I already reviewed the blueberry version of these, so I won’t get into a huge introduction here. Actually, I never would have bought these at all if it weren’t for our three-year-old son, who is going through a phase where he doesn’t want to eat anything except sweets all the time. He wasn’t a fan of the blueberry muffins, so when we saw Aldi carried these, we figured we could ply him with a snack that combines two of his favorite things: colors and cake! In short, it didn’t work, so we were left with a whole box of uneaten muffins that he wouldn’t even look at, let alone touch. (Why are kids so annoying?)

I couldn’t just let them go to waste, so I grabbed a bag for myself to see how these would compare to the other small muffins that I’ve had, even though this wasn’t something I’d normally care to try.

I dug into the bag around 6:30 a.m. At work one morning, before I had time to eat anything else. Well, that was a bad idea: they tasted so sweet that they made my stomach churn. The flavor wasn’t at all bad, I just sometimes have an issue with eating a lot of sugar on an empty tummy—in retrospect, it probably wasn’t the best time to give them a fair shake (although, in my defense, muffins are breakfast food, so I didn’t really do anything outside the norm here).

With that in mind, I decided to wait a little while later before polishing off the final two muffins, in order to give a more accurate report.

The final serving came much later, somewhere around the noon hour, and I have to say that it was a much more enjoyable experience. The sweetness didn’t seem as off-putting once I had some other items in my stomach, and they actually do taste a lot like cake, which actually kind of shocked me, while still maintaining the same texture of a muffin. There’s also a generous amount of the “confetti” in each one, which gives them that cool multi-color look that most kids will no doubt love. (Except our son, apparently, even though he usually goes ape-shit for anything with “sprinkles”.) They don’t seem to add much to the texture or taste, but they’re fun to look at.

I will say these small muffins are never super moist to begin with, and having what appears to be a layer of sugar on top (at least, that’s what I’m assuming those small reflective crystals are) made them feel even dryer on the inside. It’s not a big deal when eaten with a liquid (as most people tend to do), but sometimes I don’t have anything else handy, and these just end up sucking out the remaining saliva I have in my mouth, which makes me feel like I’m chewing on them for days before I can swallow (that goes for any brand and flavor of mini muffins, not just this one).

This isn’t something I would normally try, as I go out of my way to avoid other types of “sweet” muffins chocolate chips belong in a variety of places; muffins are not one of them), but I have to say they were better than I was expecting. I still won’t get them very often, and when I do I’ll know to eat them more as a mid-day snack than a breakfast item, but if nothing else, this is welcome proof that muffins and cake are not all that far off from one another. Who knew?

Overall: 6/10. I very much dislike when dessert items are combined into non-dessert breakfast breads (I’m sorry, but chocolate chips don’t belong anywhere near muffins), and that’s why these never appealed to me. However, I have to say that they are a lot better than I was expecting, delivering up a flavor that really does taste similar to cake, and with a generous amount of soft “confetti” sprinkles for added color and fun. I couldn’t eat them for breakfast (too sweet to eat first thing in the morning for me), but as a mid-day snack or quick dessert, these are actually pretty good. The $1.99 price tag also makes them cheaper than the national brands by a pretty convincing margin. Not something I’ll get with regularity, or maybe ever again, but also not something I regret trying.