chocolate chip one is delicious but the original buttermilk is boring and detracts from this overall experience. Perhaps if IHOP had used a vanilla bean flavoring instead of plain buttermilk it would have fared much better, but the buttermilk and chocolate pancakes fail to complement each other and are not something worth returning for given all the other, more interesting flavors to choose from on the menu.

Overall, I am disappointed and bored with this new limited time menu item. Those who prefer more straightforward, simple pancakes might find these more appealing. To me, these are dry, lack any real sweetness, and doesn’t do the Tuxedo cake justice.

As a coffee and sugar fiend, these only leave me wanting a lot more. My caffeine withdrawal headache is still here, telling me that whatever coffee might have been in the mousse wasn’t enough for even the slightest buzz.

But, believe it or not, the saving grace is the mocha mousse. Not because it’s mocha, but because dark chocolate ganache makes everything better as far as I’m concerned and was the sweetest thing about this stack. Next time I’ll see if they can give me the chocolate, chocolate chip pancakes with plenty of this mousse layered between each pancake. Now THAT gets me excited!

(Nutrition Facts – Not available.)

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: Side order of 2 pancakes
Rating: 4 out of 10
Pros: The mocha mousse tastes like dark chocolate ganache and is very sweet. The ability to now order this mousse on a stack of the chocolate, chocolate chip pancakes without the buttermilk pancakes or vanilla bean mousse getting in the way.
Cons: The mocha mousse didn’t have any coffee flavoring to it, and the vanilla bean mousse was not nearly sweet enough to compete with the chocolate. The buttermilk pancake base did no justice for this stack, it just made it less sweet and flavorful. Felt like I was missing something – perhaps more, or at least a stronger vanilla flavor.

ANNOUNCEMENT: New Impulsive Buy Reviewer Caitlin

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Greetings, foodies from all across the world wide interwebs! I would say fate has brought us together for some higher purpose beyond anything we could fathom, but if I’m going to start off on an honest note here, I’m obsessed with anything that’s meant for human consumption.

Science suggests we all have five common tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and the more recent umami. Sorry, meat eaters, I’m not coming here on behalf of umami by any means, and my meat consumption would probably break your heart.

I come here as a way to avoid a pressing intervention my friends and family had planned after noticing my careless spending habits and compulsive late night drives to restaurants serving pancakes. IHOP, Cracker Barrel, Denny’s, and Bob Evans all might as well share joint bank accounts with me since I spend more money on pancakes at these places than I do on clothes.

My name is Caitlin Jennings (which I had waited this long to confess so hopefully you will all be too distracted to make any Caitlyn Jenner jokes), but as a child, my nickname was Little Debbie because of my obsession with pastries. As I’ve grown up into somewhat of an adult, I’ve gone from binging on pastries to binging on pints of ice cream AND pastries.

I know there are often two camps people fall under when they love ice cream: Ben & Jerry’s or Haagen-Dazs. To clear things up, I’m team Haagen-Dazs, but grew up eating Ben & Jerry’s. In a perfect world, Ben & Jerry’s would merge with Haagen-Dazs into a beautiful ice cream company selling off the wall flavored pints with endless mix-ins and that dense, Haagen-Dazs base.

Fun fact: science suggests we all have five common tastes, but did you know they’re also fighting for the addition of two more: fat and calcium? If this is true and we have seven basic tastes, consider me your girl for all things sweet, fat, and calcium.

Unfortunately, I’ve had to balance my dreams of eating copious amounts of pancakes and ice cream with the real world. I truly eat everything under the sun — regular food items, diet food items, and all things in between. I love taro, starfruit, dragon fruit, natto, kimchi, and the list continues to grow. However, I’ve probably lost a few taste receptors from scraping off so many taste buds after a bad experience I had with durian fruit.

But worry not. They’re recovering in time for me to write up some decent food reviews for you all! Cheers to a bright future together, and here’s to hoping I’m never asked to review anything remotely as abhorrent as durian!

*clinks ice cream spoons together for dramatic effect*

SPOTTED ON SHELVES – 3/9/2018

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Here are some interesting new and limited edition products found on store shelves by your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of the products, share your thoughts about them in the comments.

Hot Pockets High Protein Four Meat Four Cheese Pizza

Hot Pockets High Protein Four Meat & Four Cheese Pizza

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Tom Thumb.)

