One of the first things that comes to mind when picturing a bakery is cupcakes. However, contrary to popular opinion, I pretty much hate cupcakes. Sorry not sorry.
Now, Magnolia Bakery has lots of cupcakes, so you might be thinking that I'm about to reveal which of Magnolia's cupcakes I dislike the least, but that's not why I'm here. I've actually never had their cupcakes, nor do I intend to, because Magnolia has something else that has completely stolen my heart: banana pudding.
As insanely delicious as their original banana pudding is, there's a lot more to be excited about here than that. Magnolia's specialty flavors of banana pudding are constantly changing with each month, and constantly contributing to thicker thighs with each bite, but that won't stop me from downing large containers of it like it's my last meal on earth.
Some of the specialty flavors they've done include peanut butter, magic bar, chocolate peppermint, salted caramel, pumpkin gingersnap (pictured above), s'mores, and funfetti. Of these, I've had the peanut butter, chocolate peppermint, pumpkin gingersnap, and funfetti (almost a perfect track record). If you haven't tried any of these before, you're probably thinking "Peppermint and bananas? Pumpkin and bananas? Nasty." You are horribly mistaken. This sh*t is unreal.
I was planning on ranking the different flavors I've had, but I realized that I pretty much have the same level of obsession with all of them, so I'll just explain them in the order that I've had them instead.
My first Magnolia pudding experience was with one of my favorite dessert flavors of all time: funfetti. This banana pudding was loaded with chunks of funfetti cake that were incredibly soft and moist from soaking in the pudding, and had their own distinct cake flavor that stood out from the flavor of the bananas. The cake chunks also make this one the most comparable to a bread pudding (which I love).
This is definitely the sweetest of their pudding flavors that I've had, which I was able to detect from not being able to scarf down my large container all in one sitting like I normally do. However, I definitely wouldn't say it was overly sweet. You just have to take your time on this one so you don't get a stomach ache.
My second Magnolia pudding experience was actually an online order. When I heard that they had created a peanut butter banana pudding that incorporated the best cookie of all time, Nutter Butters, distance was not going to stop me from trying it.
They ship their banana puddings in orders of six large containers and they need to be eaten within a few days of arrival, so unless you plan on eating pudding morning, noon, and night for a few days, find some people to share with.
I am a complete peanut butter fanatic, so this flavor was off the charts for me. Peanut butter and bananas is already one of the best pairings out there, so the combination of flavors here was seamless, and that's on top of the fact that there were soft and chewy Nutter Butters throughout.
My only issue with this one was that there were a lot of peanuts in here. They added a crunch factor that I'm sure a lot of people are into, but I don't like at all, especially in banana pudding where I expect every bite to be smooth and creamy. I just thought they got in the way.
November rolled around and it was time for me to try the pumpkin gingersnap banana pudding. This is definitely one of the flavor concepts that are tougher for people to grapple with because pumpkin, gingersnap, and banana sound like they would be a little weird together. However, it was not weird, it was PERFECTION.
Between the sweet bananas, the chewy spiced gingersnap cookies, and the warming notes of pumpkin, each bite highlighted something different while simultaneously creating an awesome blend of flavors like no other. Pumpkin spice heads really got their money's worth here.
What's the only thing weirder sounding than pumpkin gingersnap banana pudding? Chocolate peppermint banana pudding. But hey, minter needs representation in Magnolia's banana pudding world so it had to be done. (minter= mint + winter; proceeds pumpkin spice season)
For someone who doesn't really like chocolate or peppermint very much, I was wildly impressed with this flavor. Yet again Magnolia managed to create a balance of all the flavors involved through loading this banana pudding with chunks of their delicious chocolate peppermint cake. Well done.
Ironically enough, the last flavor that I've gotten to try is the original banana pudding (sadly, no photo). I was worried that I might be underwhelmed by it since the bar had already been set so high by all these specialty flavors, but nope. Magnolia won me over yet again, and this made perfect sense because how could all the specialty flavors be so insanely good if they didn't start with a killer banana pudding at the base.
If you're looking to start off simple with Magnolia's puddings, you will not be disappointed with the original. But if you're looking to have your mind blown by a dessert, go for the specialty flavors. They have undoubtedly become some of my all time favorite treats, and thanks to the fact that Magnolia has a location inside of Penn, I'm basically forced to buy some every time I take the train into the city. But hey, I'm not complaining.