The Sweet Breakfast Menu Item Cracker Barrel Quietly Retired

Cracker Barrel is known as a comfy, reliable spot rather than an exciting restaurant that likes to shake things up. When the chain does try something new — see Cracker Barrel's disastrous logo update – its fans tend to get in a huff. Perhaps the only Cracker Barrel experiments that go over well are its limited edition menu items, such as the Sweet Potato Pancakes, a retired dish that some fans still miss.

The Sweet Potato Pancakes joined the Cracker Barrel breakfast menu on January 16, 2012, as part of a limited-time winter lineup. For $6.19, you could get three pancakes with that classic orange sweet potato hue, served with brown sugar cinnamon butter and syrup. An extra $1.50 would earn you two eggs on the side, plus your choice of turkey sausage, bacon, or sausage patties. During the dish's run, Cracker Barrel also sold its own Sweet Potato Pancake Mix in the store section of its restaurants.

Reviews for the flapjacks were positive, calling them scrumptious and flavorful with a dense yet fluffy texture that was somewhat cake-like. "These pancakes are the best. Almost like eating dessert," wrote one fan on Facebook. Another commenter said the "cinnamon butter is [a] great accent." Considering that the classic buttermilk pancakes are the best Cracker Barrel breakfast item, we imagine the sweet potato version was indeed delicious — but the great feedback wasn't enough to earn the dish a permanent stay. The Sweet Potato Pancakes left Cracker Barrel on February 29, about a month and a half after their debut.

Over a decade later, Cracker Barrel's Sweet Potato Pancakes show no signs of returning, but it's pretty easy to satisfy a craving at home. You only need two ingredients for sweet potato pancakes, and when served up with a mixture of butter, cinnamon, and sugar, you'll have a reasonable taste-alike. Unfortunately, Cracker Barrel has also retired some pancake dishes that are a lot more unique and therefore tougher to recreate.

Pancake tacos are one sorely missed example. The idea of CB making Mexican food might raise some eyebrows, but the "taco" part of the name referred to the dish's composition. Classic buttermilk pancakes were folded up into a taco shell shape and stuffed with fried eggs, crispy bacon, and shredded Colby cheese, then served with a side of syrup. The sweet, salty, satisfying treats became a hit following their 2023 debut, but vanished just a year later. A Cracker Barrel employee on Reddit recommended ordering a breakfast plate and putting pancake tacos together yourself, but that might not fill the hole in every fan's heart.

For spring 2025, Cracker Barrel dropped a slew of seasonal pancake dishes, including Oreo Stuffed Cheesecake Pancakes and Signature Pancake Platters with blueberry, pecan, chocolate chip, strawberry, cinnamon apple, or peach toppings. There was even a Pancake Latte with maple flavoring, whipped cream, and a syrup drizzle. While the chain still serves blueberry, pecan, chocolate chip, and strawberry pancakes, the other varieties — as well as that interesting latte — have sadly disappeared.