Caramel Apple Oatmeal Creme Pies!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Fall has arrived! If the leaves changing colors and the horrid heat of the summer departing weren't enough to clue you in, perhaps the large amount of Pumpkin flavored items on the shelves at your local supermarket clued you in. It seems like every major brand has a pumpkin or pumpkin spice item. Along comes Little Debbie to shake things up. Do they have pumpkin flavored stuff? You bet. But the Queen of Snack Cakes knows that Fall isn't just about pumpkin. So when I saw these new Caramel Apple Oatmeal Creme Pies, I knew I had to try them. Carmel Apples bring forth memories of going to the fairs in the fall! Gorging on delicious foods and playing games of chance to win cheap prizes. Taking a spin on a ride that's been taken apart and reassembled a hundred times by any number of haggard carnies. Caramel apples are always there, like a necessary prop in the background of every fair and carnival. I'm not sure anyone after 1952 has ever liked caramel apples. They are always there but I never see anyone buy them. They are a treat from a bygone era, but the idea of them still gets me excited!

Colorful Fall Leaves on the box and everything!

Let's get one thing clear before we go any further. I'm not sure when it happened, but suddenly I realized a while back that Little Debbie is THE pastry company these days. In my younger days I would have said it was Hostess, but let's face it, they fell off and they fell off hard. While they seem like they are doing well, they will never take the crown back from Little Debbie. Name any one item you like from another snack cake company and I can name you a dozen things Little Debbie does that are better. She now rules the snack cake aisle with an Iron Fist. Like I said back in the Milky Way Brownie post, All hail the Queen of Snack Cakes. Mother of Pastries, Breaker of Diets. If you doubt it, just peer into her icy, dark blue eyes.

All hail the queen!

Why am I kissing her ass so much before starting this review? Because she deserves it! She puts out the Oatmeal Creme Pie. END OF STORY. SHUT THE DAMN BOOK! They are one of the greatest things ever thought up by a human brain. So soft and delicious. The other versions of them are pretty great too! Fudge Rounds, and even the Peanut Butter Cookie creme pies are excellent. So going into these Caramel Apple ones I was pretty excited, and I have to say, I wasn't let down.

Once freed from it's plastic film, you see that it's the same tiny size as the regular OCP. Big difference here though is that it smells like someone just cracked open a jug of fresh apple cider right under my nose. Not only that, but I spy more oats than usual in the cookie!

It was tough to pull the hood back on this hot rod due to how chewy the cookie was. Just like you'd expect. But once inside you can see that there's what appears to be some nice apple butter-esque goo, and a different shade of the classic Oatmeal Creme Pie "creme." As I suspected, this is where the Caramel flavor is coming from. Apple goo plus caramel creme between two thin, chewy oatmeal cookies. Ripped open like this, it doesn't look like much, but together? Together it's the fall treat you never knew you wanted.

In the end I have to say that these are a welcome change to the limited edition fall item. Everyone does Pumpkin Spice! Josh just reviewed THREE PUMPKIN SPICE CEREALS! I say the more apple the better.  These are a great start. I can happily say that if they pop up next year I will 100% scoop them up and enjoy them with a nice cup of mulled cider.  They are an awesome spin on a classic, fan favorite pastry item from the company currently on top, Little Debbie.

I give Caramel Apple Oatmeal Creme Pies an A-! Would have been a plus if they were just a little bit bigger!

PS- Twinkie the Kid, if I were you, I would wipe that smile off your face and make yourself scarce. Before the Queen realizes just how creepy you are and green lights your ass!

Review by Rich, resides in New Hampshire and likes to boast that he's eaten more apple cider donuts than everyone reading this review combined. Think you've got him beat? NOPE.

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Hostess Milky Way Brownies!

Folks, I'm going to be honest with you. I don't really care about Hostess stuff. Remember a few years back when they were going out of business and everyone threw a fit? Eventually, against all odds, Hostess came back from the brink, like Rocky Balboa turning it all around in the final moments of a title fight.  People's fears of a Twinkie-less world were put to rest. Well I'm going to throw it out there, I felt no sadness at the death of the Twinkie. They aren't good! I don't think I've ever spent money on one. I've definitely eaten them when given them, and it helps remind me of why I don't ever buy them. Tastes vary from one fatguyfoodblogger to another, so I'm sure my peers will have an ear full to send my way. But that's just me. I don't really like much of what they have to offer. Those little cupcakes? 

Uhhh...what about the fruit pies?

Ho Hos? Zingers?

But I have to be honest, Ding Dongs are great (Insert penis joke here). Despite being half the size they used to be.  Chocolate Zingers are decent too. Those fruit ones? Nasty. But in the end it kind of just feels like Hostess likes to do what's comfortable and what people expect from them. The problem there is that people feel nostalgic when it's going to go away, but they rarely purchase the items because they are old hat. Things they have had a million times before, but that are nothing new. You gotta give them points for trying to put different filling in the Twinkies over the past couple years, but come on, gang, you gotta do better than that.  I have heard that their Salted Caramel Cupcakes are pretty good, but haven't run into them to try them yet. 

Perhaps someone at Hostess finally knows what's up. When I saw the new Milky Way Hostess Brownies in my local grocery store I was like...

So I bought a box! Let's check them out! 

The Hostess Milky Way Brownies come in a box of six. Makes sense. I guess a half dozen is a solid number when you're talking about brownies. Of course, I ripped the box open and just dumped them all out on the table at once. Just in case they are so good that I decide I need to eat all of them right there at that moment, like Cookie Monster...but with brownies. 

You always have to brace yourself when un-boxing a pastry item like this because it's never going to look like it does on the box. Let's be realistic. They are tumbling around inside of that box like a bunch of astronauts training in zero g. But these don't look too bad! Lots of chocolate and nougat chunks stuck in the caramel! My first thought is that they smell like Cosmic Brownies. You know, those awesome little brownies with the multi-colored candies on top that are put out by Little Debbie, aka the Queen of Pastries. Mother of snack cakes. Breaker of diets.

The Hostess Milky Way Brownies themselves do kind of taste like Cosmic Brownies, but not as moist. The caramel on top is more like caramel flavored frosting. I was hoping it would be as gooey as the caramel on the box and the caramel you find inside a Milky Way Bar. But...this is okay too. 

The Milky Way pieces on top are kind of disappointing. It's really sort of just dry pieces of chocolate and nougat with the occasional melty piece. It really all just combines in your mouth into a strange sweet paste. Not bad, but also it doesn't really get me too excited. Also it really doesn't taste that much like a Milky Way.  I think they missed the boat with the nougat. Imagine the brownie having a gooey nougat center? Perhaps with caramel frosting and chocolate pieces on top? Seems like they took the lazy way out. 

When a world famous snack cake company teams up with one of the greatest candy bars of all time, you expect to see sparks flying. You want to bite into it and see a fireworks display like they have at Disney World every night. But the Hostess Milky Way Brownies are more like a sparkler.  Hissing away in your hand for a moment. It's cool, and it's better than not having fireworks. But is it the sky lighting up and filling your brain with wonder? Nope. Same here. I think Hostess needs to hire someone to mix things up. Baseball themed cupcakes? That's what you're doing? Really? In 2016? Really? Sigh. If you're curious and want to try these out, go for it, but be prepared for mediocrity.  Are they better than not having a brownie at all? Sure. But if you need me, I'll be eating this here Cosmic Brownie. My allegiance lies with my Queen.

I give Hostess Milky Way Brownies a C. Such potential, but in the end, just an average sweet pastry snack that won't get you that excited at all. 

Review by Rich Brunelle, who can be found walking all around Seattle to find items to review on this very website.

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