There’s something about certain flavors that take you right back to a moment in time — no effort, no warning, just there. For me, this month’s feature does exactly that.
The Oatmeal Creme Pies.
When I was a kid, my favorite Little Debbie snack was always the oatmeal creme pies. My mom had these two clear containers sitting on a shelf in our pantry — one for my brother and one for me. Every week after the grocery store, she’d come home and split everything evenly between the two.
There wasn’t much debate about fairness. No fighting over who got more. And as far as I can remember… no stealing either (at least, not that I’ll admit to now).
But I was territorial about those oatmeal creme pies.
My mom had one simple rule: “This is what you have for the week. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. So choose wisely what and when you get snacks.”
I didn’t care about choosing wisely.
I ate every single oatmeal creme pie within two days.
Every time.
And then? I waited. The rest of the week, no matter how badly I wanted another one — I had to wait until the next grocery trip. I’ve just never been a “save it for later” kind of girl.
Fast forward to now, and not much has changed — I still love those nostalgic treats. But what has changed is how I look at the ingredients inside them.
The truth is, most of those childhood favorites are filled with ultra-processed ingredients that don’t align with the way I want to bake — or the way I want to feed my family or this community. Food should be recognizable. It should be real. It should be something your body actually knows what to do with.
So I set out to recreate them. And somehow… they turned out even better.
By using real, wholesome ingredients (and yes — a little sourdough discard magic), these Oatmeal Creme Pies have become everything I loved as a kid, just made the way they always should have been.
Soft, rich, perfectly spiced, with that creamy center — but without all the extras that never belonged in the first place.
It’s still that same feeling. That same “I need another one” kind of treat.
Just better.
