Pop-Tarts Crunchy Poppers review: Like Combos, but sweet

As a fan of Pop-Tarts, I’ll admit I was pretty dubious about Pop-Tarts Crunchy Poppers. Part of the joy of a Pop-Tart, whether you eat it cold or heated in the toaster, is the mix of gooey filling and crumbly pastry that surrounds it. Messing with success – and Pop-Tarts have been around for 59 years at this point – is a recipe for disaster.

Happily, I’ve never been more wrong than with these Crunchy Poppers. First announced earlier this year, and now available in stores, Crunchy Poppers come in two flavors, based on iconic Pop-Tarts flavors: Frosted Strawberry Crunch; and Frosted Brownie Crunch. Unlike your classic Pop-Tart, per the name, these have a crunchy shell, with a dab of frosting and the filling you would normally find in a Pop-Tart.

Each box comes with either 5 pouches (for approx. $3.99) or 10 pouches (for approx. $6.59). And each 1-ounce pouch contains, I would say, about 10 or so crunchy poppers. The goal on Pop-Tarts part is to make these decidedly different than the softer Pop-Tarts Bites, and to that I say: mission accomplished. These are better.

Based on two boxes provided for review by Pop-Tarts, while the Bites are basically small Pop-Tarts (still a good thing, mind you), the Poppers are on another level entirely. They’re essentially like sweet Combos, albeit without the tube structure that allows you to suck the cheese out of the pretzel in that snack if you want to. I don’t know. I do that. Leave me alone.

Not only do these have a great crunch, but then you get the delicious Pop-Tarts filling, and a hit of that sweet frosting at the same time. A pouch is also the perfect portion size for a snack for yourself, or in your kids’ lunch (if you haven’t eaten them all first).

Of the two, I did vastly prefer the strawberry flavor. Maybe because that’s because that’s the classic. But I do think there’s a brightness to the fruit flavor – a tartness that defines Pop-Tarts if you will – of the strawberry that provides a better dash of sweetness than the brownie flavor. There, the chocolate blends with the crunchy shell and overall leads to a more muted experience.

Look, not to humble-brag, but we get sent a lot of items here at Guilty Eats. Normally, I’ll taste-test something and move on. I actively went back to have more of the Crunchy Poppers the day after taste-testing them, and I will probably have more today. Heck, I’ll probably even buy more to have around the house once I finish these review boxes. If that isn’t a snack endorsement, I don’t know what is.