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Friday, April 9, 2010

Review and giveaway: A Salsa in China Pop-Tarts recipe (yipes!)



This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Kellogg’s® Pop-Tarts® Toaster Pastries.


For the second part of our Pop-Tarts review (see the first part here), we were asked to make up our own recipe using any flavor of Kellogg’s® Pop-Tarts® Toaster Pastries and serve it to our families for breakfast. Yipes. I am SO not a fantastic cook... But that's ok, I am creative, and my helpers were very enthusiastic (they always are). It doesn't hurt that they've been big Pop-Tarts fans from a very early age. Does anyone remember this picture? Awwwww.
Oh crap, now they know I'm not eating "Cheerios, same as you!" in the morning

Anyhow, our creation was Brown-Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts Coffee Cake, and it actually turned out really well. Phew!! I thought that a nice coffee cake with frosted brown-sugar cinnamon Pop-Tarts sprinkled throughout and on the top might be just the ticket, so I looked at a whole bunch of coffee-cake recipes, and kind of adapted one that would fit what I pictured in my head. Here's what we did:


Preheated the oven to 350 degrees, then gathered these ingredients:
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3/4 cup butter (softened), 1 1/2 cup sugar, 3 eggs, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, 3 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 1/2 cups sour cream (a 16 oz container), 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 6 frosted brown sugar cinnamon Pop-Tarts.

Combined the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together in a large bowl and beat it on medium speed for a couple of minutes. There was a little tussle over rights to the uber-cool mixer (there always is), so each girl got to take a turn (and our poor little batter got way overmixed, but who cares, everyone was happy):
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Next, we added in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sour cream. Then beat it again until it made kind of a stiff dough. We set this bowl aside (and out of reach of sneaky little twin tongues and fingers) for a few minutes.

In another bowl, we made the filling (the good stuff!). Combined the brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, and crumbled Pop-Tarts (Ro and Ree started cutting the crusts off on their own and tossing those parts out, and I kind of thought it was a good idea, so I let them have at it).
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Now we spooned about a third of the batter (around 2 cups) into a greased bundt pan and sprinkled with about a third of the filling. Then repeated the batter-and-sprinkle layering two more times. (Fun fact: This bundt pan is an antique. It used to belong to my grandmother.) We ended up with a yummy-looking top that was completely covered with sprinkles.
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Um, there was a quick pause for some "cleanup":
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Then we baked it at 350-degrees for 50 to 60 minutes (it's done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean).


Hey that looks pretty good! Ree thought so too, because she couldn't wait until I was done to sneak a bite:
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Everyone actually liked it, so yay me! TubaDad said "Hey that's good!":
DSC_3038LRpsLR

Ro said "Dat's gwate!" (that's great):
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And Ree said "Dat's awesome!":
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Fun stuff. I liked it too. Next time I might even get a little wild and use cherry or blueberry Pop-Tarts for a little extra surprise in the middle!
DSC_3056LR

The Giveaway: BlogHer has something special for you too! One lucky Salsa reader will win a $100 Visa giftcard. To enter, leave me a comment below and tell me your favorite family breakfast. The contest runs from 4/2-4/16/2010 and entries will be generated by this post and our previous Pop-Tarts review on 4/2. Make sure that your email addy is in your profile or that the e-mail address you leave is correct (feel free to use weird spaces and spell out "dot" or "at" or that sort of thing) so I have some way to contact you.

The Rules: Duplicate comments/entries will be deleted. You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments. This giveaway is open to US-residents only. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail. You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. Please see the official rules here. Check out the BlogHer.com special offers page to read other bloggers’ reviews—you've got seven other chances to win! For other recipes, and a full list of the flavors, take a peek at the Pop-Tarts website.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

COMMENTS FOR THIS GIVEAWAY ARE NOW CLOSED. I'LL DRAW THE WINNER AT RANDOM THIS EVENING AND WILL BE BACK TO POST THE WINNER.

127 comments:

Shannon said...

that actually looks pretty good. I might try it myself this weekend. I just need to buy more pop tarts. (TWIST my arm!!)

Heidi said...

Our fave breakfast is cereal! We love it.

Jodi said...

My son is 17 and for Christmas he wanted a waffle maker, so needless to say our favorite are home made waffles.

purehrt555(at)yahoo(dot)com

Samantha said...

Vanh's is egg and fruit, Max's is cereal and bacon, Mommy's is coffee, and Daddy's is all of those plus a cream cheese bagel.

Your "compensation" goes to support foster care in China, right?