Bush s Best New Orleans Style Red Beans and Southern Style White Beans

Bush’s Best New Orleans Style Red Beans and Southern Style White Beans

Bush s Best Black Bean Fiesta and Southwestern Style Pinto Beans

Bush’s Best Black Bean Fiesta and Southwestern Style Pinto Beans

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Tom Thumb.)

Realgood Chicken Enchiladas

Realgood Chicken Enchiladas

Realgood Beef Enchiladas

Realgood Beef Enchiladas

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Kroger.)

Sweet Earth Moroccan Empanada

Sweet Earth Moroccan Empanada

Sweet Earth Cubano Empanada

Sweet Earth Cubano Empanada

Sweet Earth Fandango Empanada

Sweet Earth Fandango Empanada

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Kroger.)

Sargento Blends 2 Cheese Sharp Cheddar Jack and 4 Cheese Southwest

Sargento Blends (2 Cheese Sharp Cheddar Jack and 4 Cheese Southwest)

Sargento Blends 5 Cheese Italian and 2 Cheese Cheddar

Sargento Blends (5 Cheese Italian and 2 Cheese Cheddar)

(Spotted by Melody at Meijer.)

Earth s Best Organic Muffins Apple Blueberry

Earth’s Best Organic Muffins Apple Blueberry

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Kroger.)

Knorr One Skillet Meals Rustic Italian White Bean with Farro Meal Starter

Knorr One Skillet Meals Rustic Italian White Bean with Farro Meal Starter

(Spotted by Robbie at H-E-B.)

Cooking Light Magazine White Cheddar Puffs

Cooking Light Magazine White Cheddar Puffs

(Spotted by Carla at Walmart.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email ([email protected]) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. Or reply to us (@theimpulsivebuy) on Twitter with the photo, where you spotted it, and the hashtag #spotted. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.

Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

SPOTTED ON SHELVES: Saffron Road Salted Caramel Crunchy Chickpeas

/ / Spotted on Shelves

Saffron Roast Salted Caramel Crunchy Chickpeas

I can’t wait to eat pumpkin spice crunchy chickpeas later this year, Saffron Road. (Spotted by Robbie at H-E-B.)

If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email ([email protected]) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. Or reply to us (@theimpulsivebuy) on Twitter with the photo, where you spotted it, and the hashtag #spotted. If you’ve tried the product, share your thoughts about it in the comments.

Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

QUICK REVIEW: Lay’s Kettle Cooked Honey Chipotle Potato Chips

/ / Reviews / 1 Comment

Lay s Kettle Cooked Honey Chipotle Potato Chips

Lay’s Kettle Cooked Honey Chipotle Potato Chips have an orange tint that makes them look cheesy. But rest assured that no cheeses were harmed in the making of these chips.

They get their orange hue from chipotle chili powder and there’s enough of it that the aroma of eau de chili wafts out as soon as the bag’s seal is undone. But the chips don’t radiate any honey or sweet smell.

But the honey makes its appearance when the chips mingle with my taste buds. It reminds me of what’s on the honey butter potato chips from South Korea I’ve tried, but more natural tasting. It’s in the forefront with the first few chips, with the chipotle and other seasonings taking a back seat. Although the honey stood out with the first few chips, the flavor, I have to admit, was strange and not too pleasing, much like the new Lay’s Kettle Cooked bag design.

Lay s Kettle Cooked Honey Chipotle Potato Chips 2

But after eating a few more of the super crunchy chips, the chipotle builds up and the honey moves to the back, causing the flavor to morph into something more palatable…and familiar.

The combined sweet and savory notes remind me of Lay’s Barbecue Potato Chips, but the chipotle turns it into a spicy version. Okay, now when I say, “spicy,” it’s not going to you run to the kitchen to grab a glass of milk or tub of Greek yogurt, unless you’re super sensitive to spice. It’s more smoky with a mild peppery kick.

If you buy a bag of Lay’s Kettle Cooked Honey Chipotle, don’t let the first few chips deter you. It’s a bit odd, but once you get past that and let the chipotle build up in your mouth, the chips end up having a decent flavor.

Purchased Price: $2.75 (on sale)
Size: 8 oz. bag
Purchased at: Longs Drugs
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (about 15 chips) 150 calories, 8 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

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