REVIEW: Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels Buffalo Seasoned Pretzel Twists

/ / Reviews / 2 Comments

Even though my weather app tells me it was 95 degrees this past weekend, the store shelves and the calendar tell me we’re in the thick of Pumpkin Spice season. Excessively seasoned pretzel purveyor Dot’s, however, didn’t get the message. Instead, it’s choosing to fight off the impending Autumnal chill with the tangy heat of a new Buffalo version of its popular twists.

When it comes to Dot’s, I’m mostly a purist. I’ve tried the Garlic Parmesan and the Honey Mustard, and while I enjoy both, the original is still my favorite. I’ll also posit that there’s always a bit of trepidation that accompanies taste-testing a new flavor; these things ain’t cheap, and if they’re bad, well, it’s hard knowing you could’ve had two bags of Doritos for the same price. (At least in Walmart money.)

So when I tried the first one, I thought to myself, “What the hell is this?” I was a bit let down. Like a punch-drunk boxer with a costly Faberge egg habit, however, I don’t know when to quit. And so I had another. And I went, “Hey, this is pretty okay.” And by the third, I was thinking, “Oh, wow, okay. This is nice.”

The “Buffalo” seasoning is all that it claims to be via the top of the packaging: “spicy ’n tangy.” The spice isn’t anything the weakest of spice wimps wouldn’t be able to handle, but it’s definitely noticeable. The vinegary punch of the buffalo seasoning really shines, though, and in classic Dot’s fashion, there’s plenty of coverage along the whole twist. There’s even something that evokes the tang of bleu cheese, but I think that’s just my overheated 95-degrees-in-the-middle-of-September imagination working overtime.

In the end, I really liked these. But having said that, I feel like I’ll only buy again if I can find them in the 5-ounce bag. A 16-ounce pouch is just a lot of Buffalo for an itch that a couple of servings can scratch.

Purchased Price: $6.17
Size: 16 oz pouch
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 oz) 140 calories, 6 grams of fat, 0.5 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 340 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 0 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Reese’s Filled Pretzels

/ / Reviews / 4 Comments

As someone who is allergic to chocolate, I’m used to cries of “You can’t have that. There’s chocolate in it!” when I eat Reese’s Pieces.

“Oh, that’s a common misconception, but there actually isn’t,” I always inform my concerned companions. But, I can tell they never quite believe me, even when I point out the ingredients list on the packaging. As soon as I heard about Reese’s new Filled Pretzels with peanut butter filling, I instinctively prepared myself for more of these conversations.

Of course, I’m happy that this is a new Reese’s treat I can actually eat, but I can imagine it causing confusion in chocolate cravers, and I can’t say I’d blame them. After all, the name “Reese’s” is practically shorthand for “chocolate plus peanut butter,” so it’s surprising that they’d make something with only half of the iconic pairing—especially in the form of a snack where it seems like chocolate would fit right in. Even though it’s what allowed me to eat these, not incorporating chocolate feels like a misstep, which is only my first caveat about these pretzels.

The second is that… they’re just not that exciting. In addition to those mildly awkward Reese’s Pieces memories, they also instantly reminded me of the similarly pouch-like peanut butter-filled pretzels from other brands my parents like to keep on hand for long car rides. I’ve always found those pretzels okay but dry, their crackly exterior and dusty filling leaving me with an unpleasant urge to wash my mouth out, even though their flavor isn’t so bad. As it turns out, Reese’s take isn’t very different.

Since the pretzel is hollow to accommodate its filling (which is actually impressively robust for something so bite-size), it’s extremely thin and crispy, closer to a pretzel crisp than your standard hearty fare. Despite being quite careful, my first small bite shattered the whole thing into about a billion brittle shards! I generally prefer a thicker pretzel, but fine, I can accept that that’s not logistically possible in this format. At least the peanut butter makes up for it, right?

Well, sort of. I wanted so badly for the peanut butter to be creamier, but alas, it’s pretty powdery. It’s probably not too different than what’s in a Reese’s Cup, but since there’s a more concentrated amount here and the taste of the pretzel isn’t rich enough to really complement it, the chalky texture is apparent, and therefore unsatisfying. The peanut butter also tastes noticeably sweet rather than nutty. It’s not bad necessarily, but it’s a tad jarring (I audibly said “OHHHH, THAT EXPLAINS IT” when I noticed powdered sugar was one of the ingredients).

The saving grace for me is the salt. While I’m usually a sweet over salty girl, here it compensates beautifully for the lackluster and slightly uncanny peanut butter, adding extra complexity and cravability. The plump shape also helps, as I never got tired of crunching dramatically into it (I’d definitely recommend that over a more delicate nibbling approach, which would just get messy).

These Reese’s Filled Pretzels are certainly preferable to starving on a road trip, but ultimately, I’d never choose them over a bowl of classic Reese’s Pieces—or even just regular old hard pretzels.

Purchased Price: $5.39
Size: 9 oz bag
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 7 pieces) 130 calories, 6 grams of fat, 240 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Cheetos Pretzels

/ / Reviews / 4 Comments

Chester the Cheetah is on a quest for snacking domination.

With his latest conquest, he sprinkled cheetle dust onto pretzels to create the new Cheetos Pretzels!

If you’re not familiar with cheetle, you definitely know of it. There’s just a name now for the cheese powder left on your fingertips after eating Chester’s creations. Cheetle. If you didn’t know, now you know.

While he seems too cool to have an evil genius muahaha laugh, it was still what I envisioned as I tried the two new offerings: Cheddar and Flamin’ Hot Pretzels. As a Flamin’ Hot fanatic, I was stoked to see a spicy version. Although, it wasn’t that surprising seeing that Flamin’ Hot is everywhere these days!

