When you can’t get to Grandma’s house for a fresh baked apple pie don’t worry, there are a variety of options that are… nothing like a real homemade apple pie, but these brands have taken a swing at a portable, single serving of something they like to call pie. Finding people to try these was more of a challenge then I thought it would be. Ethan wasn’t interested, so I brought them to work and figured this guy who always has a Mountain Dew at his desk would be up for the challenge. Somehow he was freaked out by these though. So was our intern when I asked her. Finally, the IT guy and a project assistant came through, and so the tasting began…
Hostess:
The crust on these were pretty thick, so was the filling. We felt it had a consistency of “goo” and it was very sweet, almost too sweet. Dave thought it at least smelled like apples. The sugary glaze was okay but seemed unbalanced with the overwhelming sweetness from the filling inside. There was some apple flavor, it wasn’t as disgusting as we thought it would be and might be good for someone who like things really sweet.
Drake’s:
This was the only pie that came as two separate pieces. Right away we noticed that the crust on this was harder and had no flavor. Becca thought the filling was “tangy” in some way but we all agreed that the apple bits were little pieces of dehydrated apple preserved in the thickened corn syrup.
Entenmann’s:
We liked the color of this – which is not shown properly in this photo – it was a nice golden brown. The filling wasn’t too goopy and was actually flavorful. It clearly had a good amount of apple pie spices and a nice filling-to-crust ratio. The crust itself was good, and glazed with a light coating of sugar. Also worth noting was that this the only pie of the four we tasted that listed “apples” as its first ingredient.
Little Debbie:
This was shaped like the hostess pie and looked okay on the outside, and even on the inside, but we were unimpressed with its taste. The crust was passable, but the filling had no taste at all and we felt like were just eating flavorless corn syrup with fake apple bits.
Wrap up:
Entenmann’s stood out from the rest. Its decent crust and flavorful filling most resembled apple pie, and the cinnamon smell/taste really contributed to the win. We wondered if the others had added more cinnamon or other spices if they would have been better. Little Debbie is O for 2 so far but I have faith in her since her Swiss Rolls are so awesome – maybe devil food cake (and nutty bars) are her specialty. So the results are: Entenmann’s on top, followed by Hostess, and then kind of a tie between Drake’s and Little Deb for being the worst.
Loading ...
I’ve noticed that often the review seems to influence the voting to some extent. That is, the one you like best often (but not always, I believe) gets more votes.
This is just a thought (and I’m certainly not trying to tell you how to run your site!), but it might be interesting to say something like, “next, we will review products X and Y” and place a poll to hold the vote before the review.
The previous comment seems to be true in some cases, but ironically not in this one since Hostess (which I voted for) is in the lead. However, I don’t think that it’s necessarily the review that influences the voter. I think it tends to be brand loyalty. For example, I don’t think that Twizzlers received more votes because it got a better review than Red Vines, but instead because people are more familiar with Twizzlers. To further back that up, Little Debbie Donut Sticks are currently (though this may change) in the lead over Mrs. Freshley’s Donut Sticks, even after the reviewer preferred the latter. Plus, I think sometimes people vote, even if they have not tried both products. For instance, I’ve never tried Rudolph’s OnYums, but I love Funyuns so I voted anyway.
Overall, I think this is a great site and I really enjoy the posts. Keep ’em comin’! My only suggestion might be to tell the writer of each review. Who are you people? ? You keep referencing Ethan, but I have no idea who that is. Did I miss a post that gave a little background? You don’t have to get too personal, but since I am reading your blog regularly, I’d like to at least know the name of the person’s opinion I am getting.
Hi Heather and Orchid,
Thanks for the feedback. On my “about” page I mention Ethan is my husband and how we got the idea for this blog etc.. I can see how that might be confusing if you skip the about page though. We’re just a 30-something couple living in MA who decided to compare rival snacks. We’re not professional taste testers or anything but it’s been fun and actually educational to taste and do a little research on these products. I’m always happy to answer questions so if I skipped anything just drop me a line ?
Happy snacking!
Michelle
When I visit this blog, I usually do so by making it come up in a new window. Unfortunately, I didn’t scroll up, so I never noticed the Home and About tabs. Now I’m up-to-date. Thanks for the info. Again, great blog!
You forgot to test the best one out there — JJ’s apple pies! Available at MB and super cheap ?
I think Tastykakes pies would win hands down against all of the above.
Though I’m not sure if they can be found anywhere but the mid Atlantic region.
Apple pies are by far the best.
Drake’s is by far the best, you guys are outta your minds!
To me, it’s the Hostess I stick with. Entenmann might look the best here, but I like Hostess more for the flavor inside.
The point is not to resemble apple pies, but rather FRIED apple pies, which look somewhat like these when made fresh, though are not usually so gummy. I don’t know if fried pies are a regional thing or not, but they’re quite popular in the rural southeastern states, which is where I’ve lived my entire life. These are sort of a guilty pleasure, and are, of course, nowhere near as good as homemade!
You forgot Mrs. Fields ?
The only kind of apple pie I’ve had in this form was at McDonald’s.
I really can’t vote on which one I like the most out of these four. I remember only having three of them (Drake’s, Entenmann’s, and Hostess), for one thing. And, I can rule out Hostess because I didn’t like the taste of them. But, the battle for me wages between Entenmann’s and Drake’s because both taste equally good in my opinion. When I first had Entenmann’s Apple Pies, Drake’s hadn’t re-released their apple pies at the time…and it tasted just like Drake’s to me. Of course, now I can’t find Entenmann’s Apple Pies at local stores around here where I live (Somerset County, New Jersey).