Tag: Pop-Tarts

QUICK REVIEW: Limited Edition Unicorn Power Frosted Cherry Pop-Tarts

Meghan 1 Comment

Limited Edition Unicorn Power Frosted Cherry Pop Tarts

What is it?

Another iteration of the Instagram-fueled trend of almost-too-pretty-to-eat unicorn-themed foods.

Despite its mythical theme, Kellogg’s went with a pretty tame flavor choice for this, utilizing cherry filling and royal icing emblazoned with the image of a majestically poised unicorn head.

How is it?

They’re alright.

Were you expecting me to say something more?

At the end of the day, they’re Cherry Pop-Tarts. If you like cherry toaster pastries, then there’s no reason why you wouldn’t like these. The outer shell of each tart has the same crisp sturdiness that I’ve come to expect from such treats, and I felt its slight saltiness helped keep the cherry filling from tasting too sweet.

Limited Edition Unicorn Power Frosted Cherry Pop Tarts 3

Even so, the cherry flavor isn’t prominent. It’s red, and I can tell that it’s a fruit filling, but if you told me this was a strawberry or raspberry Pop-Tart, I would believe you.

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On top of Kellogg’s total lack of flavor creativity, I also feel the need to call out its decorating skills. Since the icing is the only aspect that’s genuinely unicorn-themed other than the box itself, I expected some pretty elaborate art. Instead, both designs are a bare-bones edible ink stamp that barely covers half of the surface area of each tart. On top of that, they’re both blurry, and they look worse than the multicolored sprinkles that frosted Pop-Tarts are usually sprinkled with.

Totally not Instagramable!

Is there anything else I need to know?

Even though I prefer my fruit-filled Pop-Tarts to be served cold, I ended up liking these more once they were warmed in the toaster oven, partly because warm food on cold mornings is one of the greatest simple pleasures in life, but mostly because I could pretend the cherry filling was magical unicorn blood.

Conclusion:

Don’t let the pretty box fool you – Unicorn Power Pop-Tarts are far from anything special. Even though they’re as acceptable as any other cherry toaster pastry, they aren’t worth trekking to Sam’s Club to pick up, and they’re not nearly interesting enough to make me want to finish the 32-count club pack I bought.

Purchased Price: $5.98
Size: 1 lb. 13.3 oz. (32 pastries)
Purchased at: Sam’s Club
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 pastry) 200 calories, 45 calories from fat, 5 grams of total fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium, 38 grams of total carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 16 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

QUICK REVIEW: Exclusive Flavor Frosted Chocolatey Salted Caramel Pop-Tarts

Meghan 1 Comment

Exclusive Flavor Frosted Chocolatey Salted Caramel Pop Tarts

What is it?

Another one of those store-exclusive snacks that cajole you into buying a value pack by not offering a smaller box.

In other words, this Pop-Tarts flavor is a Walmart exclusive, only comes in a box of 16 pastries, and features a chocolate-y pastry filled with alternating ribbons of chocolate and salted caramel fillings and salted caramel icing.

How is it?

Even though Pop-Tarts are never going to be a five-star breakfast, I suppose these aren’t half bad when you consider that most people are going to be eating them while they’re not fully awake.

Exclusive Flavor Frosted Chocolatey Salted Caramel Pop Tarts 2

Fresh from the foil sleeve, each pastry was crisp, sturdy, and smelled faintly of cocoa. It did an adequate job of containing the pastry’s filling, which was surprisingly less runny than I was expecting it to be, and the acceptably sweet frosting gave a satisfying crunch to top off the experience.

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Calling them “adequate” or “acceptable” is about as kind as I can be towards these, though. The dry pastry shell needed more cocoa to make it taste sufficiently “chocolatey,” and the salted caramel and chocolate fillings both ended up being so faint that they almost completely canceled each other out.

Even the frosting tasted like regular royal icing and left me wanting more salted caramel. If I had been eating one of these first thing in the morning, you could have told me it was a S’mores Pop-Tart and I would have believed you.

Is there anything else I need to know?

Like all Pop-Tarts, these are best eaten warm. Toasting them turns the filling into little rivers of chocolate and salted caramel lava, and that helped bring the fillings’ flavors forward a little more.

Conclusion:

While Chocolatey Salted Caramel Pop-Tarts are far from the worst toaster pastries to eat for a quick breakfast, you might want to split a box of these with a friend or two, because their lack of uniqueness and distinct flavor is guaranteed to leave you bored and disinterested before you finish the oversized box.

Purchased Price: $3.68
Size: 16-pack
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 pastry) 200 calories, 50 calories from fat, 6 grams of total fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 220 milligrams of sodium, 35 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, and 2 grams of protein.

QUICK REVIEW: Great Value Frosted Mystery Toaster Pastries

Leonard 6 Comments

Great Value Frosted Mystery Toaster Pastries

What is it?

Walmart’s store brand Great Value brings some excitement to your morning by releasing a Frosted Mystery Flavored Toaster Pastry. It comes in a fun multicolored box complete with question marks and a magnifying glass. The pastries themselves have white frosting and crunchy white bits but most intriguing is its clear filling that doesn’t give off any clues to its real flavor.

How is it?

As mentioned above, the mystery aspect is well executed throughout both the product and packaging. So well done in that regard. These also had a nice doughy taste that was pleasantly surprising.

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However, if we go back to the mystery flavor aspect of it, it might’ve been taken a little too far as I can’t figure out for the life of me what it could be. I enjoyed eating them as the mixtures of textures between the crunchy bits, frosting, dough, and sticky filling were all very satisfying. The flavor, though? I HAVE NO FREAKING CLUE.

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I ate an entire box, dissected one to isolate the filling, and even asked friends for help, but all to no avail. They have a sweet, definitely fruity taste but not enough flavor to lead my taste buds to anything more specific. I couldn’t even narrow it down to some potentials.

Is there anything else I need to know?

The ingredients list does offer up a morsel of info in that white grape juice concentrate is one of the things listed. However, upon further thought, this is likely how they executed the clear filling because it also does say natural flavors too.

Since toaster pastries are meant to be, well, toasted, I thought this action would help me out and unearth its true flavor. Did it work? Absolutely not. I was still stumped eating the warmed-up concoction.

Conclusion:

This is a decent store brand Pop-Tart that’s kind of tasty and fun with its white/clear elements that beg you to investigate the mystery! However, anticipation and excitement soon leads to frustration as you realize the flavor isn’t nearly intense enough to guide you anywhere. What a bummer.

Purchased Price: $1.00
Size: 6-pack
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2 pastries) 390 calories, 9 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 250 milligrams of sodium, 74 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 40 grams of sugar and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Kellogg’s Limited Edition Pop-Tarts Splitz (2018)

Marvo 4 Comments

Kellogg s Limited Edition Pop Tarts Splitz 2018

Pop-Tarts Splitz first showed up back in 2007 and soon after crawled back into the Pop-Tarts vault where Dulce de Leche and Guava Mango Pop-Tarts reside.

Yes, I know exactly what you’re thinking now. Not that there were Dulce de Leche and Guava Mango Pop-Tarts, but that brands have been turning S’s into Z’s for over a decade now and they should stop.

With the original Splitz, the flavors used were so basic and one-worded — Chocolate + Vanilla, Strawberry + Blueberry, and Chocolate + Strawberry.

The 2018 version has flavors that, mostly, aren’t so basic and use more than one word — Strawberry + Cheesecake and Sugar Cookie + Brownie Batter. Like the original, they look like kindergarten finger-painting drawings of clouds or hills, depending on which side is facing you.

Frosted Strawberry and Drizzled Cheesecake

Kellogg s Limited Edition Pop Tarts Splitz Strawberry Cheesecake

Strawberry tastes like, well, I mean, if you haven’t had a Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tart that’s on you. You should’ve had it at least once by now. They’re good and it’s what I eat when I want to joke around with the Food Pyramid by saying, “Look, I’m going to have a serving of fruit.” As for the other side, there’s no tang. So it’s hard to consider it cheesecake. At times, I think it’s marshmallow, but it’s definitely not cheesecake.

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The flavor combo is begs to be eaten together. So maybe through food science or food magic, combining them will create a strawberry cheesecake-like flavor. They don’t. There’s a tanginess from the fruity filling, but it doesn’t help flip my mind into thinking it’s cheesecake. It tastes like a Strawberry Pop-Tart. Even toasting it doesn’t help bring out the cheesecake flavor.

Drizzled Sugar Cookie and Frosted Brownie Batter

Kellogg s Limited Edition Pop Tarts Splitz Sugar Cookie Brownie Batter

The other Pop-Tarts Splitz variety has a lighter crust than the Strawberry + Cheesecake one. I guess it’s supposed to represent the color of sugar cookies, while the darker one looks like the crust you’d find under a cheesecake.

Unlike the other variety, this combo seems more like one that shouldn’t be eat combined. Although, that’s not going to stop me from doing so because sugar cookie brownies sound magical.

Kellogg s Limited Edition Pop Tarts Splitz Sugar Cookie Brownie Batter 2

The dark filling tastes like brownie batter, but kind of loses that when combined with the crust and the icing. Its flavor wavers between brownie batter and standard chocolate. Despite that, it’s my favorite of the four sides. As for sugar cookie, it’s a variety we’ve seen before from Pop-Tarts and one that I’ve had it. It does remind me of a sugar cookie, but it’s not as exciting as brownie batter.