Becky said...

I have to agree with the above poster, homemade waffles are our favorites, served with fresh berries, whipped cream and bacon!

Mamalisa said...

My family loves good old fashioned homemade pancakes on Sunday mornings

samaniegolj one at hotmail dot com

Nachama said...

Um, I want that cake and I want it NOW. YUM. It will go beautifully with my coffee - which is my fav. in the AM

The Tweetens said...

Our favorite is sour cream coffee cake.

D said...

Grits casserole :)
ddashby16 @ hotmail com

Destination Motherhood said...

Banana French Toast, yum!

jenna b said...

I love perfectly cooked and seasoned homefries. They go great with scrambled eggs and rye toast. mmmmmm :)

Anonymous said...

Caitlyn's is fruit, Gabriels is any kind of cereal, Lila doesnt like to eat breakfast, Mom's is a nice iced mocha, and Dad doesnt eat breakfast ever!

dmccaughan @ yahoo. com

Anonymous said...

Bagels and Cream Cheese! Yum!
Your cake looks deelish!

Stacey
littleb55@aol.com

Stefanie said...

Ummmm, Jenna is making me seriously hungry.
I'd probably make something fancy like that, if I ever had the time, but (since I don't!) we eat a lot of cereal, scrambled eggs, and, honestly, a lot of Pop Tarts.

frogglet said...

That looks good! Coffee is the breakfast of choice this week.
colormehome@charter.net

Allison said...

That looks really good! I'm impressed. My favorite breakfast is cereal. Maggie's is pop tarts.

Unknown said...

Our favorite is pancakes. Chocolate chip for the boy and sweet potato for the girl. The grownups get half a grapefruit with theirs. :-)

The Stuckey's said...

We love Pancakes in our house.


agstuckey@yahoo.com

Brandi said...

that actually looks pretty good. I might have to give it a try.

We love waffles & biscuits & gravy at our house. Mmmm...

Anonymous said...

I LOVE coffee cake. I always double the streusal/cinnamon portion.
chiefsfantrish@yahoo.com

Mami2jcn said...

Our favorite family breakfast is pancakes.

mami2jcn at gmail dot com

samcarter said...

"Complete Hobbit Breakfast". Scrambled eggs, bacon, homemade oven-baked hashbrowns, and fruit salad. We are very into Lord of the Rings around here.

catherineajt(at)yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to try this it looks so good. My families favorite breakfast is homemade cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs. :)

~Amy

amcintire80 at hotmail dot com

Charity Donovan said...

Quiche! Yummo!

Susan said...

Creme brulee french toast, quiche, and a good fruit salad!

Nicole said...

We love bacon and eggs. Sometimes I sprinkle brown sugar on my bacon for a special salt and sweet combo!

Indianalori said...

That looks absolutely delicious. Wouldn't it be perfect for a slumber party breakfast? Our favorite is good 'ole sausage gravy and biscuits. We live in Indiana. This favorite is required for state citizenship.

Anonymous said...

I love when my husband makes me "angels" for breakfast. He uses an angel cookie cutter to basically make an "egg in a basket." It's so good, and so sweet when he does it.

Unknown said...

That looks yummy...

our favorite breakfast is homemade NY style crumb cake... OHH SOO YUMMY!

sbelanich@cinci.rr.com

Single PAP said...

my old favorite breakfast was waffles with melted butter and warm syrup, scrambled eggs with cheese and a side of crispy hash browns. my new "favorite" breakfast is some sort of healthy cereal with banana and skim milk. (just became a mom so need to set an example and try to be healthy and live long!!) :-D

... but i still love me some brown sugar cinnamon poptarts on occasion!!

laura

lauraligaya at aol dot com (no spaces of course..but you knew that!)

Melissa said...

Sorry, just wanted to make sure my email address was in there- guess not that first time! :P

Anyway, totally homemade pancakes with soy sausage. Mmm!

Melissa
macuddy (at) gmail (dot) com

Mary said...

Bacon, bacon, and more bacon! Isn't that everyone's favorite?

mary at antmary dot com

Unknown said...

We love eggs and bacon at our house. For Easter we fancied it up a bit and made shirred eggs (heaven in a bowl), thick bacon, and croissants. I think this would have to be our new fave!

Jacquie said...

I love a good coffee cake!

Jenny said...

Our favorite breakfast is peach oatmeal (oatmeal made with peach juice instead of water). It's even better if you sprinkle butter and brown sugar on the top and put it under the broiler for a minute or two. :)

Unknown said...

