A Pop-Tart Ranking, Reviews, & History, Including New & Limited Editions

The best. Ever since I was young and tried these, they’ve been my favorite. They’re sweet, creamy, and have just the right amount of chocolate. I absolutely love them frozen! A bit artificial perhaps but I don’t think that brings it down one bit! They’ve also been around for a long time which is good news for me – they better not ever pull these from shelves!

Am I blinded by nostalgia? Probably. Do they even taste like a Hot Fudge Sundae? Not really and I don’t care!

Released 1968.

These tasted like you just walked into a bakery and bought a custard pastry. The right amount of sweetness, and they just absolutely nail that custard filling taste without being artificial or fake. I do wish it had a smidge more chocolate to get the full Boston creme flavor but it’s close enough.

Released December 2021 alongside Apple Fritter.

Wow, these taste amazingly like a cinnamon roll, about identical! Albeit, of course, the texture is that of a standard Pop-Tart rather than a soft gooey roll. What’s notable is that unlike some other Pop-Tarts, there’s nothing off or artificial tasting, and the sweetness level is perfect–about the same as a frosted cinnamon roll. I wish they made this in regular Pop-Tart form so I could toast them but at least they’re great microwaved!

Originally, these were regular Pop-Tart sized but were discontinued summer 2023 and rereleased in this bite size around January 2024 for a limited time. I’ve only seen these online at target.

Perhaps one of the most popular Pop-Tarts, likely for good reason! A fairly sweet cinnamon and sugar blend make this a wonderful combination. Frozen, toasted, or room temperature, they taste wonderful any way!

Released in 1964 as one of the original Pop-Tarts alongside a few others. These were originally released unfrosted. Then in 1967, frosted versions were released.

Tastes like a sweet, strawberry crunchy smoothie. You can really taste both the strawberry and banana, and together, it makes for a great combo. Nothing is too artificial either! They need to make a full Pop-Tart version of these!

Released February 2022.

Biting into this, I was expecting an artificial sour taste but was instead met with a lightly sweet, lemon pie-like flavor. It tastes as if you made a lemon pie but skipped out on the punchy sour and added extra doughy filling. The inside filling provided it the lemon flavor while the crust gave it the pie crust flavor.

Released June 2021 alongside Peach Cobbler, Tropical Mango, and Banana Crème Pie.

Did just they shove Fruit Loops in this thing? The flavor is nearly identical to the famous cereal, including the sweetness and the flavor itself, just an overall great recreation! Designs on the tarts were a bit faded and not very vibrant.

Released January 2020, hard to find as of 2022 (I found it at a gas station!).

These have a very light buttery dough and maple taste, almost like a waffle, although this one is a bit more than just that. Indeed, compared to a waffle, this is more sweet and simply has more flavor all around. I also suggest toasting these!

Released December 2021.

Tasted exactly as advertised! A good, not overbearing and non-artificial peach flavor from the filling and frosting, and with the Pop-Tarts crust, it more or less made it into a peach cobbler tasting treat.

Released June 2021 alongside Banana Crème Pie, Tropical Mango, and Lemon Crème Pie.

These have a light apple-ish taste that almost tastes like a fritter but miss the mark, albeit only slightly. They are a bit different than the Apple Crisp ones as these have a slight cinnamon taste and less of a crispy apple flavor. It’s almost as if Apple Crisp and Brown Sugar Cinnamon had a baby.

Released December 2021 alongside Boston Crème Donut.

The pastry itself has a composition and texture that is cookie-like unlike traditional Pop-Tart. It tastes like melted chocolate chips in the middle and overall, a lot like a traditional chocolate chip cookie. Not to be confused with your grandma’s beloved cookies though, just regular ones you’d find at a store.

Another beloved classic. These are quite sweet, having a noticeable artificial strawberry taste but still very enjoyable.

Released in 1964 as one of the original Pop-Tarts alongside a few others. These were originally released unfrosted. Then in 1967, frosted versions were released.

