This week I was torn in regards to what to write about following the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I debated writing an open letter to hypocritical Senate Republicans — a long and strongly-worded note to Mitch McConnell.
I also considered writing a brief history of Ginsburg's life for those who may not be familiar with the monumental gains she championed — not just for women, but for all Americans seeking equal justice under the law.
However, in thinking about all of these topics, I found myself bogged down in the gravity of our current circumstances and the weight the next few months will hold for the future of this country.
I decided instead of focusing on the negative aspects of our current circumstances I would seek comfort in the positive things unique to this time in our lives like the breezy fall weather, the return of football season, and of course all things pumpkin spice.
It is my hope that with this article I will remind some readers that while times seem to be at their darkest now, there is positivity to be found in the present.
We may have to search harder for it now than ever before, but it exists and it is more powerful than the feelings of despair, loss, fear, and anger that grip our nation and everyone in it. May Ginsburg's memory be a blessing to us all, and may she continue to touch our lives through her relentless pursuit of equality and light.
Now, onto the positivity and the pumpkin spice.
First, a quick note before we get into the rankings.
The snacks I tested were Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Spice Swirl Bread, Pumpkin Pie Kit Kats, Belvita Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Biscuits, Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts, and Little Bites Pumpkin Muffins.
The snacks were evaluated on five criteria:
- look
- smell
- pumpkin factor
- spice factor
- snackability
Each snack could earn a total of 20 points with looks being judged on a 3-point scale, smell a 2-point scale, and the rest of the criteria being judged on a 5-point scale.
The snacks were evaluated by a panel of four judges (aka me and my family) and each judge made a few comments about the snack while also giving their overall ranking out of 20 points.
These scores were tallied and averaged to get an overall score to determine the official ranking of competitors in the pumpkin spice snack showdown.
Without any further ado, here are the rankings for the best and least best pumpkin spice snacks available this fall.
5. Belvita Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Biscuits
These breakfast biscuits weren't necessarily bad, but in general, they lacked pumpkin flavor and fell short on looks. Combine these shortcomings with their generally less "snackable" vibe, and it's no wonder that this treat fell to the bottom of the ranks.
Judge A commented on "an artificial pumpkin spice smell like potpourri" while Judge C said the biscuit "didn't scream pumpkin spice" but instead, "mostly just regular cinnamon."
Overall, this snack was the least best coming in with a score of only 7/20.
4. Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Spice Swirl Bread
This pumpkin bread was relatively disappointing in terms of flavor. While it looked great, it suffered from a lack of notable smell, pumpkin flavor, and spice flavor.
In general, there was a split between the judges over whether the bread was better toasted, or eaten plain, but Judge D said of the toasted bread "it gets higher marks for presence of butter and nicer look".
Judge C said the plain untoasted bread was "a little better but just marginally".
Either way, this bread tasted fine but was not really distinguishable from any other swirl bread leaving it lacking in the pumpkin spice factor essential for this taste test.
The pumpkin spice swirl bread came fourth place with a score of 10/20.
3. Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts
This snack performed decidedly better in the category of pumpkin flavor than the previous two snacks, but still left something to be desired in terms of spice.
Again, the judges were split between preferring the snack toasted or untoasted with Judge B saying the untoasted "seemed a bit too sweet" while Judge A said the toasted Pop-Tart tasted "less pumpkiny" and theorized that the heat may "dampen the flavor" of the snacks.
One place where this snack did excel though, was in snackability.
All four judges ranked this snack with a 4 or 5 for the snackability criteria, making it one of the most successful snacks in this specific category.
Without the distinct spice that is a part of pumpkin spice, this snack placed third with an overall score of 13/20.
2. Little Bites Pumpkin Muffins
These pumpkiny little muffins were a big hit with the panel of judges. Judge B praised the muffins as "tasting like pumpkin bread" and being "very moist" while Judge D commented on the presence of spice flavor which was more prominent than in the other snacks.
This snack did suffer in the looks department, with Judge A commenting the muffin "looked like a fat nipple".
Despite this unfortunate shortcoming, the muffins ranked high in terms of smell, taste, and snackability.
All said and done, this left them in second place with an overall score of 15/20.
1. Pumpkin Pie Kit Kat
The top-rated pumpkin pie snack is the pumpkin pie flavored Kit Kat! These sweet crunchy candies ranked high on every judge's scorecard due to their delightful smell, pumpkiny and spicy flavors, and the ease with which they could be snacked on during an afternoon college football game, or while watching a spooky movie.
The only shortcoming that was widely noted across the entire panel of judges was the color of the candies.
The pale orange color of the pumpkin white chocolate was described by Judge D as "weird", while Judge B called it "unappetizing".
This wasn't enough to move the snack from the top spot though, especially with three of the four judges giving at least one 5/5 rating on the rubric.
If you're looking for a pumpkin spice snack to enjoy this fall, these Kit Kats are the best of the best! Congrats to the winner of the pumpkin spice snack showdown!
The Pumpkin Pie Kit Kat which came in with an overall score of 17/20.
So, there you have it! The results of the pumpkin spice showdown leave Pumpkin Pie Kit Kats in top spot, followed by Little Bites Pumpkin Muffins, and with Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts rounding out the top three.
Let me know your thoughts if you try any, or if there are any I neglected to try that you think I should include next time.
Happy fall y'all!
