Since the dawn of civilization, Pringles has pretty much been synonymous with two things: salty and vaguely potato-ey.
Attempting to condense flavors ranging from authentic southern barbecue to mozzarella sticks and marinara sauce in the convenient delivery vehicle of dried potato flakes and cottonseed and/or soybean oil, Pringles has built an empire out of coming up with more flavors than Land Before Time sequels.
For the most part, I’m cool with that.
No, the Pringles All-American Cheeseburger isn’t going to satiate an In-N-Out craving, but one’s snack of choice can do a lot worse than ambiguous salty, cheesy, and crispy flavors. Which begs the question: what the hell is the deal with Pringles getting all sweet on us for the Holidays?
Perhaps it has to do something with the Pringles guy bearing a striking resemblance to what I can only assume was once a younger Santa Claus (or Pringles now being produced by Kellogg’s), but the new Limited Time Only Pringles White Chocolate Peppermint and Pringles Cinnamon & Sugar join Wheat Thins and Ritz crackers as long-time savory standbys trying to capitalize on the salty and sweet craze that seems to hit each holiday season.
I was expecting the White Chocolate Peppermint Pringles to be covered in a smooth, lickable white chocolate fondant with candy cane pieces sprinkled on top. Well, I guess I got what I paid for, because for $1.53 the Pringles bore the tan shade of the ubiquitous plain Pringle. The taste is akin to having an out of body experience. If you lick the chip – excuse me, crisp – you definitely pick up flavors of peppermint and white chocolate. It’s short lived though, like a stick of gum.
The flavor is actually really good, but it’s completely disjointed from the characteristic Pringles finish, which for lack of a better word is best described as slightly, possibly, sorta potato-ey. In a lot of ways, it’s like watching your favorite baseball player getting a hanging fastball over the plate, putting bat on ball, and getting what looks like all of it. Your spirits are raised – it’s outta here! – until you realize it’s going dead center at The Trop and right to the center fielder. Yes, the aftertaste of these Pringles taste like a routine fly-out to end the game against the Devil Rays.
The Cinnamon & Sugar Pringles look exactly like regular Pringles but with little specks of shiny brown which I’m assuming are cinnamon-sugar granules. On the Cinnamon-Sugar spectrum of 1-10, with 10 being Cinnamon Toast Crunch cooked in butter and then drowned in cinnamon and sugar, I’d estimate the cinnamon-sugarage to be a 3. I did not find the taste to be as sweet as the seasonal Cinnamon Wheat Thins, and it definitely wasn’t enough to drown out the salty, starchy Pringles aftertaste.
Continuing the baseball analogies, this was like watching an infield groundball. You’re kinda sorta hoping it gets through a hole, but no, as soon as you bite in, you realize it’s right to the shortstop, and tastes just like every other groundball – er, Pringles – you’ve eaten.
If you like collecting Pringles cans or just enjoy smelling Christmasy food flavors, then the two new sweet flavors of Pringles are just the stocking stuffers for you. But when it comes to actually eating them, the broken and disjointed taste sensations of sweet and cooling just don’t mesh with the loud, salty aftertaste of the vaguely potato-ey Pringles.
(Nutrition Facts – 150 calories, 80 calories from fat, 9 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.)
Item: Limited Time Only Pringles White Chocolate Peppermint and Pringles Cinnamon & Sugar
Purchased Price: $1.53 each
Size: 6.38 ounces
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 5 out of 10 (White Chocolate Peppermint)
Rating: 4 out of 10 (Cinnamon & Sugar)
Pros: White Chocolate and Peppermint has actual white chocolate and peppermint taste. No trans fat. Fun if you like out of body eating experiences.
Cons: Pringles aftertaste clashes with sweetness. Cinnamon Sugar flavor is weak. No substantial crunch. Realizing the Pringles guy could pass for Santa Claus in his 30s.
Yeah! The US doesn’t have Prawn Cocktail Pringles like the UK or Seaweed Pringles in Hong Kong, but we now gots Pringles that sound even crazier. U-S-A! U-S-A!
These flavours are madness and lol at collecting Pringles cans!
Despite the dismal review (which I wholeheartedly expected, really who thought these would be a good idea) I still want to try these really bad!
Oh, wow…o.k… So, on Friday I picked up a can of the peppermint pringles. I, too thought they were going to look like white chocolate w/peppermint sprinkles. I opened up the can and the smell of peppermint hit me. I was kind’a disappointed with the appearance (as I was expecting it to look different). However, upon taking my 1st bite, I was like O`M`G………!!!!!!!!!! I practically went through the whole can (that day) in 1 sitting! 1st time in my life, while eating something, with these peppermint pringles, I was like moaning and mmm’ing through almost every chip; they were THAT GOOD. Let me tell you this, when I get groceries this Friday, this peppermint pringles, I (( WILL )) buy up their entire stock (what’s on the shelves), I must have them all, I must – OMG, the best and most wonderfullest thing I have EVER eaten in my entire 41 years of existance 😀 yummm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pringles is going the way of Oreos and Pop-Tarts? neat! But seriously, this is getting out of hand, and I can just imagine these not tasting too well. I mean candy cane? meh.
I wish I had read this review before I bought some. The idea was great, but the execution was an EPIC FAIL!
Saw the White Chocolate Peppermint ones at Target today and passed because I thought they sounded disgusting.
Bought Cinnamon Sugar and Pumpkin Pie flavors at Wal-Mart three days ago but haven’t tried them yet. Why would I think those sound any less disgusting?
I totally see how they sound less disgusting – cinnamon and pumpkin pie go with savories a lot better than white chocolate or peppermint!
Oh my, we need to find these and try’em asap!! We love that Pringles has gone nuts with the flavor choices! Walmart here we come….
….by the way, is Walmart now the only store that carries Pringles flavors other than the 5 standard flavors?
Thanks for the reviews!
Chip Review: Nope, got these at Target. Walmart gets many exclusives though. I swear, they has more hot sauce and bbq flavors of pringles than most stores have pringle varieties, period.
I’ve been to three Targets and still haven’t found them.
Do these have an OU on them? I want them so badly but only if they are kosher
Yes, they do have a U in an O on the packaging.
A family member brought these in today and I had one. Only one. Yuck! It left a terrible after taste and was just not good. No one in the house liked them. The dog took a brief sniff and then just turned around and walked away.
In fairness, the disappointment was in large part due to the fact that it was simply not what we expected. Due to the name and picture on the can, we expected something more dessert-like.
Live and Learn.
you are awesome!