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Pillbury’s new pastries offer greasy, bland filling

Lorie Hutson

There are plenty of party nibbles in the freezer section that can help in a pinch. But Pillsbury Savorings should be a last resort for your holiday spread, food panel tasters say.

The flaky pastry bites received a woeful two-star rating from our volunteer tasters. That’s a poor ranking on our five-star scale.

“If I were blindfolded, I could not tell you what this is stuffed with besides salt,” Tina Johnson said of the cheese and spinach flavor. “But if I were blindfolded, I could tell you how greasy it is. Pass.”

Greasiness was the biggest complaint among panel members.

“A grease sponge, sans flavor,” said Andy Hoye.

Marcia Oranen added, “Not enough flavor, quite bland and greasy.”

A few people liked the savory pastries, but not enough to pull the average rating out of the cellar.

Gabe Kohler thought the Buffalo Style Chicken variety had some charms.

“The spicy, delicious sauce is encased in a wonderfully flaky crust. What’s not to love?” he wondered.

“Actually a nice flavor, spicy and vinegary but still too greasy. Maybe not finger food,” Oranen added.

The best Skip Hubbard could say about the mozzarella and pepperoni flavor was that they were “not bad.” He added: “Hardly worth going out of your way for.”

Johnson said she won’t be serving the Savorings at her holiday party.

“I wouldn’t tarnish my reputation by serving them. Not bragging … but, hey, I have standards.”

Pillsbury Savorings, Cheese and Spinach

Price: $3.23 for 8.5 ounces, 12 appetizers

Nutrition per serving, 4 pastries: 260 calories, 17 grams fat (8 grams saturated, 59 percent fat calories), 6 grams protein, 20 grams carbohydrate, 25 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 460 milligrams sodium.

Taste: • •

Value: • •

Comments: “Very salty and greasy, but the cheesy, buttery taste is redeeming.” – Gabe Kohler

“Too greasy, but I guess that’s part of the flaky pastry. The filling was a flavorless green mixture.” – Jenny Whittaker

“Perfect flaky outside, but absolutely bland filling. Too bad. I had high hopes.” – Skip Hubbard

Pillsbury Savorings, Mozzarella and Pepperoni

Price: $3.23 for 8.5 ounces, 12 appetizers

Nutrition per serving: 250 calories, 16 grams fat (7 grams saturated, 58 percent fat calories), 6 grams protein, 20 grams carbohydrate, 20 milligrams cholesterol, no dietary fiber, 450 milligrams sodium.

Taste: • •

Value: • •

Comments: “Very greasy but the outer shell is flaky and cooked to perfection. The tomato sauce in the middle also has a nice tang to it.” – Gabe Kohler

“Nice flavor. Nice flaky crust. Kids would like these also, a little greasy, but I liked these best. Nice party food.” – Nancy Robinson

“A pizza flavor and not one of those Totino’s (Pizza Rolls).” – Marilyn Moore

Pillsbury Savorings, Buffalo Style Chicken

Price: $3.23 for 8.5 ounces, 12 appetizers

Nutrition per serving: 220 calories, 13 grams fat (6 grams saturated, 53 percent fat calories), 6 grams protein, 21 grams carbohydrate, 20 milligrams cholesterol, no dietary fiber, 590 milligrams sodium.

Taste: • •

Value: • •

Comments: “Get your doctor’s permission to double your triglyceride count (but good flavor).” – Andy Hoye

“Frankly, I don’t know what flavor this was.” – Marilyn Moore

“More zip and zing than taste. Spicy and not really very good.” – Larry Inman

Products sampled by The Spokesman-Review’s reader food panel are prepared according to package directions. Panelists are not aware of a product’s brand name or price until after they have tasted it. Products are rated from one to five stars for taste and for value, based on quality compared to price.