Tastes like a chocolatey Pop-Tart with a chocolatey inside. The inside is definitely fudgey and has a fudgish taste but misses the mark just slightly. I also like how even the crust has a chocolate flavor. Overall, it’s just a super chocolatey Pop-Tart.

A bit like a candied apple with a slight tart taste. These taste different than the Apple Fritter ones as these don’t have a sugary cinnamon, doughy taste and instead have more of a plain crisp apple one.

Originally released as Dutch Apple, discontinued, then rereleased in 2018 as Crisp Apple. Another source.

Almost identical to a s’more… almost! The big miss is that personally, I have always found s’mores to be mostly marshmallow and instead, these have an equal amount marshmallow, chocolate, and graham cracker taste. There’s also a slight off tasting artificialness to it. Other than that, it’s spot on and is wonderful when toasted or frozen!

These may have been released in 2001.

Unlike the strawberry version, these have a lighter fruit taste. Well, is it fruit? It sort of tastes like some sort of artificial berry of sorts, I’m not entirely sure. Nonetheless, despite also not being that sweet, it’s pretty decent!

Released in 1964 as one of the original Pop-Tarts alongside a few others. These were originally released unfrosted. Then in 1967, frosted versions were released.

Light berry-like taste, reminds me of blueberry Pop-Tarts just a little different as it has hints of other fruits mixed throughout.

Released 1996. I have personally noticed these can be very hard to find on occasion.

As advertised, they taste a lot like banana bread, nearly identical! They’re semi-sweet, have a buttery breadish taste, and the banana itself doesn’t taste artificial and blends in well with that bready flavor. Good at room temperature but when heated up, you can notice a brown sugar taste alongside it all!

Released March 2023. Found on Amazon.

Everyone says they prefer these frozen and while I love frozen Pop-Tarts more usually, the overall flavor was brought down frozen in these. At room temp, it’s an artificial creamy strawberry flavor. Notably, this artificialness isn’t as strong as some other Pop-Tarts such as its rival, Strawberry. The sweetness level at this room temperature is a little higher than semi-sweet. When frozen, the artificial taste mostly goes away but also does a lot of its flavor. It becomes semi sweet and the bold flavor of strawberry milkshake is toned down a full level. No matter how you eat these, they aren’t bad, it’s simply how sweet you want them.

Released September 2023 along with Frosted Chocolatey Chip Pancake. Outlets have reported these to be exclusive to Walmart but like most other Walmart exclusive snacks, this will likely be released to all retailors eventually. Food & Wine has a good writeup, noting this flavor was initially introduced in 2005, discontinued at some point, brought back again in 2017 temporarily, and reintroduced in 2023 in-part by demand from consumers and rapper Lil Uzi Vert.

A lot like apple jacks but not quite. They’re not super sweet, and they have a cinnamon and apple-like taste, although there’s a hint of artificialness that’s not as present in the Apple Jacks cereal version.

Released March 2023. Found at Walmart.

Strong banana candy flavor and on the sweeter side but not too overbearing. A little like banana creme pie but the candy-artificial-banana flavor just doesn’t seem to capture the true flavor of a banana creme pie and makes it feel off.

Released June 2021 and exclusive to Walmart. These were released alongside Peach Cobbler, Tropical Mango, and Lemon Crème Pie.

There’s a nice pinkish lemonade taste that while is more on the lemon side, isn’t as punchy, sour, or even as sweet as normal lemonade. If you added some water to pink lemonade, this is exactly it. Designs on the tarts were a bit faded and not very vibrant.

Exclusive to Aldi, released 2016 for a limited time, rereleased in 2021. These have also been spotted at Walmart.

Collaborating with GLAAD instead of Aldi, these tasted exactly like the Lemon Groove Pink Lemonade except in a differently designed box and tart artwork!

Released early June 2022 and available until July 1st, 2022 or until supplies last. 450 boxes at $5 each were made available every weekend of that month.

You can find out more about the partnership by clicking here for the Pop-Tart Instagram post or their website page. Here for a news story.

Has a decent gingerbread flavor and a slight icing taste in the middle. I expected it to be a little more sweet and have a stronger flavor that’s usually present in gingerbread based pastries and candies.

