Sweet Surrender: A Little Debbie Death Match
Monday, August 10, 2009 
Oh, Little Debbie. You loyal lunchtime companion, you siren of saccharine sweetness. With you, we've unwrapped so many smiles--and you've never asked for anything in return.
What have you done? A side by side comparison of several Little Debbie treats to see which one will rise victorious through various challenges. Winners were determined simply: at the end of each challenge, which seemed the most edible? (Though, as a disclaimer, we did not eat them afterward)
Let the games begin:
Challenge One: Death by Boiling
Brownie: Dude. This brownie was a survivor--while the icing melted fairly quickly, even after six minutes the cake part was holding strong and still retaining much of its original form. It wasn't until minute seven that it began to fall apart.
Oatmeal Creme Pie: This little guy never stood a chance. Almost instantly the snack cake began to fall apart when it hit the boiling water; in under thirty seconds, it had completely liquefied, with not even crumbs remaining.
Zebra Cake: The first thing that happened was that this cake seemed to dissect itself: the top icing and middle creme layer began to melt, thus separating the cake layers, which then began to expand in the water. The pieces held steady for nearly five minutes until they began to disintegrate.
Winner: Cosmic Brownie, which not only lasted longest but also retained the best form.
Challenge Two: Death by Car
Objective: To see which treat would fare best when run over by a car.
Brownie: Held its form surprisingly well, considering that it was a frosted brownie--no frosting stuck to the car wheel. Perhaps because it was so oily? This one was definitely the most interesting to look at, too.
Oatmeal Creme Pie: Like the brownie, this little sandwich cookie fared pretty well, retaining its general makeup and not even losing much filling. 
Swiss Roll: Total Goners. They stuck everywhere: the tire, between the treads, the ground. It was grisly.
Zebra Cake: Not much better than the Swiss Rolls--it seemed as if this snack cake exploded under the weight of the car.
Winner: Oatmeal Creme Pie. While it was a hard decision between this and the brownie, ultimately the fact that the filling was intact made it slightly more appetizing.
Challenge Three: Death by Flight
Objective: To see which snack cake would fare best after being dropped from a second-story window.
Brownie: After landing on its side, Brownie almost looked normal...but upon closer inspection, had a strange and unnatural twist in its side. Sure, it survived...but it would never be the same.
Oatmeal Creme Pie: The cookies acted as a protective buffer, and quite honestly, this one probably just could have been dusted off and given to a friend, and nobody would have been the wiser.
Swiss Roll: The roll cracked open at the seam, allowing the sweet cream to ooze out--the equivalent of a confectionery head wound?
Zebra Cake: Poor, poor Zebra Cake. This one fared the worst, hitting a step on the way down and leaving a sad trail of creme filling as it went. Zebra Cake was so not okay.
Winner: Oatmeal Creme Pie. It didn't seem to have suffered very much at all, other than collecting some dead leaves and dust.
Challenge Four: Death by Mr. CakeSpy
Objective: To see which treat will fare best when jumped on by the mighty Mr. CakeSpy.
See? He meant business. 
Brownie: Not so bad at all. It definitely suffered, but didn't lose its form under the weight of the mighty jump.
Oatmeal Creme Pie: Sure, it's only a small bit of creme filling poking out of the top cookie...but who's to say it's not a cookie concussion, bound to claim the cookie's life at any moment?
Swiss Roll: Oh, poor swirly treats: the creme that makes them so delicious was also their downfall, popping out at the ends and rendering them limp and a shadow of their former selves.
Zebra Cake: Though the form was somewhat intact, the moment the cellophane was lifted, half of the frosting and cake came with it. Another one bites the dust.
Winner: Brownie. It was close, but ultimately the Oatmeal Creme Pie looked like it might not survive.
Conclusion: Overall, these Little Debbie treats are hardier than you might think: they're willing and able to withstand all sorts of hardship and will generally remain surprisingly edible. Of course, whether this information is comforting or horrifying is up to you. Naysayers may express horror at the health implications of ingesting foods that won't die. But isn't it much nicer to think that if you grew up eating them, you might have absorbed some of these sweet super powers?
cakespy mischief
Reader Comments (55)
If that's not proof you shouldn't eat them, I don't know what is! haha. Rumor has it the cake donut is vegan.
I'm partial to the cosmic brownie (though it does tend to have an oily sheen) and the oatmeal cookie. Loved the boiling test.
Love it! Well done!
All that sweet sugary goodness wasted.
Awesome post! Yeah, I used to envy all my friend's who would have those treats packed in their lunches. Challenge Two is my favorite. Did you clean off the tires or just let it be so you could spread a little Debbie essence all over town?
ur blog rockzzz. heres an apple 4u Ѽ
Love the fact that the http://twitter.com/LittleDebbie" rel="nofollow">Little Debbie people twittered about this....
My kids and I loved it!
Got those Cosmic brownies in the snack drawer right now. My kids love them! ICK!
Ha ha.. gotta love it! :)
I so needed this!!! Thanks for the early morning laugh. It really made my day!
How dare you waste food like that ? Do you realize some of us can't even afford buying treats to our kids? Next time you feel the urge to throw cakes away please send them to underprivileged children instead. THEY'll appreciate them.
Hilarious!!! You know what I truly appreciated....how cute the Little Debbie brownies were. I had no idea they had so much color.
Carrie
www.bellacupcakecouture.com
What a stupid waste of food!
That was too funny.
Ever since I learned how to bake my own sweets, I can't really stomach much of the artificial-tasting snack cakes out there....with one exception...once in a great while I'll get a craving for Little Debbie Banana Twins...yes they are too sweet but I love banana-flavored anything.
That was fantastic!
I do love it when you go all postal on the processed sweets. BTW... so sorry I have been absent on the Chicago cake walk. Still on my mind.... just a crazy summer....
My fav oatmeal cookie did pretty well. I'd have been grossed out however if you'd a done a taste test with the tire contestants.
Sooo funny!!!!
I agree with Sandra and Jenny. This was a total waste of food and money. You state that "Little Debbie" asks for nothing in return, but you forgot that they ask for money in return, which has been hard to come by for many, especially lately.
While I found the experiments somewhat interesting, I kept getting increasingly bothered as to how much food was wasted with every pointless activity.
On the other hand, at least it wasn't me wasting my food and money haha. If you have the resources and don't feel guilty for wasting food considering the starvation and poverty rate around us, then do what you want to do. It's your life and your resources.
This made me laugh so much! Thanks!
I love this! but what was the point again? LOL
I thought it was a fun read, which is really all you can hope to ask from a blog of any kind. This blog in particular is always extremely enjoyable! Always a lot of interesting info and a great sense of humor.
Grizzly, morbidly fascinating, entertainment for the masses and you didn't even have to pay the stars the grossly high wages that other actors recieve...so waste of resources, I think not.
Oh Jessie, you are just the right amount of twisted. I almost peed my pants reading "Suck it, Swiss Roll!"
Thanks.