In the world of breakfast pastries, there are basically two types: various refrigerated/frozen treats, usually filled, that require cooking in a toaster, oven or microwave to eat … and Pop-Tarts.

If you're reading this article, chances are that you've eaten Pop-Tarts at some point in your life. Comedian Paula Poundstone rhapsodizes so about them in her standup act that fans bring boxes of them to her shows as tribute. They've been the subject of the hilarious "Flaming Pop-Tart Experiment" popularized by Dave Barry, videos of which are available on YouTube by the hundreds.

Go to your local grocery store, usually on the cereal aisle, and you'll find ample shelf space devoted to Pop-Tarts. There really aren't any major competitors. Rarely in American grocery history do you find a product that so completely owns its market segment.

Look at the freezer case, though, and the breakfast field is wide open. Pop-Tarts were invented in 1963, before the frozen-food world had quite assimilated things like pastries. Frozen waffles were out there, but that was about the limit.

As American tastes have evolved and the baby boom generation has aged, the idea of starting off the day with something that might ordinarily be more of a dessert has become accepted. From Krispy Kreme to upscale bakeries, breakfast sweets of all kinds are big business. So it was inevitable that your home freezer would become part of the picture.

These pastries don't come without price, though. They are among the most fat-, carb- and calorie-dense things you can have on your breakfast menu. For a relatively small serving size, you get a substantial portion of your daily fat, sugar and carbs.

In this comparison, we'll look at several of the most popular brands. With the exception of the Pillsbury Turnovers, we selected whatever cinnamon-based filling was available. Each selection was prepared by package directions and evaluated while fresh by a panel of five adults.

Each tester was given a maximum of 20 points to award to each item based on texture, taste, appearance and overall impression.

Nutritional information is provided for each item.

Kraft Bagelfuls Cinnamon: 200 calories, 4 grams fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 190 mg sodium, 34 grams carbs.

These are unique, in that the directions offer the option of eating them straight from the refrigerator. However, for best flavor they really should be toasted. The package offers a microwave option, but the testers found the nuked version to be impossibly tough to bite, resulting in the filling squirting out. Toasted, the outside takes on a nice crispness, although the interior is a bit gummy. The filling, a blend of cream cheese and cinnamon, needed more of the latter. Final grade (toasted): 84, (microwaved): 71.

Pillsbury Fill & Bake Turnovers (Apple): 170 calories, 8 grams fat, 0 cholesterol, 260 mg sodium, 24 grams carbs.

These were more labor-intensive than any other in the test, but the work was worth it. You might want to save them for a weekend breakfast unless you're the type who typically has a spare 20 minutes on a weekday morning. The pastry shell was actually flaky and light. The filling was a bit too sweet, and the chopped apples gave it a bit of a baby food consistency, but the turnovers scored highest on appearance for a final score of 87.

Pillsbury Toaster Strudel Cinnamon Roll: 200 calories, 8 grams fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 210 mg sodium, 28 grams carbs.

Pillsbury's more conventional breakfast pastry offering didn't fare quite as well as the turnovers. From the toaster, the strudels looked like, as one tester put it, "prison food," and the overwhelming sweetness of the icing and the filling together largely blanketed any cinnamon flavor. Cinnamon is a pungent spice, able to make itself heard in just about any mixture, but it didn't stand a chance here. Final score: 65.

Pop-Tarts Brown Sugar & Cinnamon: 210 calories, 8 grams fat, 0 cholesterol, 190 mg sodium, 33 grams carbs.

This was one of the four original flavors of Pop-Tarts, and it has weathered the years very well. Out of the toaster, with the edges lightly crispy and the filling hot, they're quite tasty, with well-tamed sweetness allowing the cinnamon to come through. They don't win any points for appearance, being rather emblematic of all prepackaged baked goods, but still earned a second-best final score of 91.

Eggo Bake Shop Swirlz Cinnamon: 150 calories, 3 grams fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 270 mg sodium, 27 grams carbs.

Eggo is the only name on the list that's had a frozen breakfast product around longer than Pop-Tarts have been on grocer's shelves, and experience bears fruit with this offering. The appearance is great, looking very much like a real cinnamon roll, and the flavor is great. If you've ever topped a fresh-toasted Eggo waffle with a little butter and cinnamon sugar, you'll recognize this flavor. It also toasted the most evenly of any entry in the test. Final grade: 96.

The biggest thing to keep in mind with all these items is that the nutritional information is for one item. When's the last time you ate just one Pop-Tart? These will most likely not fill you up until lunch, or even through your midmorning coffee break. However, as an occasional indulgence or along with some fresh fruit, they're hardly the worst thing you could eat for breakfast.