Whatever Happened To Cracker Barrel's Sweet Potato Pancakes