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This list of Nostalgic Dessert Recipes will have you reminiscing about childhood memories in no time!
Lizzie McGuire. Flip phones. Packing Little Debbie’s into your Lisa Frank lunchbox. Gilmore Girls. Listening to the Spice Girls on your MP3 (or maybe even a Walkman?!) on the bus ride home from school. Britney and Justin in matching denim outfits.
Sometimes I wish I could go back!
This list of Nostalgic Dessert Recipes includes tons of copycat recipes, taking all your favorite childhood treats and transforming them into impressive homemade desserts your whole family will love (no sickly sweet tastes or artificial flavorings here!).
P.S. Can I suggest listening to my Nostalgia playlist on Spotify while baking one of these throwback dessert recipes?!
What’s something that evokes nostalgia for YOU? Let me know in the comments below.
21 Delicious Nostalgic Dessert Recipes
Nostalgic Cookie Recipes
Hostess Cupcake Cookies
Hostess Cupcake Cookies feature all the delicious nostalgic flavors of your childhood favorite Hostess Cupcakes, but in easy-to-make cookie form! A soft cocoa cookie filled with marshmallow, topped with rich chocolate ganache and those iconic icing swirls.
Homemade Oatmeal Creme Pies
This copycat homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies recipe brings back the best childhood memories of biting into an ultra-chewy cookie with a rich creamy filling. They’re surprisingly easy and satisfying to make from scratch!
Homemade Fudge Rounds
Homemade Fudge Rounds taste just like the packaged ones but even BETTER because they’re less artificial but just as chewy, fudgy, soft, and chocolaty. (Bonus – they taste amazing refrigerated or frozen too!) Nostalgic dessert perfection.
Milano Cookies
Copycat Milano Cookies look and taste just like the real thing – but bigger and better! The cookies are sweet and slightly crumbly, filled with a smooth chocolate filling. Surprisingly simple to make and ready in just 40 minutes.
Chocolate Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
Chocolate Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars are perfectly soft and chewy, with a thick layer of homemade chocolate fudge frosting, all topped with rainbow sprinkles. These bars come together in no time for a super quick and easy nostalgic sweet treat.
Homemade Oreo Cookies
Homemade Oreo Cookies taste just like the famous store-bought sandwich cookies – but better! These delicious homemade Oreos are easy to make and can be customized with your favorite flavored filling (double-stuffed if you prefer!).
S’mores Cookies
S’mores Cookies are loaded with chocolate chips and graham cracker crumbs, topped with mini marshmallows and Hershey’s chocolate. All the classic nostalgic campfire treat flavors are packed into this quick and easy cookie recipe!
Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies
The comfort of a classic PB&J sandwich transformed into the perfect cookie! Our Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies are soft, chewy, and bursting with rich peanut butter flavor and pockets of strawberry jam throughout. You don’t even need a mixer for this quick and easy recipe, full of nostalgic flavors.
Soft & Chewy M&M Cookies
You are going to adore these Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies! They’re big like your favorite bakery cookies with tons of flavor and are so easy to make. Plus you can’t beat that soft, chewy texture!
Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
Is there any more quintessentially nostalgic dessert than a gooey chocolate chip cookie!? My ultra-thick Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies feature golden brown edges with ooey-gooey centers, for the best bites of nostalgia ever.
Nostalgic Brownies, Bar Cookies & Other Bar Bakes
Cosmic Brownies
One of my favorite nostalgic dessert recipes! This copycat recipe for Cosmic Brownies is ultra-rich, fudgy, and chewy, just like the kind you buy at the store but oh so much better with no preservatives.
Brown Butter Rice Crispy Treats
Brown Butter Rice Crispy Treats are crispy, sticky, and gooey. The brown butter gives these classic treats a fun, updated twist, bringing delicious nuttiness to the sticky deliciousness! These are such a fun treat and are super quick and easy to make.
S’mores Fudge Bars
S’mores Fudge Bars have a thick, buttery graham cracker crust and a rich, fudgy chocolate filling, all topped with homemade toasted marshmallow. A delicious treat to fill you with summertime nostalgia anytime throughout the year!
Best Ever Chewy Brownies
BEST Ever Chewy Brownies are just as chewy as boxed brownies but packed with so much more rich chocolate flavor. This one-bowl recipe is ready to enjoy in less than 1 hour! Look no further for the perfect, easy nostalgic dessert recipe.
Nutella Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats
Nutella Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats are an indulgent spin on the classic American dessert. Full of rich chocolate and nutty flavors, these sweet treats are ready to enjoy in no time.
Other Nostalgic Sweet Treats
Strawberry Pop Tarts
Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts have a sweet, slightly flaky pastry, are filled with strawberry jam, and are iced with a simple vanilla glaze and sprinkles. This copycat recipe is SO much better than the sickly sweet store-bought version, but brings back the same nostalgic memories.
Funfetti Sheet Cake
Funfetti Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and plenty of sprinkles will take you right back to childhood. This cake is quick, easy, super moist, ready in just 40 minutes, and a definite crowd-pleaser. No one will be able to resist this scrumptious, fun sheet cake!
Krispy Kreme Copycat Glazed Doughnuts
Krispy Kreme Copycat Glazed Doughnuts have all the wonderful light, fluffy texture of a Krispy Kreme doughnut but with a balanced and delightful sweet flavor. No one will believe you made these yourself!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream is egg-free and uses secret ingredients to make easy, creamy, and flavorful ice cream. The perfect nostalgic sweet treat for a hot summer day.
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts
You’ll never buy Pop-Tarts again after making my homemade Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts! Warm, buttery, and flaky pastry, brown sugar cinnamon filling, and a cinnamon glaze on top that sets just like the original, but tastes SO much better.
Deep Fried Cookie Dough
Deep Fried Cookie Dough made with homemade chocolate chip cookie dough, dipped in batter, and fried to golden crispy perfection! The ultimate sweet treat that will remind you of summertime carnivals.
I hope you enjoy these Nostalgic Dessert Recipes. Let me know which sweet treat you try out first!