1964 — it was a very good year. Or so I’ve heard… technically I wouldn’t be born for another 16 years. But there’s something comforting in the idea that, as my parents sat up late, chiseling their homework by the light of whale oil lamps, they might have paused for a study break, pulled out a brand new box of Milk Chocolate Graham Pop-Tarts, and heated them over a nearby tar pit.
Or… not. You’d think that to celebrate your product’s 50th anniversary, you might indulge in nostalgia by re-issuing one (or all) of the original flavors, right? That’s what I assumed, anyway.
But no! In actuality, Pop-Tarts launched with four flavors: Blueberry, Strawberry, Brown Sugar Cinnamon, and Apple Currant. Since the first three are still in production today (an impressive .750 winning percentage… not too shabby, Kellogg’s), one can see why “bringing back” the original flavors wasn’t exactly feasible. Apparently if apple currant wasn’t able to entice baby boomers, it isn’t gonna do it for the children of millennials.
Okay, so if it wasn’t one of the launch flavors, where does Milk Chocolate Graham fit in? The answer is that it’s a discontinued flavor from… some point in Pop-Tarts’ history. I’m not really sure from when — basic Googling has failed me, so if anyone knows, light up that comments section! Ultimately though, it doesn’t really matter when it vanished, whether it was the ’70s or last year. What’s cool is that we have it now, and can judge for ourselves whether it was a mistake to let this flavor fall by the wayside.
The box is extremely busy, with multicolored balls all over and on the back, a cutout of a Pop-Tart with eyes and limbs. You’re helpfully advised to cut him out and photobomb your friends’ pictures, then share them online, which I predict will be done by ones of people all over the box designer’s house. Luckily I don’t mind suffering for you, lovely readers, so you can see his smiling face in one of the photos in this review. Try to figure out which one’s the real Pop-Tart!
The appearance of the tart is interesting — it’s not the relatively smooth surface I’m used to seeing on most unfrosted Pop-Tarts, with the tiny, perfectly spaced venting holes. There ARE holes, but they seem to be randomly dropped all over the place, and the texture is craggy and uneven, like a miniature desert terrain or a teenager’s face. (That wasn’t just me, right? Guys?) Cut one open and you can see a decent amount of chocolate filling — nothing that’ll knock your socks off, but it’s not indiscernible without an electron microscope either.
Fine, but how does it taste? Well… if your immediate thought on hearing “graham” and “chocolate” was “Hey, sounds like 2/3rds of a s’more!”, you aren’t alone. And the thing about a s’more is, if any one component is missing, it just isn’t as good. Why do I bring that up? Because they have S’more Pop-Tarts, and the fact that those are still around and going strong gives us a pretty big clue as to why Chocolate Graham Pop-Tarts, well, aren’t.
To wit, they taste fine. The graham taste is okay, maybe a bit understated but certainly there if you’re tasting for it. The chocolate is reasonably rich, and if it won’t have you checking the label to see if they’re using Lindt, at least it’s sweet enough without making your teeth hurt. They’re about as flaky as most Pop-Tarts, if texture is your thing.
But… well, you don’t realize how much you need that marshmallow until it isn’t there anymore. And the icing on S’mores Pop-Tarts makes a ton of difference, because these taste quite a bit drier than the S’mores variety ever did. They’re not going to cut the roof of your mouth or anything, but plan on having a beverage nearby for sure.
In the final analysis, it’s nice that they brought these back, and I do appreciate the effort. Nostalgia is fun when used sparingly, and every institution deserves to indulge in a little fun upon reaching a milestone. That said, we learn from the mistakes of the past, and it seems to me that Kellogg’s clearly built on and improved this flavor when they created the S’mores variety. Maybe pick up a box of these if you’re a nostalgia buff like I am, but if you’re simply looking for a tasty breakfast pastry, just buy the S’mores.
(Nutrition Facts – 1 toaster pastry – 200 calories, 50 calories from fat, 5 grams of total fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 2 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 1 gram of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 250 milligrams of sodium, 34 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 26 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.)