What was surprising, however, was the shape. It had been a minute since I’d consumed a classic, thick pretzel like this. Usually, I nosh on bites like Synder’s, thin Pretzel Crisps, or twists from Dot’s, but Chester went classic.

This shape probably made the most sense to retain as much seasoning as possible, and it definitely did a good job of that. Even though it was only supposed to be seasoned on one side, there was quite a bit of transfer, so everything was nicely distributed for maximum flavor with both offerings.

Unfortunately, though, the cheddar flavor tasted muted compared to regular Cheetos. My layman’s working hypothesis focuses on the base. Pretzel uses wheat, whereas regular Cheetos are on a corn base, so the wheat is somehow muting the cheddar. It also smelled kind of weird and cardboard-y, which was not an appetizing smell.

The Flamin’ Hot flavor, on the other hand, was fire! It smelled exactly like all other Flamin’ Hot flavors and tasted as expected. The pretzel surprisingly didn’t tame the heat, which was a win.

The downside to both flavors? The thick pretzel combined with cheetle made me more thirsty than usual. The gummy pretzel-ness also globbed around my molars in true pretzel fashion. By the way, I found them next to the other molar globbers in the snacking section rather than next to the other Cheetos in the chip section.

The opportunities here are limitless with this new launch. I would 100% try a soft Auntie Anne’s pretzel dusted in Flamin’ Hot.

Are any snacks safe from Chester? Methinks not.

Purchased Price: $4.38 each
Size: 10 oz bags
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Flamin’ Hot), 6 out of 10 (Cheddar)
Purchased at: Walmart
Nutrition Facts: (28g – about 10 pretzels) Flamin’ Hot – 130 calories, 5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 360 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, less than 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein. Cheddar – 130 calories, 5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 350 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, less than 1 gram of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Snyder’s of Hanover Limited Edition Oktoberfest Rings

/ / Reviews / 15 Comments

I once watched this movie… I don’t remember the exact name, but it was about a ring.

These two small dudes and a schizophrenic frog-man were climbing a mountain, and then they had to throw their wedding ring into a volcano or else some fire wizard would blow up New Zealand or something? I think it was a true story.

Anyway, until today, I thought THAT ring was the worst, most evil ring to ever exist. Then… I tried Snyder’s new Oktoberfest Rings infused with Beer Flavor, and now I’m not so sure.

I reviewed Snyder’s Beer Cheese Pieces in the past and loved them, so while I assumed these cheese-less pretzels wouldn’t stack up, I was still shocked how much I disliked these.

First of all, they’re barely pretzels. These are glorified bread sticks curved into a circle.

They went light on the salt crystals here, and I can only imagine it was in an attempt to let the beer flavor shine, but that “beer” flavor is as dull as dull can be. I’ll give them a tiny bit of credit because I did taste the essence of a sweet lager, or more likely an Oktoberfest-appropriate Marzin-style beer, but it quickly changes as you munch down on the pretzel.

All I could taste after that was, and this is oddly specific, black olive. These taste like someone soaked a breadstick in the water from a can of black olives and then let the breadstick air dry and crisp back up for a few hours. They’re not stale, but the flavor just has an air of staleness to it, like old bread.

I once had “healthy” pretzel twists. They were whole wheat, low sodium, and gluten free, and were one of the biggest buzzkill snacks I’ve ever had. I thought of them immediately while eating these.

I’ll be fair and say that while I sound like a hater, I did eat about 20 in one sitting. I craved something crunchy, but I never shook that weird hint of black olive. I kept thinking the next one would taste better, and it never did. I also never found the crunch all that satisfying.

Look, I love olives, and come to think of it, I’d probably really enjoy a full-blown olive-flavored crunchy snack, but this beer-infused flavor just really didn’t do it for me.

I might as well say I think rings might be the worst pretzel shape while I’m at it. Just give me the classic pretzel knot. I didn’t like a single aspect of these other than the bag with that classic blue Oktoberfest checkerboard pattern.

I wouldn’t even serve these to a frog-man. The shape of the pretzel almost represented my score. You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse bag of pretzels in the aisle. Snyder’s has rows of amazing pretzels, so just get one of them instead. This was a slip-up for the company, but I guess it tried.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m hitting up Google Maps to find the nearest volcano in my area.

Prost!

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: 10 oz.
Purchased at: Shop Rite
Rating: 2 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1oz – 10 pretzels) 110 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 250 milligrams of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, less than 1 gram of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Twists

/ / Reviews / 9 Comments

What are they?

Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels, the once regional savory snack that’s recently been expanding into stores nationwide, has come out with a limited-time Cinnamon Sugar seasoned version for the holiday season.

How are they?

If you’re familiar with the original Dot’s, you know these pretzel twists are seriously hard to stop eating, and this new variety is no different. The buttery, sweet scent smells just like an Auntie Anne’s cinnamon sugar pretzel or a freshly made piece of cinnamon toast. It’s a nostalgic flavor that Dot’s has taken a little deeper with notes of vanilla, maple, and molasses.

Anything else you need to know?

These pretzels don’t come cheap. A one-pound bag regularly runs somewhere in the 5-8 dollar range where I’m at. You can fairly regularly find them on sale, especially while they’re making a push to get into new markets, so if you see them for less, don’t hesitate to scoop them up.

Conclusion:

I think you get what you pay for here; these are so delicious. If you took them to a holiday party, they would disappear in a flash, and everyone would love you for bringing them. A warning, though. You should only do that if you bought several bags because you’ll want to hoard these for yourself.

Purchased Price: $7.49 (not on sale)
Size: 16 oz bag
Purchased at: Jewel-Osco
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (16 pretzels) 130 calories, 5 grams of total fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 260 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 6 grams of total sugars including 5 grams of added sugars, and 2 grams of protein.

Scroll to Top