"It's back!," says the banner on the front of the box. While I am glad that the box uses the correct punctuation, I never knew that this flavor was gone in the first place. So, it's hard to get excited over its proclamation. Not to mention the fact that Pop Tarts already come in both frosted and un-frosted strawberry varieties.
Unfortunately, Strawberry Milkshake Pop Tarts are the perfect example of how to take an already unhealthy snack and make it seem even less healthy. At least with the normal strawberry Pop Tarts you can pretend that the filling is equivalent to strawberry jam--which makes eating one only slightly different than eating toast or an English muffin with jam, right? With the strawberry milkshake variety, there is no question that you are eating something bad for you. The filling tastes more like Frankenberry cereal, Starburst candy, or any other artificially flavored food that is typically colored pink. It's not inedible, but I definitely prefer the flavor of the regular strawberry Pop Tarts.
The box recommends that you freeze one and eat it cold. Even if you are the sort of person who is willing to take directions from a box, in this case you should definitely not. I did...strictly for research purposes, of course...and found that the filling took on the chewy consistency of taffy or gum. Pop Tarts are supposed to be "toaster pastries" after all, and while it may be acceptable to eat one out of the box unheated if you are somewhere without a toaster or a microwave (such as while camping, in a dorm room, or at the movie theater), it is NEVER acceptable to eat them frozen.
There really isn't much else to say about this one. With Pop Tarts, I've found that the traditional flavors--cherry, blueberry, strawberry, brown sugar and cinnamon--are the best. Basically, every flavor that you would ever want to eat in a pie or a pastry seems to work. Every now and then they will add worthwhile new flavors which seem obviously tasty (raspberry, s'mores, cookies & creme) or which end up being unexpectedly tasty (root beer, vanilla latte). This one is not one of those. It's too "fake tasting" for its own good and is probably better left for the kids...although, if you are an adult who is still eating Pop Tarts, you've probably gone too far to turn back now.
RATING: 2 / 5
