I love hip-hop.
And I love junk food.
Those may seem like unrelated interests, but truth be told, they have a lot more in common than you think. They both have very high highs – Travis Scott’s Astroworld and Krispy Kreme’s Reese’s Outrageous Doughnut, and very low lows – Hostess’ Cotton Candy Twinkies and the general existence of Lil Pump. They both simultaneously flourish and hurt themselves with excessive output.
Like Nabisco’s continual push to release more Oreo flavors than the year before with only a few true gems, or when E-40 released “The Block Brochure,” with nearly 60 songs and only a handful worthy of repeat listens. But the shining light of commonality between these two separate things is their ability to thrive in collaboration. Hip-hop tracks that bring together three or four of the hottest MC’s in the game are almost always bangers, and when junk food titans join forces to create a cohesive product, it isn’t always great, but at the very least it’s fun.
Welcome to the world, Carl’s Jr’s Froot Loops Mini Donuts!
First things first, the packaging is fantastic. So much of the allure of limited time junk and fast food lies in the bag or box that it comes in, and this Froot Loops-branded carton that looks like it could house mozzarella sticks or jalapeno poppers sets the stage for a wonderful fulfilling experience before the eating even begins.
Opening the box is a sight and smell to behold, with five different colored donuts that mimic Froot Loops’ signature rings perfectly and carries the bold, strong scent of the cereal with absolute precision. It’s a sensory symphony of artificial fruit flavor and sugar. Some of the donuts have a thicker coating like a layer of frosting, and some have a thinner, more dissolved look like a traditional glaze.
My hypothetical rule of collaborative truth continues to thrive as these donuts taste as good as they look and smell. Super soft and slightly crispy, the donuts burst with a perfect fruity citrus-forward flavor that tastes EXACTLY like the love child of Little Debbie and Toucan Sam. This revelation leaves me with some pretty haunting visuals, but it’s the absolute realest description possible.
The rings with a thicker, more visible layer of icing unsurprisingly pack a heftier taste bud punch, but the lighter glazed ones still get the point across, just a bit less convincingly. Like the actual cereal pieces, despite the glaringly different colors schemes, they all taste the same, like “froot.”
In the vast land of junk and fast food collabs I can safely declare Froot Loops’ appearance at Carl’s Jr. a super hot feature. It’s such a natural and well-done pairing that I can’t believe one of the bigger companies like Dunkin’ or Krispy Kreme didn’t get to it first, but as a company known for welcoming bigger brands into their home with open arms, Carl’s Jr. just earned themselves another gold star.
(Nutrition Facts – 5 donuts – 320 calories, 15 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol, 360 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 24 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.)
Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 5 donuts
Rating: 9 out of 10
Pros: Perfect Froot Loops flavor packed into a soft mini donut. Great box art. Awesome vivid colors
Cons: Slight inconsistency in the glaze/coating that leaves some donuts a little less spectacular than others. $2.99 is a bit high for 5 donuts, but I saw in other markets it’s $1.99, which seems perfect
I really wish this chain existed in Massachusetts, these look so good
Love child of little debbie and toucan sam, omg, hahaha!! Great review!
Love the hip hop/junk food analogy! I feel ya on both fronts. I wonder if they’ll roll these out in Hardee’s. That’s all we’ve got from the Carl’s Jr in my neck of the woods.
I got very excited when I read that headline. I was kind of hoping they’d be like Taco Bell’s Cap’n Crunch donuts. Those were delicious.. an unpopular opinion, I’m sure but whatever.
Also hopeful these pop up at Hardee’s. I’ve got one a few miles away from my house, the other location being about 20 min away.
Review’s perfect off the Astroworld reference alone.
Review is on point. The donuts are actually a decent step above packaged mini donuts (e.g. hostess/lil debbie) so the texture and bite feel is pretty good. The decisions on how to incorporate the Fruit Loops flavor was the star. Not overly sweet and it’s almost just a subtle hint that’s heightened by the playful coloring so you can eat them all without feeling sick from sugar overload or over-the-top flavoring.
I’m in a $2.99 market, so I probably won’t get these regularly, but a well executed collaboration product. Hope Dunkin/Krispy Kreme take notice and do some cereal crossover/collaborations.
cereal and i retied ages ago but this was my favorite.. im glad they finally came up with the idea.. and it better stay!! srew limited.. its stupid and boring. also that they nailed it.. getting it soon!!!!
Definitely limited. Got some today and the person at my Hardee’s said that was the last batch they were going to be getting. They were pretty tasty.