13 Discontinued Foods At Starbucks That Are Sorely Missed
Since its founding in 1971, Starbucks has offered, and subsequently discontinued, a long list of food items including breakfast foods, sandwiches, pastries, and snacks. Though some got pulled from shelves due to low sales or quality control problems, a lot of trendy items also got yanked from stores over the years. In fact, everywhere you search for Starbucks menu items online, you're likely to come across posts from hundreds of customers who miss the Starbucks menu of yore.
Some item discontinuations came about because of changing partnerships between Starbucks and partner companies, like La Boulange Bakery. Others simply reflected an attempt of the massive international coffee chain to keep service efficient by removing items that took longer to prepare from the menu. Sometimes, the corporation just wanted to change the menu to keep things fresh, even if it disappointed a fair amount of customers by doing so. The good news is that Starbucks is constantly introducing (and sometimes, reintroducing) food items, either by adding them to its permanent menu or its seasonal snacks, so loyal customers are sure to find something new they will love, even if their favorite former food is no longer available. However, for those still missing beloved coffee chain snacks, below are some Starbucks foods customers would most like to see make a comeback.
Cinnamon swirl coffee cake
The cinnamon swirl coffee cake offered a sweeter, more moist take on regular coffee cakes that many Starbucks customers loved. For those who don't know, coffee cake doesn't usually contain coffee as an ingredient; rather, they're similar to pound cakes, with a fruity or spicy flavoring that makes them a sweet and filling snack. With a streak of cinnamon icing running through it, as well as a crunchy streusel crumb topping, the cinnamon swirl coffee cake used to be the perfect accompaniment to a steaming cup of Starbucks coffee.
Unfortunately, after Starbucks had already discontinued it once in the early 2010s during a nationwide switch to La Boulange pastry items, then reintroduced it in July of 2020, the international coffee chain decided to discontinue this offering for good. The good news is that, with a little bit of effort at home, you can make it yourself. If you want to bake something similar, but with a twist, try this cinnamon orange coffee cake recipe that contains a hint of citrus flavor.
Bananas
This one might surprise people because of how based this food was, but it's true; as of May 2022, Starbucks has stopped selling bananas. For some coffee shop customers, the bananas placed near the cash register were a great nutritious snack that was easy to eat on the go. When Food Republic asked Starbucks about this discontinuation, the company gave a vague stock response, stating "As a standard course of business, we continually evaluate the items on our menu, using various criteria to ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers and our business priorities." However, prying further into statements from former and current Starbucks employees on Reddit, it appears that bananas just weren't making that much money for the chain.
One person said that usually, out of two dozen bananas, they would only sell one or two. Due to the relatively short shelf life of the fruit, compared to other Starbucks snack items, the employees would have to throw most of them out when they started to go bad after a few days. Clearly, most customers just didn't prefer the snack, though health-conscious regulars probably miss it.
Almond croissant
Though some items are discontinued because of poor sales and customer reception, other foods that Starbucks stopped stocking have customers begging for their return. The almond croissant is one such pastry item. So many Starbucks regulars missed it the first time it was discontinued, way back in 2017, that they actually started a petition on Change.org to bring it back.
At that time, this pastry was one of the many casualties of the La Boulange mass discontinuation. Starbucks bought out the bakery chain in 2012 and planned to open up new store locations, but in 2015 decided it would actually shut them down and keep the pastry recipes it acquired from the store instead. However, a lot of the La Boulange bakery items also ended up getting discontinued around the same time. Perhaps the petition worked, or perhaps Starbucks just decided to heed its customers' demands — in May of 2018, they reintroduced the almond croissant back on their shelves. However, in 2022, the company decided to stop selling the croissant for good — or at least until a whole lot of customers and croissant aficionados get together to demand it be brought back again.
Holiday turkey and stuffing sandwich
One of the most delicious seasonal items on the Starbucks menu was the holiday turkey and stuffing sandwich. The coffee chain's take on this classic Thanksgiving leftover meal, a sandwich usually cobbled together to get rid of any uneaten Thanksgiving foods, was moist, filling, and popular among its customer base. Starbucks made its sandwich with sliced turkey breast, herb-filled stuffing, and turkey gravy on toasted sage bread.
