For reals?

The whole world does not know the power and childhood wonder that is a Zinger?
The glorified Twinkie with frosting?


Which looks surprisingly like a frosted stick of butter when on a plate.
A cute vintage plate, courtesy of the adorable and inspiring Heather from Blessed Little Nest.

The same Zinger that was the best thing ever as a kid?
The same Zinger that you ate again as an adult and questioned why in the world did you ever, ever, ever like it?

That my friends is a Zinger.

Best left to the under 10 set.

What were your favorite childhood snacks that although are nostalgic, have lost their appeal as you've matured?
Reason number one zillion and one, that being a grown up is hard.


65 Comments

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. I can't say I've ever had a Zinger!! I know right?
    I love oatmeal creme pies...and oreo cookies. Loved them when I was younger..and love them now!

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  3. I LOVED Dunk-a-roos! Those were the best... way to much sugar for me now!

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  4. Ho Ho's for sure, now I am not sure WHY? That white swirl "stuff" in the center leaves the roof of your mouth coated with some kind of weirdness... hahahaha

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  5. I used to grab the bag of brown sugar and hide behind the couch to eat it. I can't believe I did that ... oh wait, I still do. Holy cow, it's time to grow up. That's SOOO terrible, but when PMS comes or if I'm stressed, I have no brain activity and my body just automatically takes itself to the pantry to inhale that stuff. It's a major problem.

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  6. That looks absolutely disgusting! Eww and Eww. I don't think they sell them here in Nor Cal.

    I used to like bologna as a kid. Now, I can't even look at it. *shudder*

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  7. OMG I forgot about Dunk-a-roos, loved those too! And I can still eat a box of Oatmeal Cream Pies to this day (now, I just regret it!)

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  8. OMG I forgot about Dunk-a-roos, loved those too! And I can still eat a box of Oatmeal Cream Pies to this day (now, I just regret it!)

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  9. I used to like twinkies. yuck.
    I've never had a zinger. I assume I wouldn't like those now either... if I don't like twinkies anymore.

    And oreos. I don't know why but I'm not an oreo fan anymore. I know I know, horrible right?

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  10. I'm more of a Hostess cupcake kinda gal {and yes, I STILL like them}, but my hubby loves the raspberry zingers.

    My grandma and my mother both worked for Wonder Bakery {they make Hostess} so we had lots of it growing up. Ahhhh, the memories!

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  11. I just bought some recently for lunch boxes here. One kid liked them the other did not.
    Won't be getting them again. ha ha
    I loved the raspberry ones covered in coconut when I was growing up.

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  12. Cow Tails!! They were so good...while they are still good...they aren't around as much as they used to be so they are very hard to find! But man are they good!

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  13. Zebra Cakes, cheese puffs (the big fluffy style) and potato sticks were all favs when we would visit grandma. I still like cheese puffs and can stomach a Zebra cake for nostalgic sake but no can do those potato sticks.

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  14. I have fond memories of breaking into my mom's "Ding Dong" stash in the freezer :).
    I also, loved, loved, loved pudding pops (I think that would be one I might still).

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  15. Oh the Zingers... I used to dream of them. The chocolate ones. The "butter stick" looking ones. WHat about the red ones with the coconut that made them look hairy? My mom was a health food gal. So, I only dreamt of them. Ding Dongs are the bomb. Especially the waxy feeling that remains in your mouth after 2 hours. I just might be having one tomorrow. Thankyouverymuch!

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  16. Haha! I lived on the chocolate zingers when I was pregnant with my 4th!

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  17. hostess cherry pies. my mom used let us get them every once in a while and i thought they were the best.thing.ever. now, not so much. it's okay though, cause i think i loved them enough as a kid to last me through my whole life.

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  18. hands down: twinkies!
    i looooved them as a kid but can't stomach one now.
    unfortunately i've just found other sweet treats that satisfy. like pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. *sigh*

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  19. I must not have matured because chocolate zingers are still one of my guilty pleasures!!

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  20. Fun dips! Loved eating that dipping stick as much as the powdered sugar to dip it in!

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  21. I still like all the junk I did as a kid! I just forbid my own kids from having any.

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  22. Yeah, before your post yesterday (and today) I'd never even heard of a zinger. Weird.

