Review: The New Pillsbury Grands! Poppin' Flavor Line Rivals Scratch-Made

Pillsbury is such a household name that most people probably think of them the moment you say something along the lines of "refrigerated, canned biscuits." And who can forget their adorable little mascot with the cute chef hat and tickly stomach? While Pillsbury played an integral role in my childhood, I have to be honest and say I haven't heard much of them in the way of trending news lately. Until the brand debuted delicious-sounding new flavors in a new Poppin' Flavors line.

Recently, Pillsbury announced four new Grands! flavors, including two biscuits and two fruit rolls. One of the biscuit flavors has the brand hopping onto the new hot honey bandwagon, alongside other giants — like McDonald's with their full hot honey menu. The other biscuits are maple flavored, while the fruit rolls come in raspberry and apple. All of these sound absolutely mouthwatering, and right up my alley. So, of course, I was excited when I was given the opportunity to be one of the first to review these new delicacies.

Since I have more than 15 years of experience in the food industry cross-training in hot foods and bakeries, I have a pretty solid idea of what makes a biscuit great. Pair these with my lifelong love affair with standard Pillsbury biscuits and crescent rolls, and I feel qualified to assess the new products. Ready to learn what I thought about them? Let's get into it.

Some recommendations are based on first-hand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer/distributor/etc.

Taste was the primary driver in my decisions of whether the new Pillsbury flavors were good or not, but scent and texture played smaller roles. Each option was baked according to the instructions printed on the package, and tried exactly as-is without any alterations or additions. This means I didn't use butter, jellies, syrups, or other condiments to come to my conclusions.

To make my judgments, I primarily relied on nearly two decades of food industry experience, where I worked in bakeries and hot foods restaurants. Having spent an additional 15 or so years running underfoot at bakeries in the family business also contributed, as did past experiences with the Pillsbury brand. Lastly, previous work creating review articles for Daily Meal granted me a solid foundation for reporting my findings — this includes reviews of popular items like the new Cocoa-Cola Cherry Float, and McDonald's Grinch Salt McShaker Fries. Although personal preference did play a role in this ranking, I aimed to be as unbiased as possible about product quality.

I really enjoy topping my homemade buttermilk biscuits with hot honey. In fact, I think it's one of the best ways to cook with hot honey, so I was beyond excited to try these. While I feel confident in saying these were amazing, it feels a little outrageous to me to say that these were my least favorite of the four new Pillsbury flavors — and you'll think that's a surprising statement, too, once you hear how heavily I praise them.

The scent of these cooking was quite light, with only vague notes of heat and sweetness. The texture was perfectly flaky and crumbly like every Pillsbury biscuit I've ever had. Overlaying a base starchy, buttery biscuit flavor profile were light notes of heat that mildly overpowered the faint honey sweetness. This heat builds as you continue eating the biscuit to a moderate level that isn't unbearable and will be well appreciated by spice lovers. After my first taste, I used the biscuit as a sandwich with my favorite thick cut bacon and some eggs, and it worked beautifully here.

The Pillsbury Grands! Poppin' Flavor Biscuits Mike's Hot Honey each contain 180 calories and 3 grams of protein. They also contain 26% of your daily sodium values, 7 grams of total fat, and 28 grams of carbohydrates. There are allergen warnings for wheat, and the potential for milk.

These maple biscuits were my favorite option from the new line up, no question about it. The very best part was the robust maple scent that filled my whole kitchen with a warm sugary smell featuring light woody undertones. It really elevated the whole experience before I even took a bite, making me feel warm and comfortable, like I had been transported back in time to my Mamaw's kitchen growing up. And, that's only the beginning of the praise I have to offer these biscuits.

Texturally, these are soft and flaky while still holding together well. The top is nice and crisp, while the interior layers are fluffier. The taste has strong maple overtones against the buttery starch, with what almost tastes like a vanilla finish, but not quite — it's hard to exactly tell what that final layer of flavor is, but it's certainly delicious. I will definitely be grabbing more of these on my next grocery shopping trip.

