Going to the grocery store has become a brightly colored nostalgia minefield. I don’t know if it’s always been this way, or I just notice stuff more now that I am in that marketing age range for nostalgic foods. It feels like every trip, I find something that makes me stare off into the distance, dramatically remembering my youth. This go around, I had my mini existential crisis at the checkout lane in my local Walmart. Tucked into the shelf amongst the other snacks sat a box of Chocolate Dunkaroos.

In a time when Healthy Choice diet foods seemed to reign supreme, Dunkaroos were the opposite. For those unfamiliar, they are individual packs of mini cookies that you dip into frosting. Yes, this was somehow an accepted snack for kids in the 90s. They first hit the shelves in 1990, but were discontinued in 2012 in the United States. They made their reappearance on shelves in May of 2020 with the original vanilla cookie and rainbow sprinkle vanilla frosting variety.

Since then, a slew of Dunkaroos branded products (including cereal and cookie dough) have come on the market. It only makes sense that they’d follow up the vanilla cookie/rainbow sprinkle vanilla frosting item with a vanilla cookie/chocolate frosting version. I was honestly disappointed to see they weren’t going to produce the chocolate frosting variety with graham cracker cookies. I’m sure it’s easier to stick with one cookie variety across the different frosting flavors, but I knew this would mean that the taste I remember from childhood wouldn’t be quite the same.

Chocolate Dunkaroos are simplicity at its finest. The little “D” branded cookies have a mild vanilla flavor that becomes immediately lost under the chocolate frosting. They do walk a fine line between soft enough to not crumble, but hard enough to stand up to being dipped in frosting. The frosting was actually better than I expected. I had assumed it would be a cloyingly sweet chocolate flavor, but it turned out to be a rich, fudgy chocolate.

While the flavors didn’t strike that “nostalgia” chord, the act of eating them did. I still eat my Lunchables (yes, I still eat Lunchables) the same way I did as a kid, and I fell back into my routine with Dunkaroos. I’m usually a little sparing with the frosting in the beginning. But by the end, I am glopping it all over. I even made a little cookie sandwich. It was just a fun little moment to pause and enjoy.

I think, more than anything, that’s all I want from these throwback/rereleased/nostalgic treats: a moment to pause and enjoy. Even though it won’t send you back to the 90s, the Chocolate Dunkaroos are still a fun treat. How can you go wrong with dipping cookies into frosting and calling it a snack?

Purchased Price: $1.84
Size: 1.5 oz
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 tray with frosting) 180 calories, 7 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 115 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 16 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.