15 Homemade Snack Cakes That Taste Just Like Your Childhood Lunchbox

Remember opening your lunchbox and finding a cream filled treat wrapped in plastic? Those snack cakes were the highlight of the school day. The good news is you can make them at home with real butter, real cream and no long list of ingredients you cannot pronounce. They taste even better than you remember. Here are the homemade snack cakes that will take you right back to the school cafeteria..

Chocolate Cream Cookie Sandwiches, Snack Cakes Made at Home

These soft cookie sandwiches with a thick chocolate cream filling are the kind of treat you used to trade your whole lunch for. The cookies stay soft for days in a sealed container, so they are perfect for packing. Make a double batch and freeze half, because they go fast. Which snack cakes did you beg your parents to buy at the store?

You will need: Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla, 1.5 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, pinch of salt. Filling: 1/2 cup butter, 1.5 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa, 2 tbsp milk.

How to make it: 1. Heat the oven to 350F. 2. Beat butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla. 3. Mix in flour, soda and salt. 4. Scoop small balls and bake 9 minutes. 5. Beat the filling until fluffy. 6. Sandwich two cookies with a thick layer of filling.

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies, the King of Snack Cakes

Oatmeal cream pies are the king of lunchbox snack cakes. Two soft, chewy oatmeal cookies with molasses and cinnamon hold a sweet marshmallow cream filling. The secret to the soft texture is pulling them from the oven when the centers still look a little underdone. Did you eat the cookie first or lick out the cream?

You will need: Ingredients: 3/4 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 tbsp molasses, 1.25 cups flour, 1.5 cups quick oats, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp baking soda. Filling: 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup marshmallow cream, 1 cup powdered sugar.

How to make it: 1. Beat butter, sugar, egg and molasses. 2. Add flour, oats, cinnamon and soda. 3. Bake small rounds at 350F for 9 minutes. 4. Cool on the tray. 5. Beat the filling until fluffy. 6. Sandwich the cookies.

Chocolate Marshmallow Pies

This treat was born in the South and is still loved with a cold soda. Two graham style cookies sandwich a layer of marshmallow, and the whole thing is dipped in chocolate. Warm one for 10 seconds in the microwave for a gooey surprise. Would you choose chocolate, vanilla or banana coating?

You will need: Ingredients: 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup butter, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 jar marshmallow cream, 10 oz melted chocolate.

How to make it: 1. Mix flour, crumbs, butter, sugar and egg into a dough. 2. Roll and cut 3 inch circles. 3. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes. 4. Sandwich with marshmallow cream. 5. Freeze 20 minutes. 6. Dip in chocolate and let set.

Frosted Toaster Pastries

Homemade toaster pastries are flaky, buttery and filled with real jam. Top them with pink glaze and rainbow sprinkles and kids will lose their minds. Bake them on the weekend and warm them in the toaster oven on busy school mornings. Strawberry, brown sugar cinnamon or chocolate fudge: what is your pick?

You will need: Ingredients: 2 pie crusts, 3/4 cup strawberry jam, 1 egg. Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tbsp milk, sprinkles.

How to make it: 1. Roll the crusts and cut into rectangles. 2. Spread jam on half of them. 3. Top with the rest and press the edges with a fork. 4. Brush with egg and poke holes. 5. Bake at 375F for 22 minutes. 6. Cool, glaze and add sprinkles.

Baked Fruit Hand Pies

Fried fruit pies in a paper sleeve were a classic gas station treat. This baked version is lighter but still golden and flaky, with a cherry or apple filling that is sweet and a little tart. They travel well, so they are great for road trips and picnics.

You will need: Ingredients: 2 pie crusts, 2 cups apple or cherry pie filling, 1 egg, coarse sugar. Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tbsp milk.

How to make it: 1. Cut the crust into 5 inch circles. 2. Add a spoon of filling to each. 3. Fold and crimp the edges. 4. Brush with egg and sprinkle sugar. 5. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes. 6. Brush with glaze while warm.

Coconut Snowball Cakes

Coconut snowballs are one of the most colorful snack cakes from childhood: a chocolate cake dome stuffed with cream, covered in marshmallow and rolled in coconut. This homemade version uses cupcakes and is so much fun. Quick poll: coconut snowballs are A) iconic B) too sweet C) only the pink ones D) never had one.

You will need: Ingredients: 12 chocolate cupcakes, 1 cup marshmallow cream, 1 cup whipped cream, 2 cups shredded coconut, food coloring (optional).

How to make it: 1. Fill each cupcake with whipped cream using a piping tip. 2. Turn them upside down. 3. Warm the marshmallow cream for 15 seconds. 4. Spread it all over each cake. 5. Roll in coconut, tinted pink if you like. 6. Chill 30 minutes.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

These crunchy peanut shaped cookies with a creamy peanut butter filling were a lunchbox favorite. At home you can shape them round or press a peanut pattern with a fork. They are great for peanut butter fans, but skip them for school if there are nut allergies.

You will need: Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1.5 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda. Filling: 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/4 cup butter, 1 cup powdered sugar.

How to make it: 1. Beat butter, peanut butter and sugar. 2. Add egg, flour and soda. 3. Roll thin and cut small rounds. 4. Bake at 350F for 9 minutes. 5. Beat the filling smooth. 6. Sandwich the cookies.

Fudgy Cosmic Style Brownies, Snack Cakes Classic

The brownies with the shiny fudge frosting and candy coated chocolate chips are still one of the most popular snack cakes ever made. This homemade version has a thick, fudgy brownie, a glossy ganache and rainbow chips on top. Cut them into neat rectangles like the real thing. Who wants a corner piece?

