REVIEW: Arby’s Apple Pie Shake

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Arby’s Apple Pie Shake Cup

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Arby’s has brought back its deep-fried turkey sandwiches. Those sandwiches evoke the savory side of the festive meal, but the restaurant has a brand-new item inspired by one of the all-American desserts of the all-American holiday meal, the Apple Pie Shake.

Arby’s has The Meats, so it’s not the first place I think of if I want a milkshake. I haven’t tried every shake that Arby’s has offered. But of the ones I’ve tried, the Apple Pie Shake is the best!

It truly tastes like apple pie! There’s a subtle apple flavor, like what happens when you bake actual apples. I worried it would have an artificial apple flavor, but it’s authentic and not overpowering. There is also a cinnamon flavor, as you would expect in apple pie. And it even tastes like some kind of baked element, like a piecrust.

Arby’s Apple Pie Shake no mix-ins

However, since this is an Arby’s shake, there are no mix-ins, like apples or crust pieces. Unlike some other Arby’s shakes, there isn’t even a syrup swirl on the side of the cup. But it works so well that I don’t miss those elements. Sometimes less is more. Like other Arby’s shakes, it is soft and liquid enough to consume through a straw.

A dusting of cinnamon sugar on top of the whipped cream.

The shake comes with whipped topping and a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar, which reminds me of the dusting on churros or Taco Bell cinnamon twists. The treat is good enough on its own that it doesn’t need the topping, but it’s a nice touch.

Previous fall treats at Arby’s have included a pumpkin cheesecake shake and last year’s pumpkin turnovers. I didn’t much care for those. But I hope the Apple Pie Shake becomes a tradition.

Purchased Price: $3.69
Size: Regular
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 560 calories, 140 calories from fat, 16 grams of total fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 290 milligrams of sodium, 94 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 82 grams of sugar, and 11 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Limited Edition Nissin Turkey Dinner Cup Noodles

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Turkey Dinner Cup Noodles cup

Four years ago, I reviewed one of the most unusual pumpkin spice products I’ve had: Pumpkin Spice Cup Noodles! It’s back under a new name, Pumpkin Pie instead of Pumpkin Spice. As far as I can tell, after tasting it again, it’s the same.

But that’s not all! It is now joined by the other iconic Thanksgiving food: Turkey Dinner Cup Noodles. Besides the turkey, this variety of Cup Noodles includes the side dishes of corn, green beans, and cranberries.

Turkey Dinner Cup Noodles before boiling water

When I open the cup, it totally smells like stuffing. Sage, I think? I can’t know for sure, because the ingredients list only says “spice.”

Unlike an actual turkey dinner, this is easy to prepare: Just add water to the fill line, put it in the microwave for four minutes, and let it stand for one minute. Once it’s done, it has a cozy scent that reminds me of Thanksgiving morning at my grandparents’ house, even though that was decades ago.

Turkey Dinner Cup Noodles after boiling water between two turkeys

I’m no food scientist, but I think the “turkey” is the “textured soy protein” listed in the ingredients. And to be honest. I’m fine with that representing turkey, because that sounds better than a freeze-dried bird. It has a vague Thanksgiving/poultry flavor and a slightly chewy texture that is almost like tough meat. The ingredients also include powdered chicken, turkey broth, and turkey fat, so there is actual poultry in the cup, even if it’s a negligible amount.

Turkey Dinner Cup Noodles up close

The corn, green beans, and cranberries make up less than two percent of the ingredients, and it is easy to miss them. Many Cup Noodles varieties include corn, and it’s no different here. It’s not my favorite way to consume corn, but it’s fine. The green beans are a little more noticeable, but it would be easy to overlook them if you weren’t paying attention. The cranberries are barely there. The pieces are so tiny that you maybe get a very slight tart, sweet flavor if you’re really looking for it. If cranberry sauce is your favorite part of a turkey dinner, you’ll want to bring your own here. (I expected Craisins, but they appear to be whole cranberries chopped into small pieces.)

The most obvious use for this variety is for a poor college student to buy if they can’t make it home for the holiday. It’s obviously not going to replace your family feast, but what did you expect for something that costs a little over a dollar?

Turkey Dinner Cup Noodles with its friend Pumpkin Pie Cup Noodles

Overall, Turkey Dinner Cup Noodles is a fun option for November. I can’t say it’s better than most Cup Noodles, but it’s not worse either, and it’s nice to have another seasonal variant.

Purchased Price: $1.18
Size: 2.89 oz cup
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 package) 370 calories, 15 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 1170 milligrams of sodium, 51 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 4 grams of sugar (including 1 gram of added sugar), and 10 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Burger King Franken-Candy Sundae

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Burger King Franken-Candy Sundae with Halloween crown

Burger King has had fun with its Halloween-themed menus in recent years, and this year is no different.

From least interesting to most interesting (in my opinion), the 2025 menu includes the following: Mummy Mozzarella Fries, mozzarella sticks in a mummy box; Vampire Nuggets, chicken nuggets shaped like bats and fangs; the Jack-O-Lantern Whopper, with bacon, American cheese, and an orange bun with black sesame seeds; and the Franken-Candy Sundae, vanilla soft serve with “franken-candy” purple syrup, Oreo crumbles, and green and purple popping candy. It is this last item that I’m reviewing here.

