Taste Off! Soft Baked Breakfast Bars: SunBest vs. Nutri-Grain

This is the beloved Dollar Tree near my apartment. It's open late. It looks lonely. It's awesome.

As a born bargain hunter, I regularly visit the Dollar Tree about six blocks from my apartment. I tend to focus my shopping on basic household products, but occasionally, I grab a 2-liter pop, a cheap bag of chips, or a few canned items.

I have always been satisfied with the quality and taste of these dollar-store food products, so I thought I'd conduct a Taste Off with one product I sometimes enjoy: Soft Baked Breakfast Bars!

Ah yes, soft-baked breakfast bars, those fantastic fruit or jelly-filled patisseries with their soft, crumbly crust. They are loaded with nutrients and are a good source of fiber.

They can be consumed for a delicious breakfast or any time treat. They are a beloved American snack that almost everyone knows, loves, and grew up eating.

I decided to test the famous Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bars vs. the Dollar Tree version: SunBest Fruit and Grain Bars. I chose the blueberry flavor because I like blueberries, and it was the box closest to my cart.

The $4.99 package purchased at Jewel is 10.4 ounces and contains 8 bars, with each 1.3oz bar serving containing:

• approximately $0.62 per bar

• 130 calories

• 0.5g saturated fat

• 120mg of sodium

• 13g total sugars

• no high fructose corn syrup!

The bars are chewy with a nice crumbly texture on the outside. The filling is reasonably generous, with a blueberry taste in each bite. However, the blueberry flavor itself could taste more fresh. It has a jellied quality that doesn't truly scream "healthy" or come close to satisfying any of my sweet cravings.

Overall, it isn't unpleasant, but it's a bit dry, and it doesn't hide the fact that it's meant to serve one's dietary needs rather than one's taste needs. Which is, of course, fine and to be expected.

Next, purchased from Dollar Tree: SunBest Fruit & Grain Bars bargain brand in a similar-looking box designed to remind one of the more popular brands.

The $1.25 package is 5.2 ounces and contains 4 bars, clocking in at the following for each 1.3oz bar serving:

• approximately $0.31 per bar

• 140 calories

• 0.5g saturated fat

• 70mg of sodium

• 11g total sugars

• no high fructose corn syrup!

No high fructose corn syrup?? Shut up!!

Hey, here's a valid question: Where's the Goddamn filling?!?

OK, here we go. I feel slightly nervous....

Uuum.....

No.

The SunBest bars are softer, a teeny bit larger, and thicker than the more expensive brand, which was surprising. They are also even more dry and crumbly than the big name-brand and have even less blueberry filling. Seriously, there is hardly any filling in these bars, and what filling there is, like Kellogg's product, seems processed and not very fresh or fruitlike.

Overall, the Nutri-Grain bars are a more pleasant eating experience than the SunBest bars, but they are both relatively bland and possess that dreaded "they are good for you" taste, which can be much better disguised in both products.

As for price, the SunBest package includes half the number of bars as the Nutri-Grain box. However, each Sunbest bar is a far better bargain than its counterpart at almost half the price.

The nutrition numbers on the Dollar Tree purchase are better. Like the name-brand product, it contains NO high fructose corn syrup, which is good, but it's not enough for the little guy to overcome the big guy when it comes to taste. Nutri-Grain beats SunBest.

See you at the magnificent Dollar Tree store soon!

I'll conduct even more of these taste tests, so let me know what you'd like me to cover! Email me at nick@nickdigilio.com or leave a voicemail at (773) 417-6948 with your suggestions.

Thanks for reading, and please SUBSCRIBE to my weekly NEWSLETTER!

And consider joining me on Patreon as a paid subscriber to help keep this thing going.

Thanks again!

Taste-Off: Toast'em Pop-Ups Vs. Pop Tarts

As a born bargain hunter, I regularly visit a Dollar Tree about six blocks from my apartment. I tend to focus my shopping on basic household products, but occasionally, I grab a 2-liter pop, a cheap bag of chips, or a few canned items.

I have always been satisfied with the quality and taste of these dollar-store food products, so I thought I'd taste test one product I particularly enjoy: Toaster Pastries!

Ah yes, toaster pastries, those fantastic jelly or cream-filled tarts with a crispy crust sometimes covered in frosting.

They can be consumed toasted or untoasted for a delicious breakfast or anytime treat. They are a beloved American snack that almost everyone knows, loves, and grew up eating.

Hell, Jerry Seinfeld even made a whole movie about them earlier this year called "Unfrosted," which, by the way, is hilarious and hugely entertaining despite what some critics have said.

Luckily we aren't judging based upon the back of the box, because the douche-on-the-skateboard is certainly a strike against the bargain item.

I started with Pop-Tarts from Kellogg's, the best-known and most popular version of the snack in the colorful box we all know and love.

The $4.79 package purchased at Jewel is 13.5 ounces and contains eight toaster pastries, with each two-pastry serving containing:

• 400 calories

• 4.5g saturated fat

• 340mg of sodium

• 30g total sugars

The tarts are sweet, crispy, and as tasty as we all remember from childhood. Although they are chewy and frosted nicely, the edges are a bit dry and crumbly, and the texture around the perimeter is unpleasant. Those minor issues are not enough to discourage anyone from chowing down on these treats, hot or cold.

Next, purchased from Dollar Tree: Toast'em Pop-Ups from Flavor Kist, a bargain brand in a similar-looking box designed to remind one of the more popular brands.

The $1.25 package is 10.2 ounces and contains six toaster pastries, clocking in at the following for each two-pastry serving:

• 350 calories

• 4.0g saturated fat

• 290mg of sodium

• 29g total sugars

• no high fructose corn syrup!

The Flavor Kist tarts are softer, a teeny bit larger, and thicker than the more expensive brand, which was surprising. They are very sweet, crispy, and tasty (like the Pop Tarts), but unlike Kellogg's product, the frosting is more even and thick, and the edges are less dry and crumbly.

Similar foil pouches, similar packaging, but the product is definitely different.

Overall, the Toast'em Pop-Ups are a much more pleasant eating experience than the Pop-Tarts (both toasted and untoasted). The fact that they are cheaper is an added bonus.

Yes, there are two more pastries in the Pop-Tarts box, so you are indeed getting more from Kellogg's per package. But even with two more tarts, the $3.54 difference in price between the bargain brand and the name brand does not make up for it.

The surprisingly dry and crumbly edges of the Pop-Tarts were the deciding factors against the Kellogg's item.

I was surprised by these results, and you might be, too.

In the case of Toast'em Pop-ups vs. Pop-Tarts, the cheaper product from Dollar Tree is not only a better bargain but also tastier and slightly better for you than the more expensive product from Jewel.

And yes, obviously, Toast'ems are not good for you. They are far from being "health food," but they aren't quite as bad as Pop-Tarts so I'll keep them on my dollar store shopping list for now.

I'll conduct more of these taste tests soon, so let me know what you'd like me to cover! Email me at nick@nickdigilio.com or leave a voicemail at (773) 417-6948 with your suggestions.

Thanks for reading, and please SUBSCRIBE to my weekly NEWSLETTER!

And consider joining me on Patreon as a paid subscriber to help keep this thing going.

Thanks again!