It’s good to have friends who help you maintain a positive attitude and healthy habits. It’s also good to have friends who urge you to make questionable choices every once in a while.
When I emailed a photo of a surprising food find — Little Debbie Banana Pudding Rolls — to a former colleague earlier this week, he responded immediately: “My professional advice to you is to buy two boxes of them right now. Why two? Because you’ll eat one box on the way home from the store.”
How could a girl resist?
I grew up eating Little Debbie products at my grandparent’s house in South Mississippi — my brother and I could always find a box of the treats on top of the refrigerator. I am the Forrest Gump of Little Debbie products, with a readily accessible running list of the different varieties taking up valuable space inside my brain. Ask me about nearly any of the company’s products, and I can run down a quick review for you. Here are just a few that popped into my head this very minute:
Devil Squares: Their substantial filling and sort of weirdly textured chocolate coating combine for a unique and delicious culinary experience that made me, as a child, feel slightly more sophisticated than my tomboyish habits generally merited.
Nutty Bars: Peanut buttery goodness, my mom’s favorite Little Debbie product ever (I think) and one I’ve learned to love more over time. I was more about the soft and squishy snacks growing up.
Star Crunch: Quite possibly the most ingenious use of crisp rice, caramel and chocolate ever concocted. You can buy really big single Star Crunches at gas stations throughout Mississippi. Do it.
Oatmeal Creme Pies: Two soft, delicious cookies with a creme filling that I’ve never been able to bring myself to appreciate. Quite possibly the only sandwich cookie that’s prompted me to eat the cookies and feed the filling to the dog.
Not even 10-plus years of Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama, could convince me that real MoonPies, made in Chattanooga, Tennessee, are better than Little Debbie’s chocolate and banana Marshmallow Pies.
Needless to say, I’m a fan, although as I’ve reduced my intake of sugar and artificial ingredients over the years, my purchases of Little Debbies have been, sadly, few and far between.
But I still peruse the Little Debbie display at the end of the aisle in Publix for fun, and I take note when something interesting pops up. Since I love a good banana pudding, the appearance of Banana Pudding Rolls seemed like a momentous development. I took my friend’s advice and bought a box.
Alas, I did not eat anything at all on the way home. I blame the tyranny of the manual transmission.
I cut one of the rolls in half for my afternoon coffee break — it’s funny to realize that, as an 8-year-old, I could have quite easily wolfed down two whole rolls. I intended to give the other half to my husband, who, despite having spent the vast majority of his early years in South Mississippi, has little knowledge of Little Debbie products. I’ve offered to guide him through the company’s array of products, month by month, but he is strangely less than enthusiastic about the challenge. Anyway, I forgot to give him the other half when he got home from work, so I ate it earlier today.
Little Debbie cake products are always slightly more substantial — less spongy, I guess — than Twinkies, which seem to be the cake-like snack that people the world over are familiar with. (I’ve probably only eaten about five Twinkies over my entire lifespan. Why would you eat a Twinkie when you could have a Little Debbie?)
The texture of the Banana Pudding Rolls is not much different from that of Little Debbie’s other cake products. The light yellow cake is rolled around a generous amount of creme filling that is lightly flavored with banana — no obnoxious, over-the-top banana bubblegum flavor here. Little squiggles of white icing decorate the top of the roll; these add a little texture to the product, perhaps, but they really seem to be there mostly for visual interest.
If you close your eyes while you’re chewing and think back to the days of Kool-Aid, puppies, Shetland ponies (FYI: they despise children and they bite) and the freedom to roam around on multiple acres of partially wooded farmland, a Banana Pudding Roll is vaguely reminiscent of a banana marshmallow pie. Or maybe it’s just me.
Verdict: 8-year-old me would have approved. And 8-year-old me had a pretty sophisticated palate, in addition to an impressive knack for speed-climbing the hay bales stacked in the barn.
Entirely Adequate 
You cut one IN HALF? And only ate one half at a time? I don’t understand.
Oh man… I used to love those snack cakes growing up. I’d put one in my lunches all the time. Nutty Bars were a favourite, as well as Star Crunch. I dunno brand names, but were Zebra Cakes and Fudge Rounds also Little Debbie? Those delicious cream-filled cupcakes were Hostess, I know that much.
Zebra Cakes and Fudge Rounds were Little Debbie products. Fudge Rounds were delicious with a glass of cold milk!
I loved Fudge Rounds so much. Especially the single ones in the machines, because when you bought the ten-pack box they were freakin’ TINY. Ripped you off.
[…] with me about food for more than 15 minutes you’ll probably find out why I call myself the Forrest Gump of Little Debbie products and you’ll also know why I simply have to try this flavor. Share […]