Burger King Franken-Candy Sundae with Oreo crumbs and popping candy

The vanilla soft serve is soft and liquid-y enough that I was able to consume it with a thick metal straw. It’s just what you expect: sweet and satisfying, if uninteresting. And Oreo crumbles need no introduction. They add both flavor and textural contrast.

Burger King Franken-Candy Sundae with purple Franken-Candy syrup

The interesting parts of the sundae come from the “franken-candy syrup” and the popping candy. The syrup mostly sticks to the side of the cup, and I can’t really tell what it’s supposed to taste like: It’s just sweet, and the name “franken-candy” doesn’t offer me any clues. It does taste like candy, but I don’t know what kind. Texturally, it’s something like melted white chocolate.

The popping candy is coated in a confection to keep it from popping prematurely, and I felt a need to let some of the pieces melt in my mouth so I could savor the popping qualities. If I just bite down on them, they’re mildly crunchy. I can only guess that the popping is supposed to mimic the electricity Dr. Frankenstein used to bring his creature to life.

Burger King Franken-Candy Sundae soft serve

Like Dr. Frankenstein, Burger King has simply stitched together preexisting ingredients to create something new. But unlike Frankenstein’s monster, this sundae is visually appealing and tasty. All the elements work together for a fun, tasty, and slightly spooky treat.

I associate popping candy with Fourth of July fireworks, so I would love to see BK bring this back in a red, white, and blue version for the summer.

Purchased Price: $2.99
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 360 calories, 13 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 55 grams of carbohydrates, 270 milligrams of sodium, 0 grams of fiber, 42 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Cinnamon Toast Crunch Mexican Hot Chocolate Cereal

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Cinnamon Toast Crunch is one of the most beloved cereals, and many of its limited edition seasonal flavors, such as Apple Pie and Sugar Cookie, have been home runs.

For this year’s winter season, we get another seasonal flavor: Mexican Style Hot Chocolate. Since we’ve already had Churros, Dulce de Leche, and Tres Leches, it only makes sense that we would get another Mexican-adjacent flavor. Though this cereal is evidently for wintertime, it’s out early enough that you could include it for your Day of the Dead celebrations if you wanted.

Mexican hot chocolate typically has cinnamon, and sometimes it has “hot” spices like cayenne pepper. Thankfully, this cereal does not have hot spices (even though we have seen that before!).

I expected that the chocolate flavoring would be subtle. But the cereal pieces are generously dusted with a cocoa-y powder, and there’s no mistaking that this is a chocolate cereal.

With that said, the chocolate flavor is not aggressive. Chocolate fiends might wish for more, and it doesn’t really impart much cocoa flavor to the milk. But if you want something super chocolatey, you can just pick a different chocolate cereal instead.

Obviously, this cereal prominently features cinnamon. Is it different than regular cinnamon in Cinnamon Toast Crunch? I don’t actually know, but it seems that way to me. The combination of cocoa and cinnamon gives the cereal a robust flavor. While this is a sugary cereal with anthropomorphic cartoon cereal pieces on the front, the cereal seems slightly more mature than the ordinary version.

Mexican Style Hot Chocolate Cinnamon Toast Crunch is a delightful addition to the canon of CTC flavors, and I will definitely buy it again this season.

Purchased Price: $4.93
Size: 18.8 oz box
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) 170 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1 gram of polyunsaturated fat, 3 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 200 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 12 grams of sugar (including 12 grams of added sugar), and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Little Debbie Pumpkin Spice Creme Pies

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Little Debbie always purveys fall-themed treats. Besides its usual desserts, which simply have fall-themed sprinkles, frosting, or packaging (yawn), for years, it has had Pumpkin Delights cookies and Pumpkin Spice Rolls.

This year, there’s another pumpkin spice option: Oatmeal Creme Pies!

Oatmeal Creme Pies, in my opinion, are one of Debbie’s top snacks. Maybe even the top snack. So it’s kind of surprising it took this long to happen.

When I bite into these cookies, there is so much of the familiar Oatmeal Creme Pie: the chewy, toothsome, oaty cookies, combined with the nondescript creme filling that provides a satisfying textural contrast.

But with this variety, there’s an added bonus: These taste like fall!

There is a generic spiciness, the kind that appears in various fall treats. It’s subtle, so you don’t feel like you’re eating a candle, but it’s definitely a different flavor than ordinary Oatmeal Creme Pies. As far as I can tell, the spices are in the cookie, not the filling.

Despite the orange-colored filling, there is no pumpkin involved in these cookies. I must admit I find it annoying when companies label something as “pumpkin spice” when there’s no pumpkin involved. Might as well call it “zucchini spice” or “carrot spice.”

I’m really happy that Oatmeal Creme Pies have finally been pumpkin spice-ified (despite the lack of actual pumpkin), and I hope Little Debbie makes additional seasonal flavors for the classic cookie sandwich.

Purchased Price: $3.16
Size: 8-count box
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cookie) 170 calories, 7 grams of total fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 2 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium, 26 grams of total carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 13 grams of sugar including 13 grams of added sugar, and 1 gram of protein.

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