The temperatures are declining, the leaves are changing and so are the seasonal flavors. With the fall season emerging, we thought it would be fun to taste-test Parks’ best pumpkin treats. We selected five different Park locations and purchased one pumpkin bread-based dessert from each to try. After careful consideration and lots of frosting, we have curated rankings for each treat.
Starbucks: ★★★★☆
Our selection from Starbucks was their pumpkin and pepita loaf. At first glance, this looks just like your average slice of pumpkin bread. No frosting, no nonsense, just a pure slice of pumpkin. Although this wasn’t the most flavorful of the treats we tried, it was pretty solid. It had a nice sweet, airy, mild pumpkin flavor and that classic fall feel. Although we enjoyed our Starbucks loaf, in the grand scheme of pumpkin treats, it didn’t stand out as much as others.
Rustica: ★★★★☆
From Rustica, we chose a classic pumpkin muffin. This was also one of the simpler treats we tried, with its most notable characteristic being the pepita seeds laid on top of the muffin. The overall taste of this treat reminded us of the Starbucks loaf. Overall, just a good, classic, pumpkin muffin perfect for fall. I will note that the flavor of our Rustica muffin was noticeably stronger than the taste of the Starbucks bread. The seeds were a nice touch, but overall didn’t affect our final rating too much.
Crumbl Cookie: ★☆☆☆☆
From Crumbl Cookie, the treat we chose was their pumpkin pie cookie. The cookie is served cold, which made it appear a little unappetizing to us. The chilled temperature, combined with the wet texture, made it taste and feel like baby food. The filling also didn’t taste like there was anything else in it, just pumpkin puree. The flavor and texture of the filling very much overpowered the cookie “crust,” so we were not able to really taste the cookie itself. Even before we took a bite, it did not look very appealing, which made us hesitant to try it. The whipped cream on top looked pretty, but the taste was pretty non-existent.
Angel Food: ★★★☆☆
From Angel Food, we selected the pumpkin donut. This donut tasted very good; however, it did not taste like pumpkin at all. The frosting was orange, which made us think it would be pumpkin-flavored, but it was not. In fact, the frosting didn’t taste like anything at all. The donut tasted great and the orange frosting was very aesthetically pleasing, but it didn’t taste like pumpkin whatsoever, so overall it was pretty mediocre.
Caribou Coffee: ★★★★★
Finally, the sweet treat we picked up from Caribou was their pumpkin cream cheese muffin. This treat was our favorite, with its fluffy bread, smooth frosting and crystallized sugar on top. Although we enjoyed the cream filling, it did not taste like there was any cream cheese in the frosting at all. A highlight of this muffin was the bread, as we thought it had the best flavor. Not too much of a pumpkin flavor, not too overpowering with spices and overall a very nice flavor.
