A woman enjoying cereal in her kitchen.

12 Nostalgic Junk Foods That Will Take You Back

Want to take a trip down memory lane? These nostalgic junk foods will bring you right back to your younger days when life was easy, and snack foods were out of this world.

These 12 junk foods are the ones we all grew up eating. Between neighborhood games of tag and riding on the school bus, we would devour these snacks in a way that made our parents cringe. While some of these delicious retro foods have disappeared from grocery shelves forever, you may be lucky enough to still be able to find a few.

Look at these tasty nostalgic snacks and see which remind you of being a kid. We bet they all will!

Dunkaroos

General Mills Dunkaroos cereal
Image Credit: Shutterstock / Wirestock Creators.

Every kid was obsessed with Dunakroos. We would beg our parents to buy them, and only the cool parents would oblige. Eating a pack of those crunchy cookies with sweet sprinkle frosting was just like heaven. T

he only question was, should you dip the cookies in the frosting or eat all the cookies plain and then lick the frosting out of the cup at the end? Everyone had their own Dunkaroo eating style!

Fruit Roll-Ups

Fruit Roll-Ups
Image Credit: Shutterstock / The Image Party.

Fruit Roll-Ups were one of the tastiest kid snacks ever. The thin, chewy, dessert-like food was a kid's favorite for decades. We all especially loved when the Fruit-Roll Ups had shapes cut out of them so you could gently peel an image out of the sheet before devouring it.

With so many flavors of Fruit Roll-Ups, you could never get tired of this snack!

Yoohoo

Cans of Yoohoo chocolate drink
Image Credit: Shutterstock / Sheila Fitzgerald.

Yoohoo was the best chocolate milk in the world. We aren't sure why it was so good, but it was. No other chocolate milk could compare!

Maybe it was so delicious because it came in a portable bottle or can, so you could walk around drinking chocolate milk anytime. Or maybe there was a secret ingredient in Yoohoo that we didn't know about. No matter what made Yoohoo so good, we want more of it and wish we could have it right now!

Ring Pops

Ring Pop Strawberry candy
Image Credit: Shutterstock / SiljeAO.

We all remember sliding a Ring Pop onto our finger and pretending we just got married. Unfortunately, ring pop engagements did not last long as those sweet lollipops were quickly devoured.

Luckily, you can still find Ring Pops in most grocery stores today, so you can enjoy this sweet, nostalgic treat anytime. We aren't sure if a natural diamond or a Ring Pop is better. Maybe we just want both.

Push Pops

Push Pop candy
Image Credit: Shutterstock / Epov Dmitry.

While we are talking about candy lollipops, we have to mention Push Pops. This may have been the best candy design ever. Push Pops allowed you to eat a lollipop, then put the top back on the container and save the rest for later. No messy wrappers are involved!

Plus, Push Pops tasted so good that we always wanted to eat them. And the top had that convenient clip so you could attach your Push Pop to your clothes and keep it close. Convenient snacks like this are still the best!

Lunchables

Lunchables
Image Credit: Shutterstock / ZikG.

Only the coolest kids in the cafeteria ate Lunchables. They were the best lunch ever, and you were lucky if your parents bought them. Everyone wanted to eat those little cheese slices with the crackers and fake pepperoni.

Lunchables were food that pretty much only appealed to kids, as adults could not appreciate the beautiful little package. However, as adults now, we would still want to devour a Lunchable. It will make us feel like kids again!

Pop Tarts

Pop-Tarts
Image Credit: Deposit Photos.

Pop-Tarts are still a very popular snack and breakfast, and we are so glad that this retro treat has been able to withstand the test of time. Pop Tarts were originally intended to be a breakfast pastry, but they were so delicious that people started eating them all day. P

op Tarts were also designed to be heated in the toaster oven, making the filling warm and gooey. However, no kid could ever wait that long, so we ate them plain, right out of the package. They were still insanely delicious! In fact, we want to buy a pack of Pop-Tarts right now and devour every crumb.

Cheetos Puffs

Cheetos Puffs
Image Credit: Shutterstock / ZikG.

Just when we thought we couldn't love Cheetos anymore, they got puffed up.

Rather than being super crunchy, Cheetos puffs would melt in your mouth, giving you an explosion of cheese with a fluffier crunch. Thank goodness you can still buy Cheetos Puffs today and eat the whole bag just like you did when you were a kid! This is still one of the best snacks ever.

Twinkies

Twinkies, dessert.
Image Credit: Christian Cable – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons.

Every kid in the world loves to eat Twinkies. We definitely remember adoring this nostalgic cake when we were young. The fluffy, moist cake was stuffed with an irresistible cream filling like a surprise in the center. Twinkies are still a popular snack, so you can eat them anytime you'd like! Go grab a pack right now and take a trip down memory lane. You will feel like a kid after just one bite!

Warheads

Warheads, warhead extreme sour candy
Image Credit: Shutterstock / Veronica Winters.

Warhead may have been the best kid candy ever. They were super sour before becoming sweet, making it a candy only the bravest kids could handle. The sour taste was so extreme that it was almost hard to eat.

Giving someone a Warhead was almost like a dare. Would they be able to handle the sour taste? The tough kids could!

Pop Rocks

Pop Rocks candy
Image Credit: Shutterstock / tastyfood.

This may be the most fun, nostalgic candy on the whole list. Pop Rocks were seriously amazing. When you put a handful of Pop Rocks in your mouth, they instantly crackle and explode, fizzing and tickling your tongue. The super sweet taste and the popping sensation made this candy every kid's go-to treat. Luckily, you can still find this retro candy in some stores, so you can enjoy that exciting sensation anytime you want to!

Oreo O’s

Oreo o's cereal
Image Credit: Shutterstock / Ralf Liebhold.

Whoever thought of turning Oreo cookies into cereal was a genius. This nostalgic cereal was the best thing that ever happened to breakfast. It allowed kids to eat cookies for breakfast with mom's approval. The chocolatey O's and frosting bites were absolutely amazing. If you had a bowl of Oreo O's in the morning, you knew the rest of your day would be incredible!

Author: Amanda Bochain

Amanda is a professional pastry chef with a bachelor’s degree from The Culinary Institute of America. She has worked in the hospitality field for over 18 years including owning and operating a bakery cafe that specializes in wedding cakes. Amanda loves traveling, discovering secret vacation destinations and, of course, trying new local cuisines. She loves gardening, running and eating ice cream for breakfast. She has three kids, ages 8, 5 and 3, who are her official recipe taste testers.

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