Is Colorado Chick-fil-A Leading a Grandmother Core Food Trend?

Coloradans coppin’ banana cream pudding isn’t just a Buc-ee’s thing, apparently.

When the mega travel center finally opened here, we all went crazy for the Buc-ee’s specialty that takes dedicated teams to keep stocked.

Now, it appears, brands a plenty are going bananas cream, too.

Later this month, Chick-fil-A plans to reintroduce its seasonal Banana Pudding Milkshake nodding to its “cooling, comforting flavors.”

“Comforting” is spot on for banana cream.

It hearkens back to grandma, southern goodness and midwestern wholesomeness.

Chick-fil-A

The banana pudding milkshake debuted back in 2011.

In addition to the end-of-summer shake, the quick-service restaurant is also modernizing the flavor by twisting banana cream “Icedream” and trending cold-brewed coffee for a Banana Frosted Coffee.

What is “Icedream”? It’s Chick-fil-A’s version of ice cream, a frozen dessert that doesn’t have enough fat to be considered the real thing.

But, well, it passes on a cone and in a milkshake and all the things.

Chick-fil-A is also tapping Southern flavors with a limited return of the Honey Pepper Pimento Chicken Sandwich and the new Spicey Honey Pepper Pimento Chicken Sandwich.

The pimento part, for those not in the quintessentially South know, is pimento cheese — a blend of shredded cheese, mayo and diced red pimentos.

Chick-fil-A

The chain introduced it last year as the first-ever twist on the original and kicked it up this year with some spice inspired by diners' personalized twists last year. The change: Order the sandwich and replace the original chicken with the spicy filet.

So, this year’s limited-time offer: a filet topped with honey, pimento cheese, and mild pickled jalapenos.

Both will make it to some, but not all, menus on Aug. 26.

We all Scream for Banana Cream

A quick look at Google trends shows searches for banana pudding hitting “breakout” status and banana cream pie flat until hitting a high it has been riding since the end of March.

Banana cream flavor showed up in ice cream aplenty this year. Bruster’s Real Ice Cream added banana pudding flavor, and Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream, under its new CEO, promises to stick to flavors people universally love with the likes of banana cake batter. Of course, Trader Joe’s has one getting social media attention, too.

And you know it’s a thing when—wait for it—Crumbl, a NoCo's Best, is rumored to be releasing banana pudding next week. Pudding. Not a banana cream cookie.

The old-school dish went TikTok viral for a minute earlier this year (think Google peak) when Magnolia Bakery’s banana pudding won the tok-taste test.

I’ll leave you with this: Grandmother core fashion in a tasty tub.