This Philly Cafe Perfected Your Favorite Childhood Brownie

Loretta’s Constellation Brownie / Photograph by Emilie Krause

Welcome to Just One Dish, a Foobooz series that looks at an outstanding item on a Philly restaurant’s menu — the story behind the dish, how it’s made, and why you should be going out of your way to try it.

When Kelsey Bush was growing up in central Pennsylvania in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, a Cosmic Brownie was a special treat. She’d pull one of the plastic-covered rectangles from the Little Debbie’s box straight out of the freezer, where her mom would keep it, and eat it cold or warm it up for more of a gooey texture. Biting into a sprinkle-dotted square, she’d marvel at the impression her teeth marks would leave on the chocolate, thinking it was the coolest thing.

These days, Bush isn’t a big fan of Cosmic Brownies. Naturally, her tastes have developed as an adult, and, like others on the internet, she swears that Little Debbie’s has changed the recipe since her childhood. (A representative for Little Debbie’s confirms that all of the company’s recipes “undergo insubstantial tweaks over the years,” though “any changes are not consequential to the overall functional recipe.”) Still, Bush’s memories of eating Cosmic Brownies remain sweet — and at her Headhouse Square cafe, Loretta’s, there’s a version of the throwback dessert made specifically for a more grown-up palate.

The Constellation Brownie is what you’d get if the Cosmic Brownie grew up and moved to the city. It’s more decadent and not too saccharine, made with high-quality cocoa, butter, and flour. And the texture is heavenly. Fudgy, but not overly so, and just the right amount of cakey (which, in my opinion, is not too much). Then, on top, there’s a rich, satiny ganache studded with bright candy sprinkles — the same ones you’d find atop the Little Debbie’s classic. Using the same sprinkles was something that Bush, administrative director Sara May, and the baker at Loretta’s (who prefers to keep their identity private) “really strongly agreed on,” the chef-owner says. The sprinkles were “almost like a separate dessert,” Bush remembers, adding that some kids would pick the candy off the top to savor on its own. “Everyone had a fun way to eat these through their childhood,” she says. “The sprinkle itself was something really specific that all three of us jointly wanted to make sure was how we remembered it.”

Photograph by Chloé Pantazi-Wolber

It took some time to land on the exact recipe for the brownie, which the baker at Loretta’s had introduced as an occasional party menu item years ago at Bloomsday next door (both places are run by the same team). They had come up with the idea for a TV dinner-themed event held at Bloomsday during the pandemic, thinking that a Cosmic Brownie-style dessert would only be fitting. A reliable crowd-pleaser, the brownie kept making an appearance on other occasions. “Quality-wise, it’s really easy to execute and be impressive,” Bush says, noting that the brownies are made in a big sheet tray to yield a large quantity. So, when Loretta’s opened in November 2024, it was a no-brainer to include the treat on the menu.

At Loretta’s, the Constellation Brownie has found space to shine. Named after Bush’s grandmother, the cafe’s whole vibe is nostalgic. There are splashes of lime green, cornflower blue, and tomato red that feel a little early-2000s; wooden chairs and mismatched plates; plants and flowers in the window; and the occasional tchotchke that wouldn’t be out of place in your hip grandma’s home. The setting makes sense for Loretta’s retro-leaning flavors. “We’re making our childhood memories, but we’re making it for our adult palates now,” Bush says of the flavors at Loretta’s, where the Constellation Brownie is sold alongside pop tarts, cinnamon buns, and cookies (and plenty of laminated pastries). For chocolate lovers like me, though, the brownie is the true star. And it continues to be a hit with customers.

Photograph by Chloé Pantazi-Wolber

Loretta’s isn’t the only place making a glowed-up Cosmic Brownie. Spinoffs abound in pastry cases across the country, and there are several iterations in Philadelphia alone. Marck Goldstein’s Brewerytown Bakery sells a vegan version, and at Dreamworld Bakes, Ashley Huston makes a fudgy, olive oil brownie topped with a bergamot-laced ganache and dusted with an “interstellar crunch” (edible glitter and pearls).

Writing about the prevalence of Cosmic Brownie-inspired desserts in March, Bon Appétit’s Sam Stone suggests it’s a sign of how U.S. bakers are deviating from formal European pastry styles to find inspiration in their own experiences. The intergalactic brownie also feels like a clear example of LOLfood, a trend that Eater’s Jaya Saxena coined in February to explain why we’re seeing more “lightly childish” or “don’t-make-me-think-too-hard foods” — like pizza rolls and hot dogs — on menus. Saxena argues that the movement is an answer to the uncertain times we’re living in, as many find solace in foods they associate with what felt like better days. Similarly, Bush attributes the rise of the Cosmic Brownie in America’s baking scene to millennial bakers recreating the memories of their youth.

But the Constellation Brownie isn’t just about ’90s and early-2000s nostalgia, even if it undoubtedly calls back to those eras. More than that, it’s a love letter to Loretta, who would buy boxes of the Little Debbie’s dessert for her grandkids — often “against my mother’s wishes,” Bush says. It’s also simply for anyone who grew up eating Cosmic Brownies and wants a taste of their childhood. If that’s you, maybe you’ve found that the Little Debbie classic doesn’t taste the same to you anymore. The Constellation Brownie at a window table in Loretta’s, though? That’ll take you right back.