Why Eat Cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery When Everything Else Is So Much Better?

Editor's note: Every afternoon we like to post a short Sugar Rush to end your day. Think of it as the dessert to your daily blog reading.

While most of us in the office are not Magnolia Bakery cupcake fans, give us the other dessert options and they'll disappear within minutes. A new branch of the famous bakery opened this morning in Rockefeller Center to the delight (or dismay) of Midtown office workers, and we picked up a few treats to fill our post-lunch break bellies. You can find everything below at any of the Magnolia locations, but there must be a tiny bit of extra love in these freshly baked sugar-filled items of delight. At least I hope so, for the price.

Banana Pudding

Ed Levine says, "It's hard to make a banana pudding that nobody likes." Gordon Mark and I are devoted fans of the layers of vanilla wafers, fresh bananas, and vanilla pudding. It's ridiculously sweet, and keep an eye on your eating habits: if you sit down at the TV with this container, you might finish the entire thing. ($4.50 for 12oz.)

Peanut Butter Icebox Cake

Filled with super-light peanut butter cream and topped with broken Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Worth every penny if you are obsessed with peanut butter. ($4.00)

Key Lime Cheesecake

A slightly lighter version of what I imagine Sara Lee's version tastes like. ($4.50)

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Intense pumpkin flavor with a crumbly granola-y crust. If you eat this at 4 p.m., you might not feel like you're ruining dinner. ($4.50)

Mini Chocolate Pudding Pie

Reminds me of hand-mixed Jell-O boxed pudding with fake sweetener, which personally is very familiar and comforting, but may be boring to others. Don't think it would hurt to mix with the banana pudding. ($2.50)

Magnolia Bakery

1240 Sixth Avenue (at 49th Street), New York, NY 10036 (map) 212-767-1123
magnoliacupcakes.com

401 Bleecker Street (at West 11th Street), New York, NY 10014 (map) 212-462-2572

200 Columbus Avenue (at 69th Street), New York, NY 10023 (map) 212-724-8101

This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Serious Eats. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.