However, for reasons unknown, this particular treat was discontinued in U.S. stores around 2020. Customers also seemed increasingly displeased with the version of the sandwich they were getting in the later years of its availability as well. One user on Reddit claimed that Starbucks "changed the bread and the amount of stuffing, some places didn't have the gravy or cranberry in it" at all. This uneven customer experience when purchasing the seasonal food item probably didn't help matters when it came to keeping the holiday turkey and stuffing sandwich in stock. A few Canadians on Reddit mentioned that it is still available in Starbucks "fresh" stores there, so if you're close to the border, perhaps it's time to take a quick trip across.
Double chocolate loaf
Chocolate lovers couldn't get enough of Starbucks' double chocolate loaf, one of the most indulgent snack items on the store's menu. The loaf had several different types of chocolate in it, including chocolate chips and chunks in the cake itself, as well as a ganache icing to top it all off.
However, it seems that the popularity of this item was variable, with customers in some locations absolutely loving it, while the item didn't sell well in other stores at all, according to some Starbucks employees. Perhaps this is why it was gradually phased out of Starbucks stores sometime between 2017 and 2018, though once again, it appears that it continued to be sold in Canada for some time. It's clear that the customers who loved this snack still haven't forgotten about it, as one comment naming the double chocolate loaf as a favorite discontinued item received plenty of approval on Reddit with several replies in agreement.
Chicken Santa Fe panini
Made with slices of chicken breast, peppers, and spicy cheese, all topped off with a sour cream green chili sauce, the Chicken Santa Fe Panini was an actual full meal, unlike a lot of the pastries and snacks that Starbucks usually serves. It was introduced to Starbucks stores in January of 2010, but eventually discontinued along with several other panini options, much to customers' disappointment.
Years later, this Southwest-inspired panini clearly still lives on in many peoples' minds, as a quick browsing session will give you posts like "reminiscing the Chicken Sante Fe", with another Reddit user responding, "It was legitimately the best sandwich." Unfortunately, along with other popular sandwiches like the ham and cheese panini, it appears that Starbucks doesn't plan on bringing this menu offering back any time soon. If you want an alternative you can try to make at home, opt for something like the chicken and pear panini, with slightly more French-inspired flavors like caramelized onions, white cheddar, and fig jam.
Cookie dough cake pop
The sweet, lollipop-like desserts known as cake pops have been sold at Starbucks for years, to the point where they've almost become synonymous with the store. However, a lot of customers don't know that the ones available at Starbucks are actually originally made by another company called Steven Charles – A Dessert Company, unsurprisingly run by two men named Steven Fabos and Charles Kosmont. These snacks consist of cake covered in a hard exterior frosting, available in various flavors in bite-size form.
One of the most popular, the cookie dough cake pop, was discontinued alongside several other flavors over the past few years. Though it's hard to nail down an exact date, posts started popping up six years ago from customers wondering why their favorite sweet snack was no longer available at their local Starbucks location. After all this time, it appears that some cookie dough cake pop loyalists refuse to accept the disappearance of this Starbucks item. If you also miss these cake pops, you can add your name to the signatures on a Change.org petition to bring them back.
Southwest veggie wrap
"Will Starbucks EVER bring back the Southwest Veggie Wrap? I think about it once a week." That's the title of just one of many Reddit posts clamoring for the return of one of Starbucks' heartier and healthier items. However, like other Starbucks food aimed towards a more health-conscious crowd, it appears this particular wrap was extremely popular among a minority of loyal customers, yet didn't sell as well with everyone else.
That's a shame, as it was a delicious wrap option for vegetarian customers, thanks to its meat-free ingredient list. The Southwest Veggie Wrap consisted of scrambled eggs (cage-free for those who wanted to eat more ethically), black beans, potatoes, Cotija cheese, pico de gallo, and jalapeño cream cheese. All of these flavorful items were bound up in a salsa tortilla — making this particular wrap an easy snack to eat on the go, a definite plus for the many Starbucks customers who tend to get their food and leave.
Toffee doodle cookies
In 2016, Starbucks made the decision to scrap a bunch of the cookies on its menu; no discontinuation hit customers as hard as the disappearance of the toffee doodle cookie. Other canceled products included the store's sugar cookies and polar bear cookies. Apparently, the original plan was to replace them with the peanut butter cup cookie on the menu, since the flavors were similar in both items, though a lot of customers made it clear that they preferred the toffee doodle.
