Our editors have tried all the Christmas snacks for little Debbie, and these are the best

Holidays bring a lot of excitement. From family gatherings to cozy sweaters and delicious meals, it’s no surprise that the Christmas season is a magical time of year. For Southerners, there’s one particular little bundle of joy that embodies the holiday spirit and they don’t have to wait until December 25 to enjoy: Little Debbie’s Christmas cookies.

People all over the South look forward to Little Debbie Christmas cookies hitting shelves every year. Although the classic white Christmas tree cakes are the most popular, there are six other Christmas-themed snack cakes available for purchase this season. We bought all seven Little Debbie Christmas gifts and asked our editors to rank them from favorite to least favorite — the results may shock you.

How we tested

We purchased Little Debbie’s seven Christmas-themed snack cakes from a variety of grocery store chains. All of the snack cakes were placed on separate plates for our editors to taste. After trying all of the snack cakes, the editors ranked them in order of preference from 1 to 7, with 1 being favorite and 7 being least favorite. The results were then summed and combined to produce an overall score for each.

Competitors

• White Christmas tree cake
• Chocolate cake for Christmas tree
• Brownie Christmas Tree
• Snowflake brownie
• Gingerbread cake
• North Pole Nutty Buddy
• Christmas cherry friendly

How I recorded each snack

Snowflake brownies

The very fudgy cake and thick layer of icing on this dessert wasn’t an editor favorite for most of our team. Many reported that the dense texture of the cake combined with the amount of frosting was the main complaint. “The frosting is tough and there’s too much of it on the cake,” one editor said. Another noted that it “looks like a Christmas tree cake but is missing the nice crunch from the sprinkles.”

Christmas cherry friendly

The Christmas Cherry Cordial received mixed reviews. While most editors enjoyed the two chocolate-coated cookies, the cherry-flavored frosting didn’t fare as well; The strong taste of maraschino caused one editor to point out that it was almost “fragrant.” Although he wasn’t the top competitor for most of the team members, one of them actually found him to be the best. “The textures and flavors go well together,” they point out.

Gingerbread cake

Although gingerbread isn’t the first-choice flavor for a few of our editors, the spices in The Christmas Gingerbread Cookies weren’t strong enough for many of them. However, the texture of the cookie was well received. “I was expecting this to be hard, but I like the smoothness,” one editor noted.

Brownie Christmas Tree

Although similar to the Snowflake Brownie in composition, not decoration, several editors felt that the texture of this brownie was more enjoyable and that the decorative chocolate chunks added a nice crunch. Even so, the green icing prevented this bonus from reaching a higher score. One editor said that “there wasn’t as much flavor in the frosting as expected,” while another editor didn’t like it as much as the Cosmic Brownie.

Chocolate cake for Christmas tree

While some editors ranked this chocolate Christmas tree cake in the middle, a few placed this dessert at the top. The fluffy texture and light icing were a big hit among the team, and this chocolate dessert reminded one editor of a Mississippi mud pie and another of a classic Swiss roll cake. “Everyone’s sleeping on the chocolate version. While they’re fighting for regular Christmas tree cake, I’m snatching it away!” One editor said.

White Christmas tree cake

Although it may be blasphemous, the fan-favorite white Christmas tree cake didn’t make the top spot among our editors. While many rated this first for fluffy texture, mild sweetness, and pure nostalgia, the icing was a bit too sweet for some editors. “The filling is almost marshmallow-like,” one editor noted.

winner

North Pole Nutty Buddy

Much to our surprise, the North Pole Nutty Buddy was Little Debbie’s favorite Christmas snack. The lightness of the chip, the robust peanut butter flavor, and the satisfying crunch was a combination made from heaven for our editors. The winner in this ranking was “By far the Nutty Buddy” for one editor, and another editor even preferred it over the original Nutty Buddy due to the smaller layers and crunches. If North Pole Nutty Buddy chips aren’t on your radar this season, try them for yourself and see if you agree Southern living Editors!