A bright blue box next to a silver toaster. This is from trying pop-tarts for the first time. The box is for strawberry sensation flavour pop-tarts

Trying Pop-Tarts For The First Time - I Don’t Think I Get The Hype

30th December 2025 - New Experience Number 44.

Jump to 'Try it yourself'

Trying Pop-Tarts for the first time: iconic breakfast treat or overrated sugar bomb? 

Never in my life had I tried a Pop-Tart, so I thought I’d give them a go. It’s safe to say they won’t be appearing in my shopping basket again.

This was a new thing I was going to try with very low expectations.

In fact, I think I would quite happily have never tried a Pop-Tart if it hadn’t been for the fact it was so close to the deadline for trying 52 new things and I still needed a few new experiences to meet my goal.

Here’s my honest experience.

What are Pop-Tarts?

Pop-Tarts are snacks that are mostly eaten at breakfast as an alternative to toast or cereal.

They are rectangular, sealed pastry pockets – although the pastry has more in common with shortbread than croissants.

They are usually filled with something sweet such as jam or chocolate and the top layer has a covering of icing.

Sealed in foil as a pack of two, they are pre-cooked so you can eat them straight out of the wrapper, but the classic method of consumption is to put them in a toaster so that they ‘pop’ out for a warm snack you can eat from your hand.

Alternatively, some people pop them in the freezer and have them as a frozen snack.

Looking down at a silver foil packet of pop-tarts, the outer box of a packet of pop-tarts, and two uncooked pop-tarts
Pop-tarts, a sweet pastry toaster snack

History of Pop-Tarts

I’m old enough to remember the bright and bawdy TV adverts that launched Pop-Tarts in the UK in the early 90s.

So I was surprised to discover when I did a little research for this post, that they actually first came out in the 1960s!

Apparently they were originally called ‘Fruit Scones’, but due to the Pop Art movement which was incredibly popular at that time, they opted for a pun name instead.

Flavours

There are over 24 standard pop tart flavours.

However, here in the UK, we only have a small selection to choose from as we have tighter rules around specific food dyes and the use of certain corn syrups.

The Pop-Tarts I’d picked up were ‘Frosted Strawberry Sensation’.

A sealed foil packet of pop-tarts next to two uncooked pop-tarts on a plain background
Opting for the Strawberry Sensation flavour

Going For It - Trying Pop-Tarts For The First Time

I don’t mind telling you that I had very low expectations for this snack.

Close up of a box of Kellogs Pop-tarts, the bright blue box is for the strawberry sensation flavour
I'm not sure why it was a 'sensation'

I envisaged something that looked like it had come from a child’s playset of food. Something so manufactured-looking it was impossible to know what any of the original ingredients might have been, and something that wouldn’t instantly make me want to put it in my mouth, even if I was hungry.

The fact it was called a strawberry ‘sensation’ didn’t really make it any more appealing – why was it a sensation? Why wasn’t it something actually strawberry? Why didn’t it seem more confident in its own strawberryness?

They Say You Eat With Your Eyes

Well, they certainly didn’t get my taste buds salivating. Their appearance wasn’t the most appetising.

I pulled a flat, rather insipid-looking rectangle from the packet, topped with smeared icing and an uneven sprinkling of tiny brightly coloured bits. Bits of what I do not know!

Looking at two untoasted pop-tarts on a plain background. The pop-tarts are rectangular pastry pockets with icing and sprinkles on the top.
Pre-toasting they didn't look the most appealing

Trying Pop-Tarts For The First Time - Toasting

A sweet and warm smell drifted from the toaster as my tarts cooked. They jumped out of the toaster with far more confidence than I felt about eating them.

The pastry had toasted to a more golden shade, and the frosting had surprisingly stayed solid.

I took them out of the toaster, and released them quickly onto a plate as the heat rapidly transferred to my fingers.

Looking down at a plate of two toasted pop-tarts. They look lightly golden pockets of pastry with a frosting topping. Something you will see when trying pop-tarts for the first time
Golden brown after popping out of the toaster

Tasting

I wasn’t daft. I knew the toasted filling would potentially be hotter than the surface of the sun, so I left them to cool down a little before taking a bite.

The overwhelming taste was sweetness. If I hadn’t known they were strawberry flavoured, I doubt I could tell you what they were meant to be. If someone had blindfolded me and asked me to identify the flavour, I’d probably have guessed “pink”.

Challenge Fifty-Two, a white woman with dark hair. She is trying pop-tarts for the first time, and holding one towards the camera.
Trying the super sweet toasted pocket

The icing was intensely sweet, while the jammy interior had a strange artificial tartness.

The pastry casing was crumbly and dull. Somehow this product did an amazing job of seeming to soak up any moisture in my mouth. They were incredibly dry.

I ate them, but I can’t say I really enjoyed them, and I felt like I needed to eat something savoury afterwards to restore balance.

Will I Be Having Pop-Tarts Again?

Unless there is absolutely nothing else to eat and I haven’t eaten in weeks, I can confidently say that I shall not be having Pop-Tarts again.

I am well aware that you might be reading this and that you are a big fan of Pop-Tarts, and I think that’s great! It’s brilliant that we all like different things. If we all enjoyed the same things life could get quite boring.

New Experiences Create Real Opinions

It’s so easy to have second hand opinions about things, because we’ve perhaps heard someone else’s point of view, or we have seen and read about something without necessarily trying it for ourselves.

One of the things I love about my challenge of trying fifty-two new things a year is how sometimes the new thing can surprise me and make me change my opinion.

Sometimes it reinforces preconceptions. I now know I definitely don’t like Pop-Tarts!

I’m glad I finally tried Pop-Tarts  – mainly so I never have to wonder about them again.

Close up of some toasted pop-tarts on a plate. They are golden around the edges with the white icing and coloured sprinkles on the top
I'm not in a rush to have them again

Want To Try It Yourself?

  • This is quite an easy one to try, as all you need to do is pick up a packet of Pop-Tarts from a shop.
  • If you want to discover more about the history and products, take a look at the Pop-Tarts website
  • You might decide to try an ‘own brand’ verison if some shops or other brands have adopted the idea.
  • You might decide to try different flavours.
  • Alternatively, you might try and make them from scratch! There are many recipes available online, including this from Sally’s Baking.

Cost Of Experience

  • The cost of trying Pop-Tarts will depend on where you shop. 
  • I paid £3 for a box which contained 4 sealed packets, and 8 Pop-Tarts in total.

Recommendations

  • Keep an open mind. You may have pre-conceptions about Pop-Tarts if you’ve never tried them before. Try to keep an open mind for your first taste, sa you never know, you might be pleasantly surprised.
  • Turn the toaster to low. You can always pop the tarts back in again if they’re not quite done, but you can’t un-burn them if they over cook.
  • Let them cool a little. You don’t want to burn your mouth on the molten centre! 
  • Capture the moment you try them. Let me know what you think if you give them a try!

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