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.
- Milk Chocolate Pumpkin Pie M&M’s
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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.