Item: Kellogg’s Birthday Edition Flavor Flashback Milk Chocolate Graham Pop-Tarts
Purchased Price: $2.79
Size: 8 toaster pastries
Purchased at: Acme
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Intergenerational connection through breakfast pastries. 3 out of 4 launch products still being around half a century later is pretty impressive. Reasonable amount of chocolate. Decent graham flavor. S’mores: proof of intelligent design, or unguided evolution?
Cons: Natural selection already marked this Pop-Tart for extinction. Not being able to figure out when one out of the scores of varieties of a breakfast snack stopped being produced = thanks, Internet. Kind of like a cake with filling, but no frosting. Everyone hates the guy who forgets to bring marshmallows to the camping trip. Don’t be that guy.
That flavor hasn’t been gone for long. I remember buying some back in 2000.
I never cared for Pop Tarts. It just seemed really… meh. Toast & jam always seemed better. But then again I ate Total cereal as a teenager, so…
That reminds the book “Bread and Jam for Frances”, where Frances decides she’s going to have bread and jam for every meal.
Everything I’ve read online points to the Milk Chocolate Grahams being discontinued when the S’mores were introduced, or shortly beforehand.
S’mores hit the shelves in 1992. Discontinuing the MCG in the early 1990s would be consistent people on food-nostalgia messageboards circa 2004 who remember them disappearing just over a decade earlier.
How Logan Rollo bought them in 2000 would be a mystery, but sometimes products hang around regionally for years past their national elimination date.
just like everything else i thought was amazing as kid these disspoint. growing old is sad.
I actually prefer these to the s’mores version. The lack of icing is a plus for me. While I really like actual s’mores, and the Pop-Tart version was my go-to substitute once the milk chocolate grahams were discontinued, I definitely don’t miss the ‘mallow eating these. That said, it’s probably better that these are limited edition so that my Pop-Tart eating days are numbered.
Couldn’t agree more!
I also like these better due to the lack of icing.
Absolutely. The frosting kills the S’mores. Rea s’mores don’t have frosting. Ick. I could go either way on the marshmallow, but I totally loved the melt-in-your-mouth aspect of the graham crust without frosting. These things got me through morning sickness. I was so sad to see them go.
These are the “Milk Chocolate” Pop Tarts back when I was a senior in high school, 1990-1991. I loved them. They looked and seem to be just like these. Excellent in the toaster. Good graham flavor and good milk chocolate flavor. Nothing to knock your socks off either way, but a good combo. Back then, as a senior in high school, my pre-bus routine was showering, watching the news for the weather, and listening to The Who on my my Radio Shack cassette player with headphones, while eating either these Pop Tarts or Mini Middles from Keebler…I need those Mini Middles back!
Wish they brought back the Rainbow Cookie version. Those were the best.
They should bring back the original Brown Sugar Cinnamon. I regularly bought those back in the day, until they changed the recipe. The change in taste occurred when they put icing on it. So no, the original is definitely not still in production.
I remember eating these in the 90’s, I feel like it was in the later part of the decade but can’t be positive(I was a teenager and we moved a lot). I know I loved them more than the smores which I think were available at the same time. I couldn’t believe it when I saw them in the store the other day, I just had to buy some. mmmmmm I just ate my first one in a very long time.
These were discontinued around 1992 as I recall. I was so upset I actually called Kellogg’s to complain. They sent me the standard form letter and I practically cried. These were (and are) my favorite flavor of Pop Tart. None of them hold a candle (no, not even S’mores because it got rid of the graham crust in favor of a regular one and just didn’t taste as good. Oh and neither were the frosted double chocolate ones that got to continue on after these as well.) LONG LIVE MILK CHOCOLATE GRAHAM!!!!
S’mores do have a graham crust- maybe that was adjusted later, but they do now. However the frosting ruins that great chewy aspect of tbe graham. These are so much better.
these were discontinued in the very early 90s. i used to heat them in the microwave (unorthodox, i know) but they were so good. they ceased to exist, at least in the DC area, by the time i started middle school in 1994.