You will need: Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, pinch of salt. Ganache: 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1/3 cup cream, rainbow candy chips.

How to make it: 1. Melt butter and stir in sugar and cocoa. 2. Add eggs, flour and salt. 3. Bake in an 8 inch pan at 350F for 22 minutes. 4. Heat cream and pour over chocolate chips. 5. Spread over the cool brownies. 6. Sprinkle candy chips and chill.

Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

The chocolate cupcake with the white swirl on top and cream inside is a true classic. Homemade, it is richer and moister, and you can pipe in as much filling as you want. A thin chocolate glaze keeps the top shiny. Do you bite from the top or peel it apart to find the cream first?

You will need: Ingredients: 1 box or batch chocolate cupcakes, 1 cup marshmallow cream, 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup powdered sugar. Glaze: 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1/4 cup cream.

How to make it: 1. Bake and cool the cupcakes. 2. Beat marshmallow cream, butter and sugar. 3. Pipe filling into the center of each one. 4. Melt chips with cream for the glaze. 5. Dip the tops and let set. 6. Pipe a white squiggle on top.

Black and White Cookies

Black and white cookies are a New York deli classic: a soft, cake like cookie with half vanilla and half chocolate icing. They are bigger than most cookies and very easy to make at home. Which side do you eat first, the black or the white?

You will need: Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 cup milk, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder. Icing: 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 tbsp milk, 2 tbsp cocoa.

How to make it: 1. Beat butter and sugar, then add egg, milk and vanilla. 2. Mix in flour and baking powder. 3. Scoop large mounds and bake at 375F for 12 minutes. 4. Mix the white icing and spread on half of each flat side. 5. Add cocoa to the rest. 6. Ice the other half.

Chocolate Dipped Marshmallow Cookies

A crisp graham cookie topped with a tall dome of marshmallow and coated in dark chocolate: these taste like a s mores you can hold in one hand. They were once a winter only treat in stores. Make them any time you like.

You will need: Ingredients: 24 round graham style cookies, 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup corn syrup, 1/4 cup water, 2 egg whites, 1 tsp vanilla, 12 oz dark chocolate.

How to make it: 1. Boil sugar, corn syrup and water to 240F. 2. Beat the whites to soft peaks and pour in the hot syrup. 3. Beat until thick and add vanilla. 4. Pipe tall domes on the cookies. 5. Let set 1 hour. 6. Coat in melted chocolate.

Homemade Zebra Snack Cakes

Zebra cakes are soft white cake layers with cream filling, covered in white coating and striped with chocolate. They are pure nostalgia. This version uses a sheet cake cut into rectangles, so it is easy even for beginners. Quick poll: your all time favorite lunchbox treat is A) zebra cakes B) oatmeal cream pies C) cosmic brownies D) cream filled cupcakes.

You will need: Ingredients: 1 vanilla sheet cake, 1 cup marshmallow cream, 1/2 cup butter, 12 oz white chocolate, 2 oz dark chocolate.

How to make it: 1. Bake a thin sheet cake and cut in half. 2. Beat marshmallow cream and butter. 3. Spread between the halves. 4. Cut into rectangles and freeze. 5. Dip in melted white chocolate. 6. Drizzle dark chocolate stripes.

Marble Snack Cake

Marble cake swirls vanilla and chocolate batter in every slice. It was a lunchbox favorite, wrapped in plastic and slightly squished by the end of the morning. Bake it in a loaf pan and slice it thick. It stays moist for days.

You will need: Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 1.5 cups flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 tbsp cocoa, 2 tbsp hot water.

How to make it: 1. Make a vanilla batter with everything except cocoa and water. 2. Mix cocoa with hot water and stir into a third of the batter. 3. Spoon both batters into a loaf pan. 4. Swirl with a knife. 5. Bake at 350F for 50 minutes. 6. Cool before slicing.

Glazed Honey Buns

Honey buns are soft, swirly yeast rolls with cinnamon and honey, covered in a thin crackly glaze. The packaged ones were a gas station breakfast for many of us. Made at home and eaten warm, they are next level. Coffee or cold milk with yours?

You will need: Ingredients: 3.5 cups flour, 1 packet yeast, 1 cup warm milk, 1/4 cup honey, 1 egg, 1/4 cup butter. Filling: 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1/4 cup honey. Glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup milk.

How to make it: 1. Make the dough and let it rise 1 hour. 2. Roll into a rectangle. 3. Spread the filling. 4. Roll up and slice into buns. 5. Rise 30 minutes and bake at 350F for 20 minutes. 6. Pour glaze over warm buns.

Golden Cream Filled Sponge Snack Cakes

The golden sponge cake with a cream center is probably the most famous of all snack cakes. At home, bake a light sponge in a loaf or small molds and pipe the cream inside. These homemade snack cakes are fluffy, buttery and so much fresher. Would you try them frozen, like some people swear by? Hungry for more? Try our homemade donuts and fried treats next.

You will need: Ingredients: 4 eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 cup cake flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 cup milk, 2 tbsp butter. Filling: 1 cup marshmallow cream, 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, vanilla.

How to make it: 1. Beat eggs and sugar until thick and pale. 2. Fold in flour and baking powder. 3. Add warm milk and melted butter. 4. Bake in small molds at 350F for 14 minutes. 5. Beat the filling until fluffy. 6. Pipe it into each cake through three holes.