Tuesday, March 28, 2017

More Dry Than True, Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts Are A Tough Sell!


The Good: They do not taste bad, Affordable
The Bad: More bready than coffee flavored, Packaging/environmental impact, Not terribly nutritious.
The Basics: The Limited Edition Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts are mediocre at best and not doing Dunkin' Donuts any favors on the flavor front.


I am fascinated by how a wide number of restaurant chains try to affiliate themselves with at-home products. While I understand the advertising benefits of associating home-based products with chain restaurants (for the restaurants), the at-home products seldom match the flavor or quality of the restaurant that licenses its name. To wit, the brand new Limited Edition Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts, which trade on their affiliation with Dunkin' Donuts (reviewed here!) does very little to mimic the flavor of any Dunkin' Donuts product.

While my wife and I were eager to try the Dunkin' Donuts Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts, she was more impressed with them than I was. Then again, she's a pie woman and I'm prefer cake. The Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts are much more like pie than cake and more generically sweet than the delightful coffee flavor I had hopes for.

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 Vanilla Latte flavor, come with frosting on them. The frosting is hard and on the Vanilla Latte flavored Pop Tarts has a lighter frosting swirl that is akin to the mixing of cream in one's coffee in appearance.

Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts come in a box of eight 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 – Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts may be heated in a toaster, toaster oven or microwave. I actually like heating the Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts in the microwave for thirty seconds because it makes the corners softer and makes the pastry a little less dry.

Taste

Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts have a pretty wonderful coffee aroma to them. These Pop Tarts actually smell like coffee, which is very inviting to those of us who love coffee and coffee beverages.

At room temperature, the Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts taste quite a bit like pie crust. The frosting on their top is sweet and sugary and compliments the bready crust. The frosting flavor is not enough to overcome the dryness of the rest of the pastry. The center of the Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts is sweet and only vaguely coffee flavored; the filling is not enough to overcome the dry pie crust-like pastry.

Served warm, the Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts pop with a distinctive coffee flavor, which is kept from being a full-throated strong, dry coffee flavor by the sugary flavor. The generic sweetness of the filling does not overwhelm the coffee flavor, though it does cut it.

Even warm, the Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts have a pretty strong dry aftertaste to it.

Nutrition

Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts are not the worst option as a component of a breakfast. A single pastry is considered a serving. But one Vanilla Latte Pop Tart has 200 calories, 50 of which are from fat! With 5 grams fat, one Vanilla Latte Pop Tart gives you 8% of your RDA of fat and 8% of your RDA of sodium. The 35 grams of carbohydrates provide 12% of your daily recommended intake! On the plus side, this flavor Pop Tart does have 10% of your RDA of Calcium, Vitamin A, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin C, Iron and Vitamin B6, which makes it more nutritious than some juices!

Still, there is not a ton to laud in the nutrition department. Right after Enriched Flour in the ingredients comes sugar and dextrose, so it is unsurprising these are not terribly nutritious. The ingredient list quickly becomes a chemistry equation after cornstarch.

There are notations that the Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts contain wheat, milk and soy ingredients. They are not Kosher.

Storage/Clean-Up

Vanilla Latte 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, Vanilla Latte Pop Tarts will remain fresh for a while; the ones we bought a week ago have an expiration date of November 6, 2017.

Overall

Vanilla Latte Limited Edition Pop Tarts taste fine in a vague, somewhat unsatisfying way, but are not at all exceptional.

For other foods for breakfast, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts
Quaker Cap’N Crunch's Oops! All Berries cereal
Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice English Muffins

3.5/10

For other food reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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