I have been eying these toaster pastries for a while. I have a special love in my heart for Pop-Tarts, but as an adult, it is sometimes hard to justify eating them.
The other morning, as I chatted to a friend online, she told me she had to run and go warm up her “fibrous Pop-Tart”. Somehow, the fact that she was eating these made it acceptable, in my mind, to finally break down and make the purchase.
As I made one of these at work the other morning, a coworker commented that I was “kidding myself by thinking these were healthy.” I quickly reminded him that he eats three cookies every single day with his lunch. Let’s see if these were worth alienating my coworkers….
Smell: I went with the “Brown Sugar Cinnamon” variety, so when toasted they smelled sweet and spicy. (Also, am I the only one who truly believes this should be “Cinnamon Brown Sugar” not “Brown Sugar Cinnamon”?)
Appearance/Texture: Not shockingly, they look like Pop-Tarts. The crust is a bit darker, reflecting the presence of whole grains. Also, the layer of icing on top is not as thick as a Pop-Tart. The filling was a tad stickier than your average toaster pastry, but it was shockingly similar. I don’t know why I was so surprised to see this, but I expected something a lot funkier.
Taste: Like Pop-Tarts! Shocking, I know. These, perhaps, might have been a little better than Pop-Iarts. This is a bizarre thing to say about something like a toaster pastry–it is essentially dessert for breakfast–but I think the taste was somewhat complex. Now, I am not saying it rivals lobster risotto with truffle oil, but for a treat with such humble aspirations, I was digging on the slight nuttiness of the wheat and the perfectly balanced sweetness of the sugar and cinnamon.
Final verdict: At 190 calories, 4 grams of fat and 5 grams of fiber, as well as 15 grams of protein, this is a reasonable breakfast. Some oatmeal or an egg white and an apple are definitely a more balanced choice, but if you are looking for a sweet treat, this won’t break the nutritional bank. I was actually really impressed with these and happily chowed down on them all week. Health food and junk food all rolled in to one? Yes, please.
**********************************************
Lemmonex writes almost daily about food, life, and her raging ego at her blog, Culinary Couture.
10 responses so far ↓
1 Marvo // Dec 10, 2008 at 9:01 am
Tried the chocolate fudge version. It was decent. But these have roughly the same nutritional values as regular Pop-Tarts, except of course, for the fiber.
2 DCBlogs // Dec 10, 2008 at 9:15 am
3 3 a.m. « Culinary Couture // Dec 10, 2008 at 9:50 am
[...] if you are still reading, check out So Good today. It isn’t nearly as [...]
4 Chris // Dec 10, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Like you said – pop tarts are just like chocolate muffins for breakfast – they are dessert, and a wonderful dessert at that.
Is that the right dessert?
Desert.
5 rossitron // Dec 10, 2008 at 1:32 pm
hahahaha, i’d love to retort, “well you eat three cookies each day with your lunch!” love it.
i’m not kidding. i’m going to be looking out for opportunities to say this.
6 Phil // Dec 10, 2008 at 5:05 pm
So the only difference between these and Pop Tarts is they make you take a “stankey”?
7 Lemmonex // Dec 10, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Phil, I don’t do scatological humor…I have no idea what you mean.
Ross–not my best moment, but I got my point across.
8 GennaRae // Dec 11, 2008 at 9:09 am
I totally agree that it should be “Cinnamon Brown Sugar” vice “Brown Sugar Cinnamon”.
9 Phil // Dec 11, 2008 at 1:53 pm
That was more to humor me than anything.
Just southern vernacular for taking a crap.
10 moon // Dec 13, 2008 at 9:58 am
I gave up on the idea that anything of the sort constitutes breakfast, that stuff shouldn’t even be in the breakfast aisle. If I buy that, I buy it planning that it will be dessert. At least the whole grain fiber in it makes it a slightly healthier dessert than usual, so I might try it and see if it’s just as good as pop tarts, but I’m sure I won’t be kidding myself that it’s a healthy breakfast. Sometimes I buy kiddie breakfast cereals and call that dessert as well, but certainly not breakfast….
Leave a Comment