Do Pumpkin Pie M&M’s Live Up to Their Pie Promises?

It’s only June, but M&M’s already has spooky season on the brain. This fall (there’s no official release date yet), Milk Chocolate Pumpkin Pie M&M’s will be hitting shelves for the first time—but, naturally, it isn’t M&M’s first foray into the overcrowded pumpkin spice space. In 2013, at the height of pumpkin spice mania, they released Pumpkin Spice M&M’s, which consisted of milk chocolate and pumpkin pie spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove. And in 2017, they followed up with White Pumpkin Pie M&M’s (same idea, but a white chocolate version). Presumably, Milk Chocolate Pumpkin Pie M&M’s should differ from Pumpkin Spice M&M’s because there is a pie element—maybe a hint of flavor that nods at freshly baked crust or something that calls to mind actual pumpkin pie filling. But is that the case? We tasted these new fall M&M’s to find out.

New Product!

Milk Chocolate Pumpkin Pie M&M’s

These M&M’s are bigger than regular M&M’s—they’re approximately the same size as Peanut Butter M&M’s (one of the best M&M’s flavors)—and they come in a very fall-friendly color palette of orange, brown, and a peachy sort of beige. The fall flavors are there, but these new M&M’s don’t exactly live up to their promise.

Pros: Here at Sporked, we aren’t huge pumpkin spice people. All too often, those warm, pleasant spices are shoehorned in where they don’t belong simply to capitalize on people’s fervor for the change of seasons. Pumpkin spice products can be weird and too bitter (seriously, nutmeg is your friend until it isn’t). Milk Chocolate Pumpkin Pie M&M’s don’t suffer from this problem. The spice is very mild. They mostly taste like milk chocolate with just a whisper of cinnamon and nutmeg on the finish. It’s nice!

Cons: That said, I think these fall M&M’s will be a letdown for people who really want to be punched in the face with pumpkin spice. Another con? There’s no pie element. I was really hoping they’d use the arsenal of artificial flavors they have at their disposal to give us something more than just chocolate and pumpkin spice, but they took a much more direct (and subtle) approach.

Rating:

7/10

Sporks

About the Author

Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks. Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown. What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction. Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home. Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.