Sadly, combining the two doesn’t create an awesome new hybrid flavor. The stronger brownie batter overwhelms the milder sugar cookie, much like the strawberry hides the cheesecake in the other. So I guess it’s best to eat the two sides separate.

Both varieties are tasty but also aren’t mind-blowing. However, the cookie-brownie combo stands out because of its flavors and the cheesecake flavor is lacking with the other one, making it a bit of a letdown. So if you’re split about which variety to try, go for the Sugar Cookie + Brownie Batter.

DISCLOSURE: I received free samples, but doing so did not influence my review.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 pastry – Strawberry + Cheesecake – 190 calories, 40 calories from fat, 4.5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 1.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 1 gram of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 190 milligrams of sodium, 36 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 17 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein. Sugar Cookie + Brownie Batter – 200 calories, 50 calories from fat, 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 2 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 1 gram of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 200 milligrams of sodium, 35 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.)

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 8-pack (Strawberry + Cheesecake)
Size: 16-pack (Sugar Cookie + Brownie Batter)
Purchased at: N/A
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Strawberry + Cheesecake)
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Sugar Cookie + Brownie Batter)
Pros: Brownie batter filling taste like what it’s supposed to. Better flavor combos than the previous Pop-Tarts Splitz. Sugar cookie tastes like a sugar cookie.
Cons: Cheesecake flavor not noticeable. Combining the strawberry and cheesecake sides makes it taste like a regular Strawberry Pop-Tart. Combining the sugar cookie and brownie batter sides make it taste like brownie batter. Still using Z’s to replace S’s.

REVIEW: Exclusive Villains Edition Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookie Printed Fun Pop-Tarts

James 2 Comments

Exclusive Villains Edition Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookie Printed Fun Pop-Tarts

If you ever wondered whether or not this is the greatest time to be alive in human history, chew on this: each and every one of us can now waltz on into the local Walmart and buy The Joker, Lex Luthor and a whole host of other fictitious mass murderers and megalomaniacs in breakfast pastry form.

Capitalizing on the success of last year’s D.C. Superhero Printed Fun Pop-Tarts, these Wally World exclusives give us the downright surreal pleasure – no, the absolute privilege – of being able to eat such obscure comic book bad guys as Cheetah and Captain Cold for breakfast. And when I mean “obscure,” I’m talking super-duper-mega-hyper-obscure: if you would’ve told me this time last year Kellogg’s would be putting Atrocitus on its flagship toaster pastries, I probably would’ve tried to get you committed.

Exclusive Villains Edition Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookie Printed Fun Pop-Tarts 2

Serving as the breakfast equivalent of trading cards, each of the 16-pack boxes (there are two in each metallic sleeve, as always) contain a random grab-bag of iconic and not so iconic rogues, including but not limited to Sinestro, Two-Face, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy and Catwoman.

Exclusive Villains Edition Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookie Printed Fun Pop-Tarts 4

Exclusive Villains Edition Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookie Printed Fun Pop-Tarts 5

By and large, the “Tartwork” varies in quality – some Tarts look pretty smooth and colorful while others look blurred to the point of being Rorschach tests. I’m not sure how many different characters got the Pop-Tart treatment, but if anybody out there finds a Gorilla Grod, please email me ASAP.

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As for the flavor, we’re working with something Kellogg’s calls “frosted chocolate sugar cookie.” That may sound a little vanilla, but as soon as these things touch your taste buds, you’ll probably start doing backflips. Folks, these are basically OREOS-flavored Pop-Tarts, right down to the taste, texture, aroma and even mouthfeel of the interior creme. Really, it does a better job of aping Nabisco’s beloved twist-top sandwiches than even the Cookies & Creme Pop-Tarts, and those things were still pretty spot-on.

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These Tarts are good fresh out of the box, but if you really want to get your $4 worth, you have to eat them heated. The interior creme practically liquefies in the shell, and this is without question one of the best tasting fillings Pop-Tarts has ever trotted out.

I’ve got to give Kellogg’s major props here. With the D.C. character angle, it would’ve been so easy to just churn out a bland product, but they actually went the extra mile and made sure the food itself was grade A stuff.

Fast food/junk food marketers, take note: THIS is how you do a “tie-in” gimmick right.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 pastry – 190 calories, 40 grams from fat, 4.5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 1 gram of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 190 milligrams of sodium, 36 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 14 grams of sugar and 2 grams of protein..)

Purchased Price: $3.68
Size: 28.2 oz. box/16 pastries
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 9 out of 10
Pros: The Oreos-esque flavor remains excellent, cold or heated. the interior creme is absolutely delicious. The sheer awesomeness of being able to snap Bane in half and eat him for breakfast.
Cons: Having to buy five or six boxes until you find a mint condition Solomon Grundy. Getting two Harley Quinns when you’d settle for just one Killer Croc. The way your girlfriend looks at you when you tell your toaster to “kneel before Zod.”