Released over a decade ago, these came back November 2022 for a limited time. With this rerelease, Pop-Tarts partnered with Zillow to bring about a house made of Pop-tarts.

Click here for Zillow listing and here for a video.

Like the blueberry and strawberry, this tasted cherry-like and wasn’t as strong and tart as the grape and raspberry flavors. Lightly sweet and though it was artificial tasting, it was still pretty good!

A bit much on the chocolatey side which overpowers the creme taste. Nonetheless, still pretty good overall, just not exactly the traditional cookies n’ creme flavor you might be used to.

To me, these were around average. I didn’t get too much of a pretzel flavor but I did get a bit of the cinnamon sugar. It’s not as strong and tasty as the Brown Sugar Pop-Tarts though, and it’s slightly more salty and less sweet than most Pop-Tarts overall. Perhaps needs some type of frosting on top.

Released January 2020 alongside Chocolate Pretzel.

Not quite the super sweet cupcake I was expecting. It tasted like light vanilla frosting with a “powdery” kind of taste, perhaps even like a sugar cookie. Overall, a bit more plain than I expected.

Likely released some time in 2015 according to reviews then pulled in 2017. Rereleased June 2019.

If you compared this to a lightly sweet pumpkin pie, you likely couldn’t tell much of a difference. The flavor is spot on as the Pop-Tarts crust provides that crust taste and the inner layer of soft goo resembles that of a semi-sweet pumpkin pie filling.

Released around the late summer / fall season for a limited time in 2010. According to several sources, they may have been discontinued after that 2010 year and brought back in 2021 for the fall season.

These need much more “oomph.” It isn’t very sweet and compared to its Brown Sugar Cinnamon cousin, these hardly have any flavor. There’s a little bit of cinnamon and sugar, and something that slightly resembles snickerdoodle. Interestingly, there’s a noticable pastry / doughy taste which doesn’t sit well with me. The texture is also very soft and falls apart quickly as if it was a crumbly cookie.

Released May 2022.

There’s simply not much flavor here. At best, hints of a sugary maple filling, that’s about it. They come across as more on the slightly more than semi-sweet side and are nowhere near as sweet or flavorful as other Pop-Tarts. The chocolate chips are flat and seem like they’re painted on, contributing absolutely nothing to the flavor or texture. Overall, these almost, almost, remind me of Brown Sugar Cinnamon for some reason, though, I ask myself why I’m not eating those instead.

Released alongside Strawberry Milkshake exclusively to Walmart in September 2023. Then released nationally December 2023.

These have a semi-sweet, brownie taste, primarily from the inside filling. It’s crunchier than Bites and regular Pop-Tarts, and definitely a lot less sweet. Interestingly, these have less of that traditional Pop-Tart crust taste, and instead give hints of a dry cracker-like flavor. After heating them briefly in a microwave, the texture becomes like that of a stale cracker. The chocolate flavor sticks out more though, however, it becomes noticeably more artificial tasting. Basically, avoid microwaving these.

Released early April 2024 alongside a Frosted Strawberry Crunch version.

Despite my love for red velvet, I didn’t like these. They had a really off and weird flavor. It’s artificial tasting with a noticeable vinegary-like sweet taste. Slightly better frozen, remaining a little soft and flimsy unlike other Pop-Tarts which mostly freeze. They’re OK at best toasted.

Released in 2013 as limited edition, discontinued in 2017, returned sometime in 2021. Often found online, I personally don’t see these in stores.

More tart and strong than the other fruit flavors, this resembles a raspberry-like flavor but not quite due to artificialness and the flavor overall. A bit too strong and tart tasting for me.

Released in 1967.

Unfortunately, I could barely stomach these. The artificialness was too strong, stronger than the other fruit flavors, very tart, and coupled with the weird grape flavor, it was too much. One of the few Pop-Tarts I would pass on if ever offered.

They’ve been around since 1967 and discontinued some time after. They were brought back in 2014 and discontinued again in 2017. Rereleased May 2022.