The '90s Nightlife Trend That Inspired Little Debbie's Cosmic Brownies

Second only to oatmeal cream pies on our ranking 20 Little Debbie snacks, Cosmic Brownies are as whimsical as they are delicious, and they've been a favorite ever since they debuted in 1999. While Cosmic Brownies were essentially the snack of the new millennium, the inspiration for their name and look harkens back to a '90s nightlife trend known as cosmic bowling.

If you grew up in the '90s, odds are that you went to birthday parties or even weekly hangouts at your local bowling alley, which attempted to appeal to a broader client base outside of league play by offering cosmic bowling hours. This involved the help of black lights, neon projections, booming sound systems, and other whacky animations uploaded to the TV screen scoreboards.

During designated night-time play, the bowling alley went dark, and the black lights and projectors fired up so that bowling balls and white clothes glowed in the dark, and neon-colored stars and planets danced across the lanes while fun pop music blasted from the speakers. Cosmic bowling still exist today, but it was at its peak in the '90s. And the Cosmic Brownie carries on its legacy, sporting a dark chocolate horizon dotted with neon sprinkles.

While the cosmic bowl trend has passed its prime, Cosmic Brownies are seeing a resurgence in popularity. Many modern bakeries have scratch-made Cosmic Brownies lining the dessert cases. And while their dark neon aesthetic is a nostalgic throwback, Cosmic Brownies are appealing for their delicious taste and texture. Not only do Cosmic Brownies deliver that gooey, dense brownie, but they're also topped with a layer of creamy melt-in-your-mouth chocolate fudge and crunchy chocolate sprinkles to boot!

This variety of texture and trifecta of chocolate flavors is a dessert lover's dream, and you can adapt it to adult taste buds by making Cosmic Brownies at home using quality ingredients. Instead of the artificial and low quality chocolate ingredients that come in mass-produced dessert snacks, you can make our recipe for the ultimate fudgy brownies using this Dutch process Guittard cocoa powder. For the decadent, creamy frosting, try this recipe for muscovado chocolate ganache. If you want more of a milk chocolate frosting, you can make the chocolate frosting from this recipe for classic yellow birthday cake. And the vibrant chocolate sprinkles that make Cosmic Brownies are so iconic are available for purchase online from Stern's Bakery on Amazon.