Last year, Paste tried everything deep-fried at a fair, and we can confirm that deep-fried Twinkies are better than the regular ones, “taking off the chemical edge and slightly stale texture.”
Luckily, you don’t need a deep fryer or tickets to a nearby county fair to try the deep-fried treat because deep-fried Twinkies will be sold in the freezer aisle at Walmart starting today, reports ABC News.
The frozen treat comes in either “original golden” (vanilla) or chocolate for a $4.76 box of seven. The deep-fried original golden version has 9 grams of fat and 220 calories, almost doubling to the regular version with four grams of fat and 130 calories. To eat the deep-fried Twinkie, you just need to pop it in the oven or fry it because they’ve already been battered and partially fried before freezing.
The new product is the result of a year-long collaboration between Hostess and Wal-Mart meant to boost food sales, and you can buy the product exclusively at Wal-Mart for the next three months. “We’ve seen the rise in popularity of deep-fried Twinkies on dessert menus across the country as well,” Hostess VP of marketing Ellen Copaken told the AP.
Since the Twinkie’s brief discontinuation in 2012, sales for Twinkies have been greater than ever, according to CBS.
Despite healthier foods becoming a trend and Hostess using fruit in their Mini Muffins instead of artificial flavors, the new deep-fried Twinkies will cater to people looking for an unhealthy indulgence.
“We are trying to cut down on foods that are higher in sugar content,” said Darren Seifer, a food industry analyst at market research firm NPD Group Inc. to CBS, “But there is still room for indulgence.”
Walmart is also testing new sparkling water flavors, frozen stuffed doughnut bites and vacuum-packed Paleo meals, which may also roll out onto shelves in the future.