Each Pillsbury Grands! Poppin' Flavor Biscuits Maple has 180 calories and 3 grams of protein. They also provide 25% of your daily sodium, 7 total grams of fat, and 28 grams of carbohydrates. There are allergen warnings for wheat, as well as the potential for milk.

If this were a contest for which Poppin' Flavor product was the prettiest, these raspberry fruit rolls would win without a doubt. The bright purplish raspberry contrasted beautifully with the lightly browned base to create a stunning aesthetic that drew me in to take a bite.

The base pastry here is exactly what you would expect from any rolls that Pillsbury puts out. It's soft but appropriately thick, featuring a mildly sweet starch with strong notes of butter. Paired with this was a robust raspberry that tasted super fresh. Plus, it was appropriately sweet without being overwhelming, allowing a faint berry tang to still shine through. The icing on top was a nice touch, offering a small extra bite of sweetness, although I would have honestly eaten these without that, too.

One Pillsbury Grands! Poppin' Flavor Fruit Rolls Raspberry has 310 calories with 5 grams of protein. They also contain 24% of your daily sodium values, 9 grams of total fats, and 54 grams of carbohydrates. There are allergen warnings for wheat and milk, but each roll also provides 10% of your daily iron needs, and 6% of your daily potassium needs. 

The last flavor is another one with an awe-inspiring scent that had me standing in my kitchen, sniffing the air (and looking silly, I'm sure). The smell is nearly identical to homemade apple pie, with notable cinnamon punctuations and a faint buttery crust undernote. Thankfully, this was largely indicative of the taste.

The flavor was close to apple pie, although there were a few things to set it apart. The apple flavor was a little more mild than the scent indicated, balancing nicely with the sweetened and spiced base. Starchy notes were evident throughout, while mild notes of cinnamon offered warm, nutty tones. Texturally, this was identical to the perfection offered by the raspberry fruit rolls. You have to hand it to Pillsbury for their unwavering consistency.

One Pillsbury Grands! Poppin' Flavor Fruit Rolls Apple has 310 calories with 5 grams of protein. They also contain 24% of your daily sodium values, 9 grams of total fats, and 54 grams of carbohydrates. There are allergen warnings for wheat and milk, but each roll also provides 10% of your daily iron needs, and 6% of your daily potassium needs.

It's not often I find something I have little to no constructive criticism or outright complaints about. Growing up in a family of chefs and bakers, followed by working in the industry myself, only to be followed by a career here on Daily Meal, has lent itself to me being a bit picky. But, Pillsbury's New Poppin' Flavor line has managed to wow me in every aspect.

Every new flavor of biscuit or roll was fantastic in its own right, while the texture was the exact perfection I expected for the specific product. Yet, for as amazing as these new Pillsbury products tasted, they smelled even better — and, if you've ever read anything I've written, you'll know that the smell of my foods is very important. To round things out, they are all aesthetically pleasing, which only further drew me to eat more ... even when I should have stopped. I strongly recommend grabbing yourself a can of every flavor in this new line. Your only regret will be that you didn't grab two cans of each flavor.

The four new flavors are the beginning of a new line from Pillsbury called "Poppin' Flavor," — the fact that this is a new line gives us hope that there will be even more new releases in the future, although that hasn't been confirmed or denied. According to the official press release, you should be able to purchase these new products nationwide, likely anywhere that Pillsbury products are regularly sold. In my area, this includes retailers like Shoprite, Walmart, BJ's Wholesale Club, Target, GIANT, Acme Markets, and Price Rite, among others.

No information on pricing was released, and I struggled to find reliable information online. However, we can make a reasonable guess that they will be priced in the same ballpark as other Pillsbury Grands! products, which currently cost $3.39 at the Shoprite in Vineland, New Jersey. Of course, this is only a guess, and not definitive information on what you may expect to pay. Pricing may vary based on your specific location and preferred grocery store.