Most Popular Junk Food Searches of 2012
Sometimes you just can’t help it: You find yourself craving junk food. Whether your poison is bagel bites or powered doughnuts, these cravings happen to the best of us. Luckily you don’t have to feel so alone. The Yahoo! editors have analyzed Yahoo! search queries and found the most popular junk food searches for 2012. Some of the entries were to be expected, given the holiday season, others were surprisingly kooky.
Candy Corn Oreos
Only available at Target, these limited-edition radioactive Day-Glo cookies hit the shelves in September, well in advance for Halloween. Apparently they really taste like candy corn. Depending on how you feel about the waxy Halloween candy, this could be a good or bad thing.
Junk food swaps for every craving
Pork Doughnuts
Though pork doughnuts may sound strange to an American audience, the concept is common in Chinese and Korean cuisine. A pork bun is not so different from a pork doughnut. In fact, the idea has become so popular that Baskin Robbins and Dunkin Donuts chains in China announced that pork doughnuts would hit their shelves soon, with none other than LeBron James as their spokesperson. No plans for American chains yet, but we can hope.
Bacon Ice Cream
Bacon lovers everywhere rejoiced when bacon ice cream was introduced, and when you think about it, the sweetness from the maple-smoked flavor does make sense for a good dessert. In February Jack in the Box introduced their bacon milkshake and Denny’s took it one step further with a Maple Bacon Sundae.
Guinness Cupcakes
The best thing about Guinness cupcakes is that they really aren’t any worse junk food than other kinds of cupcakes. Holiday tip: Bailey’s cream cheese frosting. Also, drinking Guinness turns out to have some health benefits!
Maple Bacon Beer
The Maple Bacon Ale, by Rogue brewery, is only available at select Oregon locations. But the smoky-sweet brew was so popular last year that breweries all over the United States have begun to mimic its flavor.
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos
For adventurous foodies, the search for spice never ends. But the spice level of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos may be totally unsafe. Back in October, doctors reported several cases of severe heartburn in children who ate the Cheetos. Some schools have banned the snack food completely. The source of the spice is still a mystery, simply labeled “Flamin’ Hot Seasoning,” on the list of ingredients.
Deep-Fried Strawberries
As Southern cooking traditions dictate, when in doubt, just deep-fry. That’s certainly the case with deep-fried strawberries that are popping up in barbeque joints across the nation. Pair with chocolate sauce for dipping, and you’ve got one decadent dessert.
Red Robin gets hopped up for Octoberfest with new beer milkshake
Beer Milkshakes
Guinness lovers have been adding a few scoops of vanilla ice cream to their pints for years, so it was only a matter of time before the idea of a beer milkshake went mainstream. In September, in time for Octoberfest, Red Robin introduced a beer milkshake, made with Sam Adams Octoberfest draft, vanilla ice cream, vanilla syrup and caramel.
Grape Jelly Meatballs
These meatballs, which are very popular around the holidays, are made with grape jelly and chili sauce and are baked in the oven. Though they sound odd, they’re not dissimilar to Swedish meatballs, which are usually served with some kind of sweet jam.
Fried Kool-Aid
In addition to being one of the most searched junk foods, Fried Kool-Aid, in all its ridiculous-sounding glory, was a huge Twitter hit this year. Creator Charlie Bogosian knew he had a phenomenon on his hands when he started to sell 400-600 balls a day at the San Diego Fair. When asked how he got the idea to deep-fry Kool-Aid he said he loved the drink as a kid and thought, “why not fry it and see what happens?”