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  23. I just wanted to pop over and say thank you for your great tray tutorial, I found it on According to Kelly. I made my own and LOVE them!
    (http://stuffbyash.blogspot.com/2010/09/dollar-store-cupcake-stands.html)

    Also my favorite childhood treat, Nutty Bars and school lunch chocolate and peanut butter bars! I think I see a pattern here . . .

    Thanks again!

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  24. LOL! My MIL bought zingers for us to snack on for vacation. I ate HALF of one. I used to love Airheads, but now they are just gross!

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  25. Moon Pies! The yellow banana flavored ones. Can I just say, ewww! The thought of even putting one in my mouth now disgusts me but as a child I would BEG my mom to buy them!

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  26. Chocolate pudding pies. Always wanted them at the bread store and now the thought of eating them makes me sick.

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  27. hostess cupcakes.
    and sadly.....i still love them.

    but i know how awful they are and so i just cant' eat them.
    unless i am on a huge binge.....

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  28. Runts. I used to LOVE Runts. Now, uh, not so much. Funny how things change!

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  29. I am such a freak and have never really liked that stuff! Give me a basket of blueberries any day. Although, if I'm forced to buy something at a gas station while on a road trip and there are no fruit stands in sight, it's an original Twinkie, all the way.

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  30. Never heard of Zingers :) The only thing Hostess sells in Canada is potato chips..no snack cakes...BUT...when I was a kid I loved Ah Caramel's and Jos Louis...now do YOU know what they are? They were both snack cakes that probably have a shelf life of 999 years. I wouldn't eat them now, but they were YUM back then!

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  31. omg i have never had a zinger! crazy:) i love tasty cakes:)

    smiles,
    gina
    ps-have you entered my giveaway yet?? :)

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  32. Did you ever have those wax candies that you twist open and drink the sugar syrup out of the middle. There were pop bottles, etc. They were terrible disgusting then, but oh so fun at a slumber party.

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  33. i've never heard of zingers! are they a west coast hostess thing? no, seriously. like how we have edy's ice cream, but you have dryer's? no?
    anyway, i used to looooove fun dip, but now, it's just gross. plus that white dipping stick thing reminds me of the white chalky thing they use to mark up clothes that need alterations. blech.

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  34. Capri Suns and other kool-aidy drinks, my sister and I would beg my mom to buy them. And all those awesome Little Debbie snack cakes. Ewwwwww. But such fun memories.

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  35. Chocolate chips! My mom always seemed to keep a bag around for making cookies, but I just ate them by the handful.

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  36. we ate a TON o' little debs. weren't there zingers with pink coconut?? loved those.

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  37. Oh! I loved zingers - I was partial to the raspberry zingers that were coated in stale coconut :) Those were a real lunchtime treat and surprise when I opened my My Little Pony lunchbox and found them.

    Hmmm . . . I can't think of anything at the moment that just aren't as tasty since I grew up. Oh wait! SqueezIts! I don't think they even make them, but I can imagine the taste right now in my adult mouth and I think I want to brush my teeth/

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  38. chick o sticks (http://www.amazon.com/Buy-Candy-Wholesale-Chick-Stick/dp/B000NMI8OU)
    and saladitos (http://www.amazon.com/Saladitos-Sabor-Limon-Saladulces-Flavored/dp/B000U676C4)
    can't believe you can actually google both of these and 1000 page results come up instantly!

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  39. Oh wow Joy, I would have to say Moon Pies! LOL, I used to love those things, and now the thought makes my stomach roll!;-0

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  40. Never even heard of them... till last night that is. I'm not going to lie...it looks pretty nasty!

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  41. space sticks. anyone heard of these delightful little treats? sometimes I smell them in my dreams?!?

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  42. Zingers look so pretty. We only had them when we'd go on a picnic. I had one a few yrs ago, from the gas station. Bleh!

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  43. i don't like twinkies. but this post brings up a very important question: did you ever get new dishes after the great kitchen cabinet catastrophe??? and if you did, can we see? pretty please w/ a zinger on top? =D

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  44. So, at the hostess outlet, which we have here in the midwest...they sold, along with the twinkies, cupcakes, and zingers, they had these pies, in apple and cherry. As a kid, I thought they were the best things ever. Now, not so much.
    The Dunkaroos comments brought back some memories! Those were the best ever in the lunch box! And now I'm hungry!

