Marlon Brando Loved These 8 Sweet Treats

Marlon Brando is often mentioned in conversations about the greatest film actors to ever grace the screen, with an intense style and unrelenting commitment to his roles. He was known to embody the characters he played even after the cameras stopped rolling, as one of the early adopters of method acting in Hollywood. Brando was a larger-than-life, sometimes contentious person with a big, bold personality. He also had a big appetite. Brando was known for his love of food, and perhaps even peculiar tastes and habits, with a diet that led him to struggle with weight issues throughout his life. At the Hollywood restaurant Pink's, Brando was known to order six hot dogs at a time, hoovering them up during late-night snack attacks, which eventually led to an all-beef hot dog being named after him on the menu.

Brando really enjoyed eating desserts, too, with a sweet tooth nearly as intense as his screen performances. Standard fare like ice cream and pies were often enjoyed by the actor, in addition to his own creations like homemade Mounds bars. With a pure indulgence approach to eating, he would binge on things like peanut butter straight from the jar, in between giving world-class portrayals of his characters. Here, we crack open up the cupboards and fridge door to Brando's world of food, revealing what was behind the curtains, and how he kept his enormous cravings in check.

When it comes to cookies, Mallomars might not have the same panache as Oreos, or the chef-y appeal of buttery Palmiers, but they have their place among snack food fans. You may even associate them with your grandparents, as a packaged marshmallow and chocolate cookie from yesteryear; they were first created in 1913 by Nabisco, after all. Mallomars are also finicky; these cookies are supposedly only shipped during cooler months in refrigerated trucks as they're prone to getting all gooey and melty.

They were also a favorite sweet snack of Marlon Brando, who, some may say, was equally prone to melting down with an infamous temper. In the 1950s, Brandon was known to crush entire boxes of Mallomars in one sitting — sometimes alongside cinnamon buns — to be washed down with an entire quart of milk. However, considering his acting demands at the time, when he would have been in his 30s with a chiseled physique, these high-calorie snack sessions didn't seem to impact his appearance. We certainly don't judge Brando's past dietary habits, but it is funny to think him in his trailer, ferociously devouring entire boxes of cookies between takes!

Brando liked to mix things up when it came to his favorite cookies and had an equally intense penchant for Pepperidge Farm cookies when the craving hit. If you're unfamiliar, Pepperidge Farm has many lines of cookies, sold in distinctive tall boxes with white packaging, often lauded for its delicious farmhouse cookie style, which is thin and crispy, available in flavours like butter pecan and classic chocolate chip.

Much like Brando's obsession with Mallomars, the actor was known to also take down entire boxes of Pepperidge Farm cookies in one sitting. This was often considered his dessert after gorging on a feast of two entire chickens in one sitting — yes, you read that right — which must have entailed a belt-loosening or serious nap, post-nosh. The amount of calories Brando could consume is staggering, but there is an addictive nature to Pepperidge Farm's buttery cookies that you can't really fault the guy for!

As Brando got a bit older in his 30s and 40s, his acting chops remained sharp as ever, but his dietary habits became more extreme. The actor was said to go on crash diets, where he would have swings in either direction sometimes falling off hard. On such occasions when he would succumb to his insatiable appetite for junk food, the thespian would sometimes chow down on huge stacks of pancakes, drenched in, of course, puddles of maple syrup — talk about carb-loading! Brando definitely lived by the old axiom that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, also scoffing down cornflakes, eggs, and sausages, in addition to those flapjacks. 

While we don't have specific intel on what type he preferred, and whether they were traditional buttermilk stacks or sophisticated lemon ricotta pancakes, it is hard to blame him for indulging in one of the more celebrated breakfast foods. It's also up for debate as to whether he used some primo, Grade A syrup from Quebec or Vermont, or fake and watery corn syrup. Either way, this somehow makes the man more relatable amongst a group of Hollywood elites who are usually anything but.

Apple pie à la mode is the perfect dessert. It's comforting and cozy, rich, sweet, and satisfying with a hint of savory butter bliss in the crust. If you're not familiar with the French phrase "à la mode," it simply means with ice cream on top. Sure, it might sound fancy, but it's really not that type of dessert in France, or Stateside, obviously. Mr. Brando, as we've established, had an almost hard-to-believe appetite, and he was said to finish dinners with apple pie à la mode. This was sometimes after hoovering up two steaks with potatoes, in addition to a whole quart of milk. 

