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Pancakes from a CanOrganic Batter Blaster and Smart Start Strawberry Oat BitesWhat's new? What's great? What's weird? Our columnist samples offerings from supermarket aisles and fast-food menus. |
By: Batter Blaster
I Paid: $4.39 for an 18-ounce can (prices may vary by region)
The marketing success of Organic Batter Blaster, the pancake batter that comes in an aerosol can, is self-evident. The Internet is studded with write-ups. Most concentrate on the novelty of the delivery system (fair enough); nitpicking about the “organic” label (seriously, what organic-food devotee is going to purchase pancakes you spray out of an aerosol can, no matter what?); or how people really should just make their own pancake batter and then store it in a rinsed-out plastic ketchup bottle.
Notably lacking: candid and detailed assessments of the pancakes themselves.
The delivery system is as effortless as you’d hope: Heat up a pan, then spend all of five seconds blasting a circle of puffy batter into whatever size and shape of pancake you’d like to eat. Rinse the nozzle, replace the cap, and re-refrigerate the bottle. Easy as advertised. Highly entertaining.
The problem comes after the pancakes have been cooked and put onto the plate. They taste … defeated. There’s a flat, mealy, almost sawdusty flavor to them. They’re neither the big, fluffy buttermilk pancakes that are the Midwestern mass-market standard; nor the thin, chewy, elegant pancakes that true pancake mavens crave. They somehow manage to combine the failings of both alternatives: They lack the fun volume and fluffiness, while also lacking flavor and chewy charm.
Smart Start Strawberry Oat Bites
By: Kellogg’s
I Paid: $3.75 for a 14.7-ounce box (prices may vary by region)
This Mini-Wheats-esque strawberry oat cereal is the latest gambit on the part of the Smart Start cereal franchise. These are the folks who conceived of the brilliant ruse of creating a “health” cereal resembling a vitamin-fortified version of Sugar Smacks. “Mmm—so healthy … and yet so deliciously sweet!” The trick behind making Smart Start taste so sweet, it turns out, is adding a bunch of sugar.
(Sugar in one cup of Smart Start = 14 grams; Corn Pops = 14.8 grams; Frosted Mini-Wheats = 10 grams.)
Laudably, Strawberry Oat Bites cereal has 7 grams of sugar per serving, which represents a real step forward for the brand.
Moreover, it’s a nice compromise between a wheaty/oaty health cereal and Smart Start in terms of taste. The strawberry flavor evokes the artificially sweet punch of Pop-Tarts, but it’s far more restrained than you might fear.
The actual oat bites soften nicely with the addition of milk, and are pleasantly munchable after a minute or two of soaking. (It’s worth noting that the strawberry filling also turns the milk pink, which may or may not be a problem depending upon your gender and level of insecurity.)
I never really understood the allure of ready-made pancake batter and mixes. Pancake batter is so incredibly easy to make and tastes much better than the premade stuff; furthermore, you can adjust it as you see fit to tailor the sweetness and consistency of the end result. It's not like it's rocket science to make pancakes.
I totally understand the allure of ready-made pancake mixes. It's not rocket science, but it is a pain in the ass if you're the only person who eats pancakes in the house, as I am. I've tried making them from scratch or making homemade mixes, and it's too much trouble for what I consider junk food (white flour batter served with butter and syrup). So I bought the can and had hopes for it, thinking it was the perfect thing for someone in my circumstance. But no, it made these oddly textured, very flat, almost web-like, plasticky pancakes that didn't taste good at all. The ingredient list didn't look questionable, so there's something in the execution that is off.
I look forward to someone figuring it out, because if it made good pancakes, this would be a recurring item in my fridge. As it stand, I'll have to wait until I visit my mom to have pancakes.
I respectfully disagree a whole hell of a lot with the assessment of the Batter Blaster Pancakes. I find them very tasty- way better than the Bisquick shake-in-the-jug kind and a million times more convenient. Sure, not as good as made-from-scratch and a Buttermilk version would be delightful, but these are the most convenient and tastiest "easy pancake" solution to date.
If you'd like to sample the true glory of the Batter Blaster pancake, swing by The Argus in San Francisco some Sunday and get a free pancake with every drink! It's how I got introduced to them.