Hostess' Iced Cupcakes Are Now Available In This Fall Flavor
There are two types of people: those who welcome fall with open, flannel-clad arms, and the resistors who fiercely cling to their margarita glasses until September 22, when they must finally admit that the days are getting shorter and beach season is a memory. The first group tends to be the early adopters of pumpkin spice. We see you in your boots and puffer vests, and we already smell your favorite beverage at Starbucks, which brought back the popular Pumpkin Spice Latte on August 24.
Pumpkin spice starts showing up in everything at this time of year: It's in Cheerios, yogurt, smoothies, and pretzels. There are even Pumpkin Spice Marshmallow Peeps and Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Spice Milano Cookies on store shelves (per Parents).
Not one to be left out of the fragrant, tasty fun, Hostess is also bringing back fall-flavored products, including Iced Pumpkin Cupcakes, Pumpkin Spice Twinkies, and Caramel Crunch Donettes. The Hostess fall treats can be found on store shelves until November 25 or as long as supplies last (via Brand Eating).
Twinkies and Donettes also get flavored for fall
The Iced Pumpkin Cupcakes are Hostess' autumnal take on a lunchbox icon: the chocolate Hostess Cupcake with the white frosting swirl (which, fun fact, the company actually introduced way back in 1919, according to the Hostess website).
Iced Pumpkin Cupcakes are pumpkin-flavored cakes filled with cream, iced with vanilla frosting, and finished, of course, with a (pumpkin-colored) swirl (per Brand Eating). They are sold in packs of two for about $1 and eight-count boxes for $3. Pumpkin Spice Twinkies feature the same golden sponge cake of the famous original Twinkie and a pumpkin spice cream filling. A 10-count box of these runs for about $3. Caramel Crunch Donettes, miniature cake donuts covered in a caramel crunch coating, are sold in 6-count rolls for $1 and in 9.5-ounce bags for $2.
The seasonal takes on classic cakes have earned some social media love. "Need these in my life," tweeted Tina H regarding the Iced Pumpkin Cupcakes, though Twitter user SmartytailDean placed them "second best to apple spice cupcakes." Meanwhile, USA Today gave a shout-out to the cupcakes in an article that asked the question: "Have we hit 'peak' pumpkin?"
Sorry to the allspice-, cardamom-, cinnamon-, ginger-, clover0, and nutmeg-averse, but it looks like pumpkin spice is sticking around. Citing Nielsen, USA Today reports that the "pumpkin spice industrial complex" has grown into a $278.5 million business in the last year on top of the 13% and 3% growth in the two previous years.