Hmmm. Never thought PopTarts could be used in a recipe. Might try it sometime.

Lisa said...

Our favorite breakfast is pancakes....YUM!!!!

manda said...

We are all about peanut butter and banana stuffed french toast in our house!

Mom 2 Four said...

Breakfast pizza, yum!

Forgot to add my email on the last one again, so I deleted it.

chagg12000 at yahoo dot com

Annie said...

Batter blaster is our fave!! (Or Bladder Blaster, depending on who you are...)

Can't wait to try your recipe!!

kathy said...

we like homemade waffles. i have a recipe that uses and entire pound of butter and always makes my kids smile.....and my cholesterol go up

Unknown said...

The girls and my husbands favorite is sausage breakfast sandwiches. I would much rather have a muffin, but they would not be takers.

tamiv said...

I cook a big breakfast every Sunday.My favorite is flapjacks[which is southern name for crepes].I make also homemade hash browns and sausage!

Shannon (CA) said...

Baked french toast with strawberries and whipped cream on top!


xxshannonxnicolexx@hotmail.com

Keri said...

That looks delicious! My kids love pancakes and waffles, but they also love eggs. Cereal is a favorite after-school snack!

Keri

Anonymous said...

Our family usually grabs a PopTart (frosted brown sugar cinnamon is our favorite!)or a piece of toast as we are running out the door each morning. However, we fully enjoy the rare times when we can indulge in pancakes or waffles, a favorite cereal, eggs, coffee cake, or some rolls fresh from the bakery. I'm getting hungry just thinking about all of that!
lydiabridgette at gmail dot com

In Due Time said...

That looks delicious! I think we'll be trying that soon!

Anonymous said...

Oh man, now I'm craving poptarts. And cake. Our favorite breakfasts change every few months, but right now it's multigrain Cheerios. Casey is switching to pink frosted mini wheats though.

Jamie S.

Anonymous said...

Our favorite family breakfast is uncured bacon and pastured eggs (which really do taste a lot better than regular commercial eggs), with maybe an orange shared between us. Bacon was pretty much the only solid food our daughter would eat between 6 months and a year.

psychohist at (americaonline's abbreviation) dot com

Erin from Long Island said...

I think our latest favorite is french toast, with warm syrup Irish butter and local fruit!

Anonymous said...

Our favorite is oatmeal: oatmeal, mashed banana, milk and prune. Delish...
gladis_s@yahoo.com

The Lucky Ones said...

Sounds good - and we actually have PopTarts in the house right now. Our favorite family breakfast? Anything that involves a lot of bacon. Mmmm, bacon.

Anne said...

Our favorite family breakfast is oatmeal, usually instant.

ajolly1456 at gmail dot com

Kikilia said...

Our favorite breakfast is bacon. Eggs and bacon or BLTs.


Kikilia(at)gmail(dot)com

Jules said...

Favorite breakfast? Anything that includes bacon! Oh-Josie has now confirmed that pancakes and bacon are her favorite breakfast. Interesting since i have NEVER made pancakes. Waffles, yes. I save pancakes for the pros.

carrolju at ohsu dot com

Dori said...

I thought a recipe using Pop Tarts sounded pretty disgusting, but WOW, what you came up with looks really tasty! I love me some coffee cake! :) And I'd love to enter the Visa card giveaway--our family's favorite breakfast is crunchy vanilla French toast (it's dipped in crushed up corn flakes before you cook it briefly on the skillet, then finish it a couple minutes more by baking it in the oven). dori (at) moerer dot net.

firegirl said...

my dd favorite breakfast is baby pancakes (small pancakes she can pick up and dip into the syrup). I sometimes make them in different little shapes like numbers, letters, snowmen, bunnies etc)

firegirlri@aol.com

Amy said...

Love your recipe! Might have to try that soon. Our favorite breakfast is cereal.

aschmerb(at)hotmail(dot)com

sweepstakesjeanie@yahoo.com said...

We like bannanas spread over wheat bread with a touch of salt.

jeanette_huston@yahoo.com

Karye Luppen said...

That looks great! I think blueberry poptarts would be a good addition to the coffeecake:) My favorite breakfast is granola, yogurt, and strawberries or blueberries. We also love homemade waffles!!!

Anonymous said...

Our fav family breakfast is pancakes on the weekends. My kids request them everyday they don't go to school/daycare
aechika at hotmail dot com

kjasus said...

i am TOTALLY trying this recipe! we LOVE coffeecake - but as a dessert. our other fav b-fast food would be pancakes.
raggammuffin@gmail.com

Sarah said...

