Last year, Pringles made its first foray into the world of sweet and savory chips, offering three holiday-inspired flavors for the season: Cinnamon and Sugar, White Chocolate Peppermint and Pumpkin Pie Spice. As you might expect, the reviews were, uh, mixed.
The nostalgia-inducing cinnamon sugar flavor fared the best in our office taste test, while White Chocolate Peppermint was unanimously despised, with one staffer comparing it to a Pringle with “a thin layer of toothpaste on it.” Appetizing, no?
Well, Pringles took a hint: This year, they’ve brought back Cinnamon and Sugar, but replaced the other flavors with a holiday classic, pecan pie. Because why mess with the oven when you can pop a can and start snacking?
"Pringles knows that pecan pie is a favorite holiday treat, so the brand is excited to give consumers a convenient and delicious way to enjoy this seasonal flavor without the hassle of baking," a company representative told TODAY.com in a statement. "Pringles brought back Pringles Cinnamon and Sugar flavor this holiday season given its popularity last year."
TODAY.com got a hold of this limited-edition release for an office taste test, and let's just say that you can dislike pecans and still enjoy these, because they don't taste very much like nuts at all. Maple syrup, definitely. Buttered waffles, a bit. But there's nothing very nutty about them, save for a slight hint of candied pecans in the aftertaste. (This might have a little something to do with the fact that nuts don't appear anywhere on the chips' ingredient list.)
This, of course, isn't necessarily a bad thing. Once we got used to the saccharine powder that covers each chip, we found them to be even kind of satisfying — certainly not as offensive as White Chocolate Peppermint. Now they're not necessarily the snack we'd reach for when the munchies strike, but we wouldn't flat out reject them if a snacking situation got desperate.
Reviews around the office ranged from happy to horrified: One senior editor still couldn't get over the fact that he was mixing pie with chips, describing it as a "strange taste experience," while another enjoyed the sweet maple flavor, comparing the chips to a diner breakfast. And yet another person said they taste more like a pastry than a chip — a good or bad thing, depending on what you want from your curvy crisps.
All in all, it's a surprisingly better (if imperfect) attempt at salty-sweet chips. If you'd like to decide for yourself, they're already available in select stores nationwide through the holiday season.