While we can't argue the universal appeal of apple pie with ice cream — loved by all generations from your grandparents to your 6-year-old nephew — we can't imagine the food comas Brando would have experienced. As ever, we don't judge, and it's always fascinating to see what talented actors who almost seem superhuman like to eat. We can get behind apple pie à la mode any day.

We've all been there: you're tired, you're hungry, you're feeling lazy and uninspired, so you reach for that jar of peanut butter. It's a classic late-night hunger hack to simply spoon out dollops of rich and creamy peanut butter goodness and wolf it down for some sustenance. It's fatty and filling, and always hits the spot. Marlon Brando was also a fan of this snack move, but he took it to pretty extreme levels, where his spoonfuls would continue until the peanut butter jar was empty! That's a lot of Skippy.

The actor's eating habits heavily involved this spreadable condiment for a large period of his life, starting when he was trying to find his way in the industry. As a struggling young actor in New York, Brando would scoop out spoonfuls of peanut butter as an ad hoc dinner of sorts. Considering that many struggling artists live on tight budgets, this makes sense as a dietary approach to saving money, but it does seem far from a balanced nutritional regimen.

Mounds bars are perhaps divisive, as not everyone enjoys the assertive and sometimes overly intense flavor of coconut. But the sweet dark chocolate coating of the candy bar helps to balance out the coconut richness, coming together for a super intense yet satisfying bite. It's Almond Joy adjacent, and a direct competitor to Bounty, all of which might fall under a category of under-appreciated or perhaps even niche candy bars. But Brando appreciated his Mounds, so much so that he opted to create a homemade version while living on the stunningly beautiful Tetiaroa atoll, in French Polynesia. 

The actor ended up taking residence on the island after becoming captured by its grandeur during the filming of "Mutiny on the Bounty," in the early 1960s. He was inspired by the organic farming, renewable resources, and customs of the indigenous Tahitians. But he also missed a taste of home, prompting him to crack open coconuts and add some sun-melted chocolate to create a homemade Mounds bar of sorts. Sounds like a pretty awesome beach snack, and well, necessity is the mother of invention, they say.

Out of all the foods in our list here, it is said that Brando's ice cream obsession was his most intense as it became a daily habit. And who can blame him? Ice cream is the best. However, the actor, as we've established, liked to eat and had trouble with exercising any moderation. His ice cream addiction meant that he could blow through gallons of the stuff, which led him to indulge at any time of day, whether breakfast or lunch. His ice cream obsession was especially noticeable during the filming of "Mutiny on the Bounty," where he allegedly split 52 pairs of tight-fitting pants used for his character's costume. 

The wildly talented actor was said to leave the movie set while cradling a tub of ice cream, devouring it in one sitting to get his sugar fix. With his weight and mental health swinging up and down, the actor was often at the whims of his crash diets. During one such nutritional course correction, Brando's second wife, Motiva, had to put a lock on their refrigerator. The actor apparently would break into the fridge and freezer when late-night cravings hit, indulging in dairy goodness in spite of dietary restrictions.

Bananas and cream might sound like an old-fashioned dessert in 2025, and it might not be found on many restaurant menus these days either. But you can't argue with the fact that the flavors of dairy and banana pair so well, be it banana and ice cream, banana and crème anglaise, or even bananas with custard. This type of dessert can be elevated with some vanilla and a sprinkling of cinnamon on top, taken a step further perhaps with some chopped pecans. Yum. Marlon Brandon loved bananas and creme and, like with all of his favorite foods and desserts, had trouble putting the spoon down. 

In fact, the actor was thought to have suffered from the eating disorder bulimia, which was suggested by Brando's personal assistant, as mentioned in the book "Me and Marlon." Unfortunately, Brando came up in an era where mental health and eating disorders were not openly discussed, leading to a lack of treatment for many sufferers. Thankfully, we live in an era where the opposite is true, and while many of us eat for pure pleasure, there is a fine line. Everything in moderation is key!

If you need help with an eating disorder or know someone who does, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).