Actually, Kraft’s Apple Pie Mac & Cheese Isn’t That Weird
Pairing cheese and apple pie is a tradition that dates back centuries.
Photo courtesy of Kraft Mac & Cheese
If you want to start a debate this Thanksgiving, don’t bring up politics. Instead, ask everyone if they think the best part of the meal is the actual dinner or the dessert. While there will, no doubt, be differing opinions within every family or Friendsgiving gathering, the folks at Kraft have figured out a unique way to bring everyone together: Apple pie-flavored macaroni and cheese.
Yes, starting today you can find Kraft Mac & Cheese Apple Pie online. While the brand is positioning this mashup as the unlikely pairing of two Thanksgiving table staples — macaroni and cheese and apple pie — there is precedent for such a flavor combination. Many regions of the United States, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom, enjoy topping their slice of apple pie with a hearty slice of melted cheese, whether sharp cheddar or something even funkier. The tradition dates back hundreds of years to when the precursors of apple pies were served with dairy-based sauces, but also to the dairy-producing regions trying to zhuzh up their otherwise pretty bland apple pies back when apples weren’t as sweet as they are today.
I was offered a chance to try the apple pie mac, and must say I started boiling the noodles with a healthy dose of skepticism. Immediately upon mixing in the flavor packet, I could smell wafts of cinnamon and apple pie spices, which was to no surprise listed as “brown sugar” and spices on the ingredients list. What did come as a surprise was, in tasting it, I could also find some tart notes of green apple balanced among the sweetness, spices and, of course, salty cheese flavor. In the end, I actually found myself delving into a whole serving’s worth. The only lingering question I had? Was this pasta a sweet entreé or a savory dessert?
Kraft has recently unleashed other new flavor innovations in its boxed mac and cheese line, including a Pizza flavor, plus Garlic Parmesan and Hot Honey iterations. And they’ve also wandered into the dessert space before with a pink candy flavor for Valentine’s Day and a macaroni and cheese ice cream collaboration with Van Leeuwen.
Kraft Mac & Cheese Apple Pie is available nationwide starting today, Monday, November 3, but exclusively online at walmart.com for $1.48. It will only be available for a limited time while supplies last.
To promote this new sweet and savory flavor, Kraft teamed up with “ultimate pie guy” Jason Biggs who appears in an advertisement alluding to his, uh, infamous association with apple pie. We’ll leave that there.
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