The Limited Edition Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts Are Fun, But Not Terribly Substantive.

The Good: They taste fine, Decent seasonal flavor, Served warm they are delicious.
The Bad: More bready than pumpkin flavored, Pumpkin Pie flavor is a little muted, Price/environmental impact, Not terribly nutritious.
The Basics: The Limited Edition Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts are fun, but objectively on the bottom end of average breakfast foods.


For those who might not have read my reviews of things like the limited edition Candy Cane Jelly Belly jelly beans (here!) or Bigelow’s Sweetheart Cinnamon tea (here!), I truly love seasonally-available foods. It’s fun to have special treats that are only available once a year. I have a lot of respect for companies that hit a specific holiday market and then disappear for the rest of the year. Conversely, I get bummed when I see a popular seasonal product exploited into a regular-market product (Just Born, I’m looking at you and the shelves full of Christmas Peeps . . .). So, it ought not to be a surprise that Kellogg’s Pop Tarts are getting in on the seasonal action. My wife found the Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts on the clearance rack (personally, my favorite place to find seasonally-available foods!) and picked up the twelve-pack for us.

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts are all right. Pop Tarts tend to get up into the “average” territory with their best flavors, but with their seasonally-available limited edition nature, I was actually quite excited to try them. And now that I have eaten half the box of Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts, I find I have remarkably little to write. These are a pretty average flavor of Pop Tarts, though they do have the fun seasonal zest to them, they are still not terribly nutritious, inexpensive or taste remarkable.

Basics

Kellogg’s Pop Tarts are toaster pastries, which are basically semi-hard flat bread pouches filled with a flavored filling. The filling has the consistency of peanut butter and some, like the Limited Edition Pumpkin Pie flavor, come with frosting on them. The frosting is hard and on the Pumpkin Pie flavored Pop Tarts contains embedded sprinkles.

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts come in a box of twelve with the Pop Tarts paired up in thin foil pouches. The foil pouch helps to protect the Pop Tart and keep it fresh.


Ease Of Preparation

Pop Tarts are one of the easiest foods in the world to prepare. Simply tear open the foil pouch and pull a Pop Tart out to eat it. It is truly that simple. Of course, you should dispose of the foil wrapper in an environmentally appropriate manner. Outside that, preparation is unnecessary as Pop Tarts taste great at room temperature.

But, for those who like them hot – which makes the filling more like a warm pie – Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts may be heated in a toaster , toaster oven or microwave. I actually like heating the Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts in the microwave for thirty seconds because it makes the corners softer and makes the pastry a little less dry.

Taste

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts have almost no aroma to them when their foil pouch is breached. However, when heated, Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts smell appropriately like pumpkin pie, which is absolutely delightful.

At room temperature, the Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts are unfortunately dominated by a very bready taste, like that of cold, dry toast. Even away from the corners, Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts taste very bready. The frosting adds a hint of sweetness to the experience, but sadly, “dry” is the dominant taste of this limited edition toaster pastry. That said, pressing one’s tongue directly into the filling yields the taste of nutmeg, cinnamon and pumpkin, so what flavor exists is true and accurate!

Served warm, the Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts are delightful; even the corners are soft! Aromatic with the aroma of pumpkin pie, the Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts take on the taste and consistency of actual pumpkin pie! All of the spiced richness of pumpkin pie washes over the tongue and this Pop Tart instantly evokes warm autumn memories! Warmed up is, truly, the only way to eat this flavor of Pop Tart!

Nutrition

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts might be considered “part” of a balanced breakfast, but they are putting a lot of faith on you eating other things to actually have even a remotely healthy breakfast. A single pastry is considered a serving, which begs the question “why does Kellogg’s package them in pairs?” But one Pumpkin Pie Pop Tart has 200 calories, 45 of which are from fat! With 5 grams fat, one Pumpkin Pie Pop Tart gives you 8% of your RDA of fat and 7% of your RDA of sodium. The 35 grams of carbohydrates provde 12% of your daily recommended intake! On the plus side, this flavor Pop Tart does have 10% of your RDA of Vitamin A, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Folic Acid and Vitamin B6, which makes it more nutritious than some juices!

Still, there is not a lot to laud in the nutrition department. Right after Enriched Flour in the ingredients comes corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup, so it is unsurprising these are not terribly nutritious. The ingredient list quickly becomes a chemistry equation.

There are notations that the Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts contain wheat, milk, eggs and soy ingredients. They are not Kosher.


Storage/Clean-Up

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts are very easy to clean up. Simply throw away the foil wrapper in an appropriate place, brush up the crumbs and you are done! Kept in their foil wrappers, Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts will remain fresh for a while; the ones we bought a week ago have an expiration date of August 17, 2012.

Overall

Pumpkin Pie Limited Edition Pop Tarts taste all right when they are not simply boring and dry. If you can find them clearanced for cheap, pick them up if you’ll be able to eat them hot. Otherwise, there should be no problem waiting a year to see if these make it back to the shelves.

For other foods for breakfast, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Blueberry Craisins
Dole 100% Juice Orange Peach Mango Juice
Taster's Choice Decaffeinated Gourmet Instant Coffee

4/10

For other food reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |