Snack Bar, Vol. 8: Pumpkin Spice Gone Wild

Billed as "sweet like a cookie, crisp like a cracker," 34 Degrees makes a snack that's so paper-thin you can practically see through it. For my money, that's a bit more impressive than it is delicious, though the flavor here is perfectly fine and inoffensive. The pumpkin spices are married with honey for a nice warming effect, but the texture takes the coziness out of the equation and starts to eat a little dry. The best way to enjoy them is with a steaming hot beverage in hand; munching on them solo leaves something to be desired.

There's a lot of concept going on here: it's brownie brittle (already a novel product) but make it pumpkin spice, and add in cream cheese chips for good measure. Surprisingly, though… it kind of slaps. The crisp brown sugar base makes these crazy addictive, like a Biscoff or speculoos cookie but crumblier. There's no question this is a very sweet snack, and tastes a bit more like toffee or caramel than pure pumpkin spice, but crumbling this over vanilla ice cream was a 10/10 experience. (Hot tip: you can pass on the Caramel Apple Brittle flavor, these are lightyears better.)

Magic Spoon has legions of fans for their grain-free cereal, especially in the keto community (thanks to their helpfully low 3 gram count of net carbs). Their products also boast 13 grams of protein per serving, which intrigued me as someone who's always behind on that macro. The usual flavor sins of sugar-free products reared their heads again here, though: the sweetener blend of allulose and monkfruit just tastes way too synthetic. With none of the spices listed by name in the ingredients — presumably falling under the vague umbrella of "natural flavors" — it's hard to endorse even for the pumpkin spice keto-heads. But if you're already a Magic Spoon fan, and faux sweeteners are worth the net carb assist for you, then by all means give this one a try.

Chocolate-coated almonds are usually just a chocolate truffle with a light serving of almond, but SkinnyDipped's thin-dipped yogurt almonds strike a pretty great balance. They're indulgent enough to feel like a treat, but barely coated so you still feel like you're eating nuts. The pumpkin spice flavor is fab, especially thanks to the addition of one of my favorite spices, cardamom, plus the hint of sea salt that offsets some sweetness. Even with that salt, however, they were a little too sweet for me to snack on obsessively… but in some ways, that's not a bad thing.

Though the flavors here might scream fall, panettone is as Christmas as it gets. It's the holiday treat found in nearly every Italian household, a cousin of fruitcake with a fluffy, eggy consistency ala brioche. At $75, I hesitated to recommend this uber-bougie offering from Olivieri 1882, especially because mine arrived a tad misshapen from shipping… but then I had my first bite and all other panettoni ceased to exist. This is, by far, the best I've ever had, no small thanks to the brand's 48-hour double fermentation sourdough process. The ingredients here are top-of-the-line, like the flecks of Madagascar bourbon vanilla dotted throughout, and though that's reflected in the price it's also in the flavor. Whether or not you consider yourself a panettone fan, this is so good it could make a convert out of anybody (and it comes in 20+ flavors).

Despite how tough I was on Magic Spoon above, I'm very much here for better-for-you snacking. Dalci is an example of a brand that's doing it right, using whole ingredients instead of synthetic substitutes. Their brownies and blondies are gut-friendly, using a combination of almond flour, unrefined coconut sugar and avocado oil to avoid the usual digestive triggers of processed foods. And blessedly, the flavor is still on point. When I reviewed the brand last year I ranked all four of their flagship flavors, but these Pumpkin Spice Blondies have moved to the top of my list. They're moist, well-spiced, and somehow taste freshly baked.

Social media doyenne Emma Chamberlain has thrown her hat in the beverage ring, but she stands apart from the sea of celeb-created wine and mocktails out there. I have to admit, it's a bold but impressive move to go into the coffee space, but the branding is done with finesse and the product is fantastic. She makes no attempt to replicate a classic PSL here, instead infusing a roasty, bitter coffee blend with notes of cinnamon and cocoa. The result is a strong cup that's subtly perfumed with pumpkin spice, for those of us that want to lean into fall without drinking nutmeg syrup. A cult favorite from last year's seasonal drop, this coffee is worth grabbing before the limited window passes.

Pre-made cookie dough is one of my love languages, so I was curious to see how Sweet Loren's plant-based, gluten-free cookies measured up. While I'll admit I wasn't a massive fan of how they ate raw (the alternative flour blend of oat, tapioca and potato starch had too prominent a taste), the baked cookies have a lovely taste and surprisingly great texture for GF baking. I brought these around to a gluten- and dairy-free friend's house and she absolutely loved them. IMO, they're a solid purchase for anyone with those dietary restrictions, but less of a must if you don't. But if you'll allow me to veer off-topic, the real knockout is their Fudgy Brownie Cookie Dough. Those are some of the fudgiest, most addictive cookies I've had in a minute, allergen-free or otherwise. 

Last and sadly least, Sanders' Pumpkin Spice Caramels completely missed the mark for me. While the preparation checks all the right boxes — real cream and butter, no artificial colors or preservatives, and a small-batch, slow kettle-cooking process — there was an unpleasant aftertaste here that verged on synthetic-tasting. My guess is it's the "natural pumpkin flavor," since their OG caramels didn't bother me as much, but the pumpkin is mostly overshadowed here and doesn't bring much to the table. If you love your sweetness levels off the chart, this may be a match for you, but even as a dessert fiend I could barely finish one.