9 Discontinued Little Debbie Snacks That Need To Make A Comeback

Think back to lunchtime in the cafeteria when you were a kid. You open your lunchbox that your mom or dad packed for you, and you find a plastic-wrapped pastry that you know is going to give you the sugar rush you need to take on the playground. Chances are, that processed pastry was from Little Debbie, a brand known for its iconic bakery items. Do they taste like they come from the fancy local bakery in your neighborhood? Maybe not. But those pastries trigger a sense of nostalgia in many of us who grew up with them.

There are still plenty of Little Debbie snacks available on store shelves, but there are many others that have been discontinued in years past. Sometimes, we find ourselves dreaming about these defunct snacks ... and maybe you do, too. Let's take a closer look at these discontinued Little Debbie snacks that need to make a comeback, and you might just remember your cafeteria days a bit more vividly.

Banana is one of the most easily recognizable fruit flavors out there, and pastries with a banana flavoring usually inspire either intense love or hate in the people who eat them. But Little Debbie's Banana Twins apparently weren't beloved quite enough, since they were discontinued back in 2022. The pastry included two banana-flavored cakes and contained a rich cream filling, which made for a simple but delicious snack.

According to a Facebook comment by Little Debbie, the sales volume wasn't high enough for the company to continue production. But it seems like there are still plenty of fans who are dreaming of their return. Several Banana Twins lovers commented on one of Little Debbie's Facebook posts requesting that the company bring back the iconic pastry. We're not sure that they'll ever make a reappearance again, but we'll continue dreaming of the banana-flavored snack until they hopefully do.

These days, pumpkin spice everything is all the rage, but even before Starbucks came out with its famous PSL, there were Little Debbie Spice Cakes. These cakes were popular in the 1980s and 1990s but were eventually discontinued, ostensibly because the cost of cinnamon was rising, and the company didn't think it could continue to profit from the snack. We think that's a huge bummer, though, especially when fall rolls around and the idea of a cinnamon-spiced cake starts to sound particularly tasty. We're apparently not alone in our nostalgia for the treat — some Redditors have taken to Little Debbie threads, dreaming of the dessert.

However, there may be a way to recreate a similar flavor at home. Snag a spice cake boxed cake mix along with some white frosting, and you can create a homemade version of Little Debbie's Spice Cakes in your own oven. Admittedly, though, the lack of the plastic wrapper means that the homemade version just doesn't hit the same way as the original.

Who doesn't love fudgy brownies? And once you add some crunchy nuts to the mix, you're looking at a top-notch dessert. Apparently, Little Debbie once thought so, too, because in years past, it produced its own Fudge Brownies with English Walnuts. They remained popular for quite some time — in fact, they were on store shelves for over 50 years. However, in 2022, along with a variety of other Little Debbie treats, they were pulled from the brand's lineup. These days, you can only find Cosmic Brownies (which are still a widely beloved treat), but they just don't scratch the same nutty brownie itch.

As of the time of writing, over 12,000 people have signed a petition on change.org to get Little Debbie to bring the brownies back. So far, though, the calls for the snack's re-release haven't been successful. Sure, you can always make your own brownies with walnuts at home, but it's not quite as easy as picking up a pack of this processed dessert.

When the holiday season rolls around, we're always on the lookout for seasonal snacks that get us in a celebratory mood. For a long time, Little Debbie's Christmas Spice Cookie Wreaths were one of those snacks. They were basically just Christmas wreath-shaped cookies, covered in a white chocolate glaze and adorned with red and green sprinkles. Admittedly, they weren't really anything special flavor-wise, but their seasonality really made them shine during the winter months. But in 2016, Little Debbie decided to discontinue the product, much to the chagrin of packaged pastry-eating Christmas lovers everywhere.

It's obvious that plenty of consumers miss these cookies, because they've taken to Reddit to share recipes that yield similar, albeit homemade, treats. One home baker came up with a recipe that mimics the original, and they were met with a slew of grateful comments from people who had once loved the now-defunct Christmas cookies, with some saying that they tasted almost exactly the same as the original product.

