Battle of the Baked Goods PopTarts
*Cue George Washington in Hamilton voice*
Are you ready… for a cabinet meeting?
The issue on the table: which of our favorite baked-goods-inspired PopTarts is truly the tastiest and most loyal to its original treat?
And just to clarify, the “cabinet meeting” is more like a “cupboard meeting” and the “issue on the table” refers to the actual breakfast table, not a metaphorical table. Any Hamilton fans? No? We can carry on with the review, but if you didn’t understand our killer joke opener, you should probably watch Hamilton. It’s available on Disney+. Enough of that.
Back to the PopTarts - here at Help Me Pick, we love ease. Anything simple that is designed to make your life even just a little bit easier is our cup of tea. We started this blog to make it easier for others to make decisions, and that stems from our principle that simplicity and ease just make your life better. PopTarts? They make our mornings better. Sometimes, I just don’t have time to grab all of the dishes required to make a “healthy” and “nutritious” breakfast, hover around the kitchen and wait for it to cook, and then sit down to eat when I was supposed to be out the door twenty minutes ago. It just isn’t realistic to expect that when you have to get to work, get your kids to school, or even if you’re not a morning person and getting out of bed is the struggle itself. We feel that! That’s where PopTarts come in.
PopTarts have been around for decades - since 1964 for the original unfrosted varieties and 1967 for the frosted options, to be specific - when Kellogg’s created the perfect breakfast solution. All you need to do is open the packet they come in and you’ve got breakfast ready. If you have an extra minute, you can microwave or toast them for a warm treat. They even suggest freezing them now as an option on the box, but I don’t know that I can fully get behind that. We might come around, and if we do, we’ll be sure to tell you if you should try it, too.
Since their initial release, there are substantially more flavors now, and additional ones are released all the time. I was very excited to spot my favorite donut flavor at my local grocery store. I was also excited to spot one of my favorite pastry flavors right next to it. Thus, the idea for this showdown was born: Boston Creme vs. Apple Fritter PopTarts.
The premise is simple: if you were only going to buy one of these flavors of PopTarts, which should it be? These are very different types of flavors, but they share the similarity that they are inspired by baked goods. We wouldn’t want to recommend a bad product, so we did test both of these to ensure they are tasty and worth your money, regardless of which you are in the mood for, before finalizing the flavors for this article. So, you have our guarantee that these are both yummy, but which is more true to their original product? Keep reading to find out!
Disclaimer: both of these flavors were tested on separate days, very early in the morning when we each had about 15 minutes left before we had to get to work. To set the scene, hair is dripping wet from a slowpoke shower, neither of us can find our laptop chargers, and our cat needs plenty of attention before we actually head out for the day. It’s pretty hectic and we are way too sleepy to do anything more intense than a poptart. The fact that we managed to toast them is impressive, to be honest. But we did! So we cannot attest to how these taste naturally, microwaved, or frozen (still unsure of that option altogether, but I digress).
Apple Fritter PopTarts
Photo Credit: Amazon
The Apple Fritter PopTarts feature a sweet vanilla drizzle instead of full-coverage frosting and a delicious apple filling. It was a very rich apple flavor that was a little strong for that early in the morning, and I wish it had a little more of a cinnamon kick to it like a true apple fritter would. While very tasty, I’m not sure that it’s the best breakfast option. It’s definitely worth trying and a yummy dessert or snack to have on hand. Also, if super rich and sweet apple filling is your thing, you’ll probably love this and shouldn’t listen to my opinion.
Boston Creme PopTarts
This is the one I was more excited about, because this has been my favorite donut for a really long time. Like, reallllllly long - I’m talking since I was about 6 years old. Every place that I’ve been to that has sold a boston creme donut, I’ve tried it. I say all this to say that I had really high expectations and was not disappointed. It doesn’t unseat my favorite donut by any means, but it was a lot easier to have this in my pantry and grab it than it is to try to make it to a Dunkin’ drive thru before work.
The Boston Creme PopTarts feature a sweet custard filling and chocolate frosting, just like the original donut. The proportions of custard and frosting were fairly accurate for the og donut as well, and I didn’t find this one to be too sweet (shockingly).
So, who wins this round of This Or That?
As biased as I may be towards boston creme donuts, I tried my best to maintain neutrality for sake of the review. The Apple Fritter PopTarts and the Boston Creme PopTarts were very tasty, but the Boston Creme is most true to the original donut. The Apple Fritter flavor was very yummy, but I think it would be more accurately described as “harvest apple” or something that does not suggest it is cinnamon-y or otherwise spiced. The Boston Creme was advertised as that and that’s what it delivered. Despite both being very tasty options, the Boston Creme was the most true to the original, so it takes home today’s trophy.
If you want to try these PopTarts, they are available at most grocery retailers and Amazon. Conveniently, there is a combo pack with the exact flavors we reviewed today, if you just want to grab that (we are all about convenience).
If you like trying new sweets and snacks with us, you might like our review of Cocoa Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch popcorn or different toasted raviolis. If those aren’t up your alley, we’re huge foodies and love trying new snacks, so just visit us again next week or so and see what else we’ve tried!