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  45. My absolute favorite sugary snack as a child was eating the koolaid powder! Who lets their kid do that?! Seriously! :) I don't remember eating zingers, but I do remember twinkies, and ding dongs. I think I just got a cavity.

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  46. ACK! My dad has worked for Dolly Madison/Hostess for years, and always brought home Zingers. Have you had the devil's food with white icing? YUM. But truthfully, I don't dare eat one now. Yikes. I stay far away from most all of the snack cake type food! My old favorite was always Nutty Bars. =P~

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  47. I wasn't a zinger person, I preferred the original twinky, or the filled chocolate cupcakes that now don't seem to contain any actual flavor just a lot of sugar.
    Little Debby's will always be a favorite though, they still taste so yummy.

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  48. Hawaiian Punch. Once my favorite, but I tried it as an adult and it was sickeningly sweet. All the cookies and stuff I still love!

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  49. Hostess cupcakes, Zingers, fruit pies and twinkies...loved them all. Mostly, we had Little Debbies. Still love the Peanut butter bars, the ones covered in Chocolate. Although, never eat any of them any more! ...But I would, given the opportunity!

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  50. Hostess cupcakes, Zingers, fruit pies and twinkies...loved them all. Mostly, we had Little Debbies. Still love the Peanut butter bars, the ones covered in Chocolate. Although, never eat any of them any more! ...But I would, given the opportunity!

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  51. i love zingers. in fact, i just snuck- um, i mean, ate one the other day.

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  52. I miss Charleston Chews. They dont have them in Germany, or our local Army PX, which is probably for the better anyways..last time I ate one it ripped out my filling! Which took me a year to fix because I am a huge boob! lol Im with you, I dont like the torturist!

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  53. zingers FROZEN!!!!!

    it's like a birthday party in your mouth. no lie. (:

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  54. I Loved Moon Pies when I was younger, I would devour them...seriously
    I got all excited when I saw them a couple months ago and I made a big deal out of buying one for me and my 5yr old to share. It was going to be fantastic, we would share Moon Pie Bliss....However, he said "Mom, this is kind of gross" "Yeah, it is huh. Not like I remember them" hmmmm?

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  55. oh man, I love a Zinger! Funny.
    Ok so, first love your blog. And we love Bass Lake too, just took a picture in front of Forks on Tuesday!...
    Ok, back to point...
    I used to love Cheery Clans, Jawbreakers, Boston Baked Beans. I used to LOVE hostess fruit pies and Bottle Cap candies. They are ALL icky now! :)

    Oh, and Kool Aid, with tons of sugar.Yeah, my childhood was one sugary mess. :)

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  56. My favorite as a kid was the Star Crunch. Now they taste like a greasy blob of crunch!

    I do still love an Oatmeal Creme Pie and a Fudge Round!!! YUM!!!

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  57. I have to admit that I am Zinger lover. Zingers and a 20 oz Diet Pepsi post 45 mins on the elliptical is my perfect guilty pleasure. That dang corner store right across from my gym calls to me about every 6 weeks and I feel I must acknowledge it...

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  58. I was down with the Zingers.

    But my childhood snack that I've (thankfully) outgrown...Miracle Whip sandwiches.

    Wonder Bread + Miracle Whip. Nuthin' else.

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  59. i'm gonna have to go out a limb here and say swiss cake rolls. and i would often unroll it as i ate it. very purposeful trash eating.
    now, if i bought a box, i'd have to do incognito....at midnight.....at walmart. less likely to run into my peeps. less explaining to do.

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  60. something I ate a TON of when I was little: NutriGrain bars.

    now - I can't even look at them.
    I ate way too many, I suppose, that now - I can't even imagine eating another one. ever.

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  61. Oh my! I loved Ding Dongs when I was little. It was such a treat when my Mom bought a box! (I'm one of 6 children - so a box meant that we would each get to have two ding dongs...spread out of course!)BUT, now - disgusting! Dry cake filled with some king of chemical with a shelf life of a million years and dipped in chocolate looking wax!!! LOL

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  62. hostess crumb donuts. Bleck. I tried one about 2 or 3 years ago and I am serious, my mouth felt like it was coated in shortning. Those used to be the best.

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  63. I had a similar experience when I had my first Hostess Chocolate Cupcake in years a little while ago. Yuck! But, I have to say, Raspberry Zingers are still one of my favorite snack cakes. I love them!

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