Photograph courtesy of Pop-Tarts
In a 2014 episode of Family Guy, Peter and Quagmire sing a folksy song that asks, “Have you ever put butter on a Pop-Tart? If you haven’t, then I think you should.” Years later, references are still made to the song and the divisive combo—there have been about 6,946 tweets this year alone about Pop-Tarts and butter, according to the pastry company—so Pop-Tarts thought it would be fun to create a kit that celebrates the pairing. To bring the kit to life, they partnered with Atlanta’s own Banner Butter.
For the uninitiated, Banner Butter makes small-batch cultured butter—good bacteria is added to the cream after pasteurization and fermented, which gives the butter a rich, tangy flavor—that’s sold at Peachtree Road Farmers Market as well as certain retailers like Whole Foods and Earth Fare.
Co-founder Andrew McBath says he was excited when Kellogg’s reached out about the collaboration. In fact, he grew up eating butter on Pop-Tarts and didn’t realize the snacking practice wasn’t ubiquitous. “It wasn’t a new thing to me, but Pop-Tarts did a survey and discovered that there are some people who have never done it and some who have that think it’s weird if you haven’t,” said McBath. “They just kind of latched on to this kit as one of those fun things to do.”
Photograph courtesy of Pop-Tarts
The kits, which will be released on Tuesday, November 16, will contain three Pop-Tarts flavors (Frosted Strawberry, Frosted Brown Sugar and Cinnamon, and Frosted Chocolate Fudge) and six flavors of Banner Butter including sea salt, strawberry, and dark chocolate, complete with a pairing guide on how to best enjoy them. (For example: add balsamic fig and caramelized onion butter to a strawberry Pop-Tart to create “the Sweet and Savory Stunner.”)
Kellogg’s looked to Banner Butter to come up with the flavor pairings (“We asked if we could do a roasted garlic butter and they said yes,” laughs McBath), so head churner Jonathan Russell sat down with the Pop-Tarts flavors and played around with the different options. He came up with a honey habanero butter just for this kit, which is meant to be paired with the chocolate fudge treat. Meanwhile, Kellogg’s came up with the packaging which includes a special box for the butter and dry ice. “We’re just happy to be a part of it,” says McBath.
If you’re not exactly sure how to eat a Pop-Tart with butter, it’s recommended that you get the pastry extra toasty to allow for the best butter spreadability and absorption into the Pop-Tart crust. And yes, you spread it right onto the frosting. That’s why, according to Peter and Quagmire, the combination is “really freaking good.”
Kits can be ordered online, but get ready to order them right when they’re released, as they’re expected to sell out quickly.
