When I first laid eyes on Wintermint Ding Dongs and Mint Chocolate Twinkies, in a nearly-untouched display at Walmart, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Maybe it was Thanksgiving looming around the corner or the sugar high I was pre-experiencing, but all I could think was how fortunate I am that someone somewhere started this snack food flavor arms race and I now have a legitimate excuse to eat Ding Dongs on a random Wednesday as a full grown adult. Thank you!
Right off the bat, I was drawn to the Ding Dongs. Firstly because that shade of blue in food is visually captivating, but also because I’d never tried a Ding Dong that wasn’t the standard chocolate/cream combo. Twinkies have been slinging the novelty flavors for ages now, so it’s less of a big deal.
The golden cake of the Wintermint Ding Dongs was exactly like the golden cake used in Hostess Cupcake variations – buttery, yellow, spongy with a finer texture than Twinkies’ cake. The white fudge exterior was familiar as well – a generic sugary white chocolate coating that gives the slightest snap when you bite into it. At first, I swore the wintermint creamy filling tasted like mint toothpaste. I wasn’t a fan.
I moved on to the Mint Chocolate Twinkies, which smelled and looked more like what I expected. It was made of the familiar cake you may have tasted in other chocolate Twinkie iterations – slightly greasy with a large crumb texture. Cocoa-heavy, but not dark chocolate. Here, the mint filling made more sense and felt more natural.
Then I started wondering if the color of the Ding Dongs was playing tricks on my mind. Was the freshly-squeezed-from-a-tube look making me imagine the corresponding flavor? I alternated nibbles of each cake’s filling and WHA’DYA KNOW, they actually tasted the same! I do think the cake flavors made a big difference, however – the chocolate cake rounded off the edges of the mint, giving it a less-synthetic feel. With the subtler golden cake, the mint was left to barge out in front, and its color didn’t help matters.
Overall, I thought they were both alright, but not Hostess’ best work.
You may have noticed the Try It Frozen!* on the front of the box. (I expected the * note found on the back to deny resemblance to a certain famous frosty film, but in fact, it helpfully clarifies that “Try It Frozen!” means place it in the freezer.) I did Try It Frozen, and I would not suggest you do the same. The cake fares well, but the wintermint creamy filling becomes and odd combination of too hard and too chewy.
Purchased Price: $2.79
Size: 10-cake box (Ding Dongs – 12.7 oz., Twinkies – 13.58 oz.)
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 5 out of 10 (Wintermint Ding Dongs), 6 out of 10 (Mint Chocolate Twinkies)
Nutrition Facts: (2 cakes) Wintermint Ding Dongs – 320 calories, 15 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 170milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 36 grams of sugar, 35 grams of added sugars and 2 grams of protein. Mint Chocolate Twinkies – 240 calories, 9 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 300 milligrams of sodium, 41 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 26 grams of sugar, 26 grams of added sugars and 2 grams of protein.
Thanks for taking one for the team!
Who told them to go all-in with mint. ugh. Thanks for the review!
When I saw the chocolate Twinkies with a green mint filling on display @ Wal-Marts I knew I just had to buy a box and try them out.
I was very disappointed in this product.
Sure!
The picture on the box looked great and was very appealing.
But the real truth came after eating one. WoW! What a huge disappointment!
There was no chocolate taste at all, and almost no mint taste in the filling either.
I will never buy this product again.
I find it amazing that a big company like Hostess would put their big famous name on the line with such a flavorless product as this.
It appears that Hostess is skimping on flavor to save money and make a cheap and almost tasteless product.
What a shame!
It appears that most big companies don’t care about repeat business anymore. It seems they just want to make a product as cheap as possible and get it on the market ASAP without any concern of a customers repeat business.
Well, I will say this….When I bought this box of Hostess chocolate Twinkies with mint filling and ate the product when I got home, I was very disappointed and threw the remaining entire box in the trash.
Yes Hostess!, you got me this time, but I will never buy this product again!
You lost a good repeat customer by playing the cheap card!
Larry
I just bought the wintermint ding dongs to try out and I will tell you. They are horrible they taste and even look like toothpaste. You ever get the toothpaste that is white and blue with little sparkles in it that is minty. That is what these remind me of even the flavor.