If you have any familiarity with Little Debbie products, then you've probably tried the company's Swiss Rolls before. They're arguably one of the brand's most iconic offerings, after all. But at one point in time, Little Debbie made a somewhat similar product, dubbed Boston Creme Rolls. Instead of utilizing chocolate cake, though, these were made with a yellow sponge cake, similarly wrapped around a cream center and drizzled with chocolate. They were a bit less rich than Swiss Rolls and were arguably one of the brand's better offerings. However, the product was sadly discontinued back in 2023.

Like with so many other discontinued Little Debbie products, nostalgic consumers have taken to Reddit to reminisce on the deliciousness of this treat. Some say that they're the best Little Debbie product, while others mentioned that they occasionally email the company to ask that Little Debbie bring them back. But, alas, you won't find them on store shelves anymore, at least for now. 

Head to the section of your local grocery store where they sell Little Debbie snacks, and you'll almost certainly encounter a package of Little Debbie Zebra Cakes, another widely beloved snack from the brand. This snack is made with yellow cake with a cream filling, covered in a layer of white chocolate with a chocolate drizzle. But once upon a time, there was also a chocolate version of this pastry: Little Debbie Chocolate Zebra Cakes. It was the same idea, but this snack was made with chocolate cake instead of yellow sponge. However, in 2016, Little Debbie took to X to state that the product was discontinued because of lack of fan support.

Perhaps this version of the treat was just too similar to the yellow sponge cake version, and the brand didn't feel like they needed the extra variant of the product. But for anyone who preferred that richer, more chocolatey flavor, the discontinuation of this treat was a real blow.

There was nothing like a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch when you were a kid. But what if the popular sandwich staple was transformed into a dessert? That's just what Little Debbie did with its PB&J Oatmeal Pies. The outside of the snack was made with two oatmeal cakes, which sandwiched a center made of peanut butter and jelly. Sounds delicious, right? But sadly, it's been well over a decade since consumers have seen this product on store shelves, despite the popularity of the brand's similar Oatmeal Creme Pies.

Disappointed Little Debbie fans have taken to the internet to express their sadness that the product was discontinued and has yet to be re-released, with many hoping that the company will bring them back someday. We don't necessarily think that they're the best Little Debbie treat out there, but we still dream of the day they somehow end up back on the market.

If you ask us, the most iconic Little Debbie treat has to be the brand's Cosmic Brownies. These candy-studded brownies seem to make an appearance in all of our most beloved childhood school cafeteria memories, and judging by the fact that they're still widely available, we can only assume that they still remain quite popular. But once upon a time, Little Debbie decided to offer a twist on its classic brownies with Cosmic Cupcakes. Essentially, this treat was the same snack as the brownies, just in cupcake form. However, the cream-filled center gave them a little something extra that made for a slightly more exciting bite.

But in 2017, Little Debbie stopped producing Cosmic Cupcakes, and now, we're only left with the brownie version of the treat. Admittedly, it's not the worst loss on this list, mostly because Cosmic Brownies taste so similar. But for those who crave some novelty in their snack cake experience, the absence of these cupcakes still stings.

We'll admit that we don't have a ton of hope that many of these Little Debbie treats will ever grace grocery store shelves again. But if there's one that we think might make a reappearance at some point, it has to be Little Debbie Apple Delights. These smiley face-shaped cookies were also called Apple Flips, and they offered a fruity twist on an otherwise somewhat bland pastry. Although they've been discontinued for many years at this point, the brand has brought them back at various points, so there's a chance that they'll someday come back for a limited time again.

Find yourself craving these apple-flavored treats on the regular? Little Debbie offers a similar product, albeit without the cute smiley face shape. Try the brand's Mini Apple Fruit Pies for a flavor profile that might just take you back to the good old Apple Delights days. They're not exactly the same, but they might just evoke a sense of lunchtime dessert nostalgia.