The name was a reference to the well-known Snickerdoodle cookie, as this Starbucks item, another recipe acquired from La Boulange, was a play on that classic U.S. treat. The toffee doodle cookie was made with cinnamon and sugar mixed in with butter toffee. Unfortunately, because of the unique composition of this food item, a lot of customers don't seem to know how to replicate their favorite coffee chain cookie at home. In lieu of the toffee doodle, try making a traditional Snickerdoodle cookie instead if you miss this Starbucks food.
Ham and swiss panini
The great Starbucks panini discontinuation ended up axing the ham and Swiss panini, among many other items, a customer favorite. Reasons for the discontinuation of so many sandwich products are still unclear, though one source says that in May 2019, Starbucks announced it was pulling most of its sandwiches from shelves in over 8,000 U.S. stores because of the time it takes to put the items together and serve them to customers.
Apparently, the company's management thought it would be best to focus on ready-made items and other snacks that would enable customer service to operate more efficiently. Though the chain still sold the ham and cheese croissant at that point, which at least contained the same essential flavors, it ended up discontinuing this popular item as well in 2022. In addition, the few sandwiches Starbucks continued to sell seemed to experience some quality control problems as well, as the store also announced it would stop selling its chicken, maple butter, and egg sandwiches over quality concerns.
Bantam Bagels
Bantam Bagels was initially the brainchild of Nick and Elyse Oleksak, who went on Shark Tank to promote their business idea and ended up gaining great visibility for their bite-sized take on bagels. The couple's business skyrocketed, and they entered into partnerships with several national and international brands to sell their bagels, including Safeway, Kroger, Delta Airlines, and most famously, Starbucks.
Customers could find these snacks in over 8,500 locations, and many appreciated the fact that they were easier to eat on the way to work or their next errand than the chain's usual cream cheese bagels. That's because Bantam bagels were small, round bagels with cream cheese stuffed inside them, so they were a no-mess alternative to the classic New York snacks.
However, the Oleksaks sold their company to T. Marzetti in 2018, and eventually, the parent company of Lancaster decided to offload this entire branch as it couldn't figure out a profitable way to run it. This means that though customers miss Bantam bagels like crazy — as is evident by well over 1,000 signatures on a Change.org petition to bring them back — it's unlikely this item will be making a reappearance on Starbucks shelves any time soon.
Ancho chipotle chicken panini
So far, there has been a trend of sandwiches and health-focused foods being discontinued at Starbucks, but it appears the company also tends to get rid of anything spicy. On this list, you have already seen food items like the Chicken Santa Fe Panini and Southwest Veggie Wrap, which both had some spicy Southwest sauce, get taken off Starbucks menus. Well, you can add the Ancho chipotle chicken panini to that list.
This hearty sandwich may have actually been the spiciest of all. It consisted of ciabatta bread with shredded, spiced chicken breast, fire-roasted poblano peppers, red onion, and three-chili gouda sauce, all topped off with an ancho-chipotle sauce and spicy cilantro pesto. Though the Ancho chipotle chicken panini had a fair amount of fans, it seems they weren't enough to keep this item on the menu. As one Reddit user reminisced, "It's gone. I loved it. It was delicious with the avocado spread, too. Starbucks customers don't seem to care for anything with at least a little spice to it."
S'mores bar
The Starbucks S'mores Bar called to mind sleepovers and nights around the campfire, by inserting traditional S'mores flavors into a bar you could snack on along with your morning coffee. Despite the fact that it was beloved by many — one customer called it "the best candy bar of all time hands down" — Starbucks took it off the menu years ago. Apparently, the company has engaged in a general discontinuation of anything "s'mores"-like, as the popular S'mores Frappuccino was discontinued at some point after that as well.
For customers who miss this sweet, sugary treat, the good news is that there are a lot of simple ways to make rich, indulgent s'mores at home all on your own. If you want a great variation on the classic s'more, try adding some peanut butter, according to one s'mores recipe. You can also replace the traditional graham crackers with other kinds of cookies, or use chocolate alternatives like peppermint patties.