PILLSBURY PUMPKIN SPICE ROLLS

Welcome to day 19 of Tag Sale Tastes’ Pumpkinpalooza!

Today I whacked open a can of poppin’ fresh Pillsbury Grands Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice Rolls with Icing:

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Admit it — it’s fun to smack the can against the counter and have the dough explode out of the can, like a culinary version of whack-a-mole.

I see cinnamon on the ingredient list, but sadly these are pumpkin free:

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The directions are simple enough — Pop. Make. Yum!  In case you were thinking of pinching off a bite of dough, the package advises “do not eat raw dough.”  Good save!

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I preheated my oven to 350 degrees, arranged the rolls in the baking pan, and patiently waited for the promised yum.  They filled the house with a cinnamon-y scent as they baked.

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They rose high, and looked great:

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I could hardly wait to spread the icing over the hot rolls:

Ta da!

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I was prepared to like these.  I wanted to love them.  They were so easy and looked and smelled so good.  I loved the slightly orange color, even though there was no pumpkin in them.  I delighted in their pillowy texture.  But we all reluctantly agreed that they were not nearly as good as the plain old cinnamon roll variety that we adore, and in fact, the icing had a rather unpleasant aftertaste.  Don’t get me wrong — they weren’t horrible.  They just weren’t good.  But they should have been.  Back to R&D Pillsbury.

Rating:  3 pumpkins (out of 5)

THOMAS’ PUMPKIN SPICE ENGLISH MUFFINS

Welcome to day 18 of Tag Sale Tastes’ Pumpkinpalooza!

Today I am toasting up a Thomas’ Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice English Muffin:

The package teased me with the promise that these english muffins “will warm your home as they toast, filling the air with the wonderful aroma of autumn.”

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Well, the only way they’re going to warm my home as they toast is if I do it over a roaring fire or space heater — we’ve never really considered the toaster as capable of providing warmth.  But they did smell good toasting, so I’ll give them that.

On to the ingredients.  Is that . . . can it be . . . pumpkin and cinnamon listed in the ingredients?

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Here’s a pumpkin spice English Muffin:

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It’s hard to tell from the photo, but they are darker than regular English Muffins, a whole wheat kind of look.  Makes me feel like these are a more virtuous breakfast, than say, ice cream.

I toasted it up, filling the air with the wonderful aroma of autumn, and slathered them with butter while they were still warm:

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These were great.  They toasted up kind of golden, and they certainly did smell good.  They were fine by themselves, but with the melted butter nestled in the little nooks and crannies, they were really satisfying.  They were very lightly sweetened, and a delicate hand was used with the spice.  The pumpkin wasn’t really noticeable, but is it ever?  They made a tasty quick breakfast, a little something out of the ordinary.

Rating:  5 pumpkins (out of 5)