I Tried All the Little Debbie Treats and This Is the Absolute Best One (2024)

I’ll do just about anything for a food story, including buying every single treat Little Debbie makes. Yes, I did receive some weird looks from other customers while shopping, and yes, the checkout person raised her eyebrows as I set down the eight packages on the conveyor belt, but I was on a mission. A mission to find out which treat was the best. After opening and unwrapping eight different desserts, I found my winner.

How I Tested

Bias could not be eliminated because the desserts were clearly identifiable. Instead, I asked my testers to give their honest reaction to the appearance, texture, and taste of each. Water was provided to cleanse the palate between bites and breaks were given to allow testers a respite from sugar overload.

The Best Little Debbie Treats, Ranked

Out of all of the desserts, the cake-style treats ranked the worst. Testers found them “uninteresting” with “muted flavors.” Most of the desserts were deemed “overly sweet,” and left testers craving water after just one bite. The better desserts had some texture, and notably, no cream filling. Here’s how they fared:

8th Place: Swiss Rolls

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Equal parts chocolate cake and cream, it’s a fun-looking dessert, but it lacks flavor. One tester even called it “boring.” We also didn’t taste much in the way of chocolate, even though the cake and coating were both supposed to be made of it. Perhaps it would be better with a cup of strong coffee.

7th Place: Chocolate Cupcakes

Testers liked the overall appearance of these chocolate cupcakes as well as their tender texture. Again, we didn’t detect much chocolate with this dessert. Instead, testers felt like this dessert was “one-note” and also left a weird taste in their mouth after eating.

6th Place: Strawberry Shortcake Rolls

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We all loved the idea of this strawberry shortcake roll, but like the others below it on this list, it was overly sweet. The strawberry filling was overpowering and was so artificially flavored, that everyone found it distracting. A quick review of the ingredients revealed not a single strawberry was used to flavor it—and it tastes that way. Cute, but not a winner.

5th Place: Zebra Cakes

This was the winner of the cake-based bunch. The texture was soft and moist, which testers appreciated. The flavor was deemed “better” than the other cakes, with testers claiming they could actually discern the cake from the filling, which was great. It was better than the others, but testers still weren’t overly impressed. One even said it felt “generically sweet.”

4th Place: Oatmeal Creme Pies

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The cookie itself is perfectly moist and chewy and the cream filling seemed like the right amount. It looked delicious, but testers didn’t love the deep molasses and flavor of the cookie. Again, the cream filling was sweet and didn’t provide much relief from the heavily flavored cookie. No one hated it, but no one loved it either. Try our homemade copycat recipe instead.

3rd Place: Cosmic Brownies

I Tried All the Little Debbie Treats and This Is the Absolute Best One (6)

If a fudgy brownie is what you’re after, then this treat delivers. It’s rich and dense and hits all of the right texture notes. Unfortunately, it falters when it comes to flavor. Testers called it “bland” and wished for more chocolate. Perhaps the addition of a few chocolate chips and a pinch of salt would help this one.

2nd Place: Star Crunch

I Tried All the Little Debbie Treats and This Is the Absolute Best One (7)

It’s a classic! A fun combination of crispy rice cereal, gooey caramel, and chocolate that doesn’t disappoint. Testers loved the texture of this treat. It was chewy and dense, but in a good way. The caramel and crispy rice were a big hit, but testers didn’t love the “raisin vibe” they tasted or the chocolate coating. It ranked high because testers enjoyed the experience and that it was uniquely different from the others on the list.

1st Place Winner: Nutty Buddy

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I should let you know that my testers are big fans of the chocolate-peanut butter combination, which may be part of the reason this dessert won. Like the Star Crunch, this treat also has a fun textural component. The crispy wafer paired with the peanut and chocolate was delicious and fun to eat. Luckily the chocolate layer (which was everyone’s least favorite part of the bar) was thin, which helped the salty peanut butter inside shine. This is the only dessert I’ll buy again!

I Tried All the Little Debbie Treats and This Is the Absolute Best One (2024)

FAQs

Which Little Debbie snack sells the most? ›

The Most Popular Little Debbies Overall

Fudge Rounds reign supreme in the realm of Little Debbie snacks, claiming the title of the most popular across America. Their universal appeal lies in the harmonious blend of chocolatey softness and a comforting, creamy center.

What is the Little Debbie snacks slogan? ›

The companies slogan is “Little Debbie Has A Snack For You”, and as if that wasn't weird enough, they even have trucks that feature this slogan.

What snacks are Little Debbie discontinued? ›

Goodbye, Little Debbie: Snack cakes to gradually disappear from commissary shelves. Get them while you can because soon there will be no more Zebra Cakes, Swiss Rolls, Nutty Buddies, Fudge Rounds and Oatmeal Creme Pies. When the remaining stock of Little Debbie snack items is gone, it's gone for good.

What is the oldest Little Debbie snack? ›

While the Oatmeal Creme Pie was the original Little Debbie snack cake, there were 14 different varieties by 1964 including the ever-popular Nutty Buddy® Wafer Bars and Swiss Cake Roll.

Does Dollar General have Little Debbie snacks? ›

Dollar General offers a wide array of snacks including potato chips, mixed nuts, crackers, and popular brands like Little Debbie.

How unhealthy are Little Debbie snacks? ›

The Daily Meal says these products are loaded with "a perfect storm" of saturated fat, sodium and copious amounts of sugar. A serving size of Little Debbie Mini Powdered Donuts (4 donuts) contains 11 grams of fat, 220 calories, 190 milligrams and 14 grams of sugars.

Who is Little Debbie competitor? ›

There seem to be four key players in this game: Drake's, Hostess, Tastykake and Little Debbie. Each brand has its virtues. Drake's is #1 in my heart, and famous for its Seinfeld-approved coffee cakes. The nearly-departed Hostess is home to the iconic Twinkie and signature cupcake.

Do banana twins still exist? ›

Banana Twins are one of the Little Debbie Snack cakes that have been around since 1965. The moist banana flavored cakes were filled with their signature creme filling. The cakes came twin wrapped, so you could share if you wanted to. They were recently discontinued due to a lack of interest.

What Little Debbie snack has been recalled? ›

McKee Foods of Collegedale, Tenn., is recalling 25 cases of Little Debbie® Mini Nutty Buddy Cookie Bites Sandwich Cookies, because they may contain undeclared pecans. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to pecans run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.

Who owns Little Debbies? ›

Little Debbie Vending and Fieldstone Bakery brands were developed by McKee Foods Corporation, a leader in the baking industry for nearly 60 years, best known for the Little Debbie brand snack cakes, with over 1 billion dollars in annual sales.

Are hostess cakes healthy? ›

Besides fat, Shanahan notes that Hostess products are virtually just sugar, high-fructose corn syrup and white flour, all of which are “basically free of any naturally occurring nutrients.” So again, none of these are healthy in the slightest.

What is Little Debbie's target market? ›

Little Debbie currently targets parents and children. Their most recent partnerships include The Peanuts Movie and National Geographic.

How much is the McKee family worth? ›

McKee Foods is the company that produces Little Debbie-branded snacks, and the family that shares its name had an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion in 2015 according to Forbes. Zippia says that McKee Foods' total revenue grew to $1.7 billion in 2021 and the company employs just under 6,000 people.

What is the market share of Little Debbie? ›

Little Debbie® is the #1 brand in the baked sweet goods category, making up 33% of the snack cake market, and American shoppers buy more than 2,000 Little Debbie products per minute.

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