Spring time isn’t a great time for junk food and my tastebuds. After the spicy onslaught of autumn and winter, things slow down with fruit and flowers and things that don’t get me nearly as jostled as some warm spices. Sure, there’s red velvet and s’mores, but those sunny weather flavors can’t hold a candle to pumpkin or gingerbread, except for one oft neglected springy treat – carrot cake. As she usually does, Little Debbie has my back and came through this year delivering a brand new twist on her giant carb-bomb logs with Easter Carrot Cake Rolls.

Visually the rolls look pretty much identical to Debbie’s super tasty Pumpkin Spice variety, with an orangey glow accented by perfectly placed white drizzles. The aroma has a slight spiciness and dominant sweetness, that again, is hard to differentiate from any other pumpkin or spice-forward cake.

Biting in yields a mouthful of signature sweet Little Debbie cream filling with a touch of grittiness and a lovely mellow spicy flavor. The spice is cool and tame, and to my cinnamon-loving tongue actually leans a bit more towards nutmeg than the cinny-heavy (but still tame) Pumpkin Spice rolls. Although the spice takes a backseat to the snack cake cream, it finishes pretty strong with a subtly sweet spicy tingle that does remind me of carrot cake.

While there’s no carrot actually listed on the ingredients, I taste the creamy aura of the snappy vegetable making its presence felt in the wash of soft sugary cake. It might just be the cute bunny on the box playing mind games with me but I truly do get the carrot vibes the name implies, although it’s very subtle, and the overall profile is really delicious.

Where this roll fails to deliver on its carrot cake promise is in the inclusion of cream cheese frosting. It seems like it would have been easy enough to put a tangy twist on the standard LD cream, but they took the easy way out and used the same white sugary frosting I’ve been slurping down my entire life, and I can’t help but feel a little sad there wasn’t a bit more emphasis on the cheesy aspect of one of my favorite cakes. Still, it’s hard to deny a little bit of spicy delight in this fruity floral season, and they’re damn near just as good as anything with the word pumpkin printed on them, and I’m a sucker for that any time of the year.

Rating: 7.5/10

Found at: Target ($2.19)