Eggs and Bacon, with extra BACON. :)

Anonymous said...

LOVE THIS!! Would love to do it with those yummy chocolate frosted Pop-Tarts! My love of those goes way back to when my grandmother used to toast them and put butter on them for us. LOL

Kelly
Panotchr@aol.com

Anonymous said...

Our favorite is breakfast casserole made the night before. Our recipe is frozen hash browns, eggs, cheese, peppers, onions, etc.with whole milk poured over all. Yum!
kvfonsethatyahoodotcom

Amy said...

I love egg strata; if my sig other is cooking, it's french toast, AND IT'S GOOD.

Barbara said...

On special occasions ... Christmas, Mother's Day, etc. ... we go traditional: eggs, bacon, toast. Enough food to last us all day!

Anonymous said...

We love, love, love Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts in our family! This coffee cake looked so good, thanks for posting the recipe!

Jen said...

corny as it sounds, any breakfast that we are together is my favorite. we have so many schedules its hard to get everyone together in the morning, so if its just toast and eggs, its my favorite if we are together

petteytiffany@yahoo.com said...

we all love donuts

Catherine said...

Oh man! That looks deeelish!

Anonymous said...

home made waffles is our fav! scg00387 at yahoo dot com

Aimee said...

Breakfast is usually whatever anyone can I grab.

Betty N said...

Our very favorite breakfast is blueberry french toast casserole

Betty N said...

I blogged here
view post here
http://higrandma.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/win-a-100-visa-gc-15/
view as part of the blog home page
http://higrandma.wordpress.com/

Gosfam said...

My fave breakfast is pancake, bacon, and eggs, but everyone else in the family would want waffles instead :)

Anonymous said...

My favorite breakfast is hash browns, bacon and toast ... but only have that once a week. Normally it's a bowl of Cheerios with fresh fruit on the side!

Kim
turtles8861(at)gmail(dot)com

Terrill said...

My kids and husband like bagels with a slice of tomatoes. . . I'm fond of shredded wheat with blueberries!

kjasus said...

blogged about this
http://anotherbloggiveaway.blogspot.com/2010/04/pop-tarts-and-mucho-mula.html
raggammuffin@gmail.com

akabini said...

Oh. My. God.

Clearly, we spent a lot of time together as young people, because we share taste in Pop Tarts!

Brown Sugar Cinnamon are my weakness.
No, make that my *crack*.

I get a box (for myself) every year for my birthday, and I can pretty much eat three at a sitting.

So this coffee cake may just make it onto my "I can bake anything I want for my birthday and the calories don't count" list.

Thanks for being the guinea pig!

Unknown said...

My favorite family breakfast is pancakes...I use my grandmother's trick and add a little club soda to the batter which makes them fluffier. My best Christmas gift last year was a double griddle for the stove just so I could make more pancakes.

shel704 at aol dot com

Anonymous said...

I make western omelets when we have time.

rhoneygtn at yahoo dot com

VickieB said...

favorite breakfast is actually fried ham and french toast

Nancy said...

Our favorite breakfast is french toast and bacon.

wendy said...

i thought i already posted a comment, but couldn't find it, so if this is a duplicate, sorry. My 3 1/2 year old loves bacon and eggs, she would eat just the bacon if i let her and would have it every day if i let her. she also tells me "i don't like turkey bacon, just regular", don't know how she knows the difference!! great contest, yummy coffee cake, definitely going to try that!!!

js22 said...

ham and cheese omelets are our favorite breakfast when time permits!

email in blogger profile.!

Unknown said...

Our favorite family breakfast is waffles or pancakes!
jedoggett@embarqmail.com

Michele said...

I've been indulging in Lucky Charms a lot lately. It sure helps pick me up from too many nights of getting up with Sunshine.

Cori Westphal said...

Waffles! Not only are they fun to eat, they are fun to make, as a family!

Wendi P said...

Let's see... for daughter #1 it is frozen waffles, #2 likes cold cereal, I eat yogurt and hubs eats bagels. We eat PopTarts for an after school snack :-)

parodi821 at yahoo dot com

LessLisa said...

Our favorite breakfast is homemade waffles! Although, I'm definitely trying THIS recipe now!! Thank you!

Melinda said...

My fav fast breakfast are toaster strudels...but eggs and fruit are healthier

Joy said...

Fresh Fruit

mjharvey26@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I usually have cereal
seanm1999 at hotmail dot com

BG said...

pop-tarts of course

bluegirl1423 at gmail dot com

Artistic Cook said...

a bowl of Cherrios

Artistic Cook said...

a bowl of Cherrios

Maggie Smith said...

I'm an eggs Benedict freak!!

Thanks
newmommyin08 AT yahoo DOT com

metaphase said...

My kids eat toast and yogart. I'm the one who eats the Pop Tarts! (low fat brown sugar cinnamon with peanut butter on top, sorta' negates the whole low fat thing, heh heh)
metaphase1 At Yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

Pancakes!!

jhlemmings at yahoo dot com

Scott said...

I love it when my wife makes cinnamon toast with chai to drink in the winter. Its so old-fashioned/meets trendy and so tasty too!
Scott
nynekats at aol dot com

angie lilly said...

My hubby makes this awesome breakfast for use sometimes. He makes a three-egg omelet open-faced with cheddar cheese and then stacks on fried baby red potatoes and more cheese. Its WONDERFUL!
Angie
one 4 earth at aol dot com

Unknown said...

Finnish oven pancakes- when we bother with breakfast- mostly we like coffee.

wigget said...

waffles, eggs, and bacon

Truly Blessed said...

Our fav breakfast is a sausage and egg casse role OR mom's special french toast (which ROCKS)!.

This looks really good and my crew love their PopTarts, so maybe I'll have my girls try their hand at making it up.

TB (aka 'notallboysanymore' from the July Dragonflies)

Mindy said...

Blueberry pancakes! mmm!

yadgirl said...

I really love bacon and eggs, though I won't eat bacon anymore.

Anonymous said...

sliced strawberries and juice

jdmimi at gmail dot com

Nikkole said...

Paula Dean's Blueberry Country Coffee Cake - its a guilty pleasure and we only enjoy it very rarely but it is my absolute FAVE.

nbuczek@hotmail.com

bctripletmom said...

Our favorite family breakfast is egg & cheese burritos (scrambled eggs and shredded cheddar rolled in a flour tortilla).

@bctripletmom

bctripletmom at gmail dot com

Karen said...

Our favorite family breakfast is waffles.

ramirezkar2(at)aol(dot)com

guettel78 said...

We're partial to custom-made omelets, which is a fun and interactive breakfast for all of us -- the kids love picking out their own favorite fillings, however odd or unusual they might be, and it's a great way to start the day as a family. Thanks!

gkaufmanss@yahoo.com

Aisling said...

Brown-sugar cinnamon Pop Tarts are our favorite, so I may just try out this recipe. It looks great (and obviously fun to make and eat). Our favorite breakfast is when dad makes Air Force SOS ("stuff on shingle") probably mainly because it doesn't happen very often.

Unknown said...

Favorite breakfast is eggs benedict!!

Wehaf said...

Ooh, that looks great - did you think about putting a vanilla glaze on top?

urchiken at gmail dot com

Jenn@Sweet T Makes Three said...

I love a Southern, fattening breakfast when there's time to make it. Biscuits, gravy, eggs, bacon, pancakes, the works!

slehan said...

Ham & cheese omelets are a big hit at my house. Thanks for the contest.

slehan said...

blogged: http://slehan.blogspot.com/2010/04/blogher-100-visa-card-giveaway-sites.html

07violet said...

oatmeal with banana, cinnamon and a little maple syrup

alterna7 at hotmail dot com

susan1215 said...

We like eggs and bacon for breakfast

Jinxy and Me said...

Blueberry pancakes!

Nicole Larsen said...

I cook scrambled eggs, jelly toast, and bananas for my daughter every single morning!

pittsy82@hotmail.com

Lisa Friedman said...

Definitely chocolate chip pancakes!!

Cheryl said...

Our family favorite breakfast is on the weekends when we have an all out feast. We have eggs, bacon, sausage, tortillas, charizo and pan cakes. We pig out and it last us all day long.

dizzybloom AT gmail DOT com

Valeen said...

Our favorite breakfast is our "Pig Out Breakfast" consisting of bacon, sausage, and scrambled eggs!

Yum!

sweepyhead at gmail dot com

Mari said...

My favorite family breakfast is very traditional: bacon, eggs, and greek toast!

runningmatey at hotmail dot com

M3 said...

COMMENTS FOR THIS GIVEAWAY ARE NOW CLOSED. I'LL DRAW THE WINNER AT RANDOM AND POST AN ANNOUNCEMENT LATER TONIGHT.