Cinnamon Treats Are The Biggest Fall Trend Of 2019

It's hard to remember a time when we weren't totally enamored by cold weather food trends. First came the pumpkin spice craze (which I would argue is still going strong!), then came hot cocoa, which was everywhere last holiday season.

Though it's pretty hard to dethrone pumpkin spice, this year, it seems like the new It Girl of fall flavors is shaping up to be cinnamon. Seriously, everywhere you look cinnamon is taking over in the form of cozy foods and drinks (the entire Panera fall menu is cinnamon!) and the temperature hasn't even dropped into the 60s yet.

Cinnamon's dominance was, in fact, predicted by many. In case you didn't realize, companies don't just release a product a week after they think of it. No, the people who dream up your snacks are likely forecasting trends for holiday season 2020 right about now while we're still drinking margaritas in 2019.

Cinnamon was one of the "Pacific Rim Flavors" predicted to dominate in 2019, according to Michelin Guide, and International Taste Solutions also gleaned that "hot and spicy" flavors like cinnamon would soon rise to the top of the food chain.

Fancy food forecasts aside, it also just makes sense that cinnamon would be the next logical flavor that food manufacturers would try. For one, it's versatile. It's spicy, making it the perfect flavor to punch up both sweet and savory foods without being totally overpowering. You can add it as a subtle flavor to a classic dish (i.e. the cinnamon sugar pumpkin latte from Dunkin') or completely coat a blank canvas with it and let cinnamon shine (i.e. Starbucks' Cinnamon Dolce Latte Creamer).

You can also pair cinnamon with other fall flavors and make an even more complex and delicious dish (apple cinnamon pie, anyone?). In fact, cinnamon is one of the "spices" usually involved in pumpkin spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove), so it's been a fall staple longer than you may have realized. The more you know.

Making cinnamon-flavored products also just makes pure financial sense because it's not tied to any specific holiday or season. Sure, you'll be seeing the cinnamon products more and more as fall comes around, but cinnamon is also hella popular for the winter season, even past Christmas. That's, like, six months of cinnamon goodness. Add in the craving for spicy foods in the summer, and these products don't need to have a short shelf life.

In fact, according to Google trends, search interest for cinnamon is about double pumpkin spice's at any given time, though obviously that gap gets a lot smaller come fall.

All of this might seem a little silly at first...but you probably have a giant jar of cinnamon in your closet and I can't be the only one who has enjoyed cinnamon rolls from a Pillsbury tube since before I can remember. Plus, if the fervor surrounding Cinnamon Coke is any indication, tons of classic foods are going to be letting cinnamon shine as a prime flavor this year. And once you see it, you won't be able to stop.