Okay, so, I’ve been on this kick lately where I’m trying to recreate all my childhood snacks. And let me tell you, the Little Debbie snacks were a HUGE part of my younger days. So, I started messing around in the kitchen, trying to figure out how to make these things myself.
First up, I wanted to tackle the Oatmeal Creme Pies. I mean, who doesn’t love those things? I started by making a basic oatmeal cookie recipe. I just whipped up some butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, then threw in some flour, oats, and baking soda. I baked those until they were golden brown and let them cool.
- While the cookies were cooling, I started on the filling. Now, this is where it got a little tricky. I used marshmallow creme cause it looked like that was the secret. I couldn’t find it at first, so I actually used mini marshmallows. Heated them up with some other stuff to get them all melty and mixed it all together. It actually worked!
- Once the cookies were completely cool, I spread a generous amount of that filling onto one cookie and then sandwiched another one on top. Boom! Oatmeal Creme Pies, just like the ones I used to buy at the store.
Make the Filling
Next, I moved on to Zebra Cakes. These were a little more complicated, but still doable. I baked a simple vanilla cake, nothing fancy, just a boxed mix works fine. After letting it cool, I sliced it horizontally into two layers, and then used small bowls to cut out circles of cake from each layer. Then I made a simple vanilla frosting.
- Then came the fun part, the stripes! I melted some white chocolate and some regular chocolate. I dipped each cake into the white chocolate and then used a toothpick to drizzle the dark chocolate on top to make the stripes. It was a bit messy, but it looked pretty cool when I was done.
The Zebra Stripes Part
I also tried making Nutty Bars. These were surprisingly easy. I just made a simple shortbread crust, baked it, and then topped it with a mixture of melted chocolate and peanut butter. After letting it cool and harden in the fridge, I cut it into bars. They tasted almost exactly like the real thing!
Swiss Cake Rolls were the hardest, to be honest. I had to bake a thin chocolate sponge cake, and then roll it up with a cream filling while it was still warm. It was tough to get it right, and my first few attempts were total fails. But eventually, I got the hang of it, and they turned out pretty good.
The Cosmic Brownies I also decided to give a shot, and those colorful sprinkles were calling my name. It is a fudgy brownie with some sprinkles. I found a recipe online for a basic fudgy brownie, baked that up, and then made a simple chocolate frosting. Then, I just sprinkled those little rainbow sprinkles all over the top. They looked just like the ones from my childhood, and tasted amazing.
Honestly, it’s been a blast trying to recreate these classic snacks. It’s like taking a trip down memory lane, but with a lot more flour and sugar involved. And the best part is, they taste pretty darn close to the originals! I just need to try and make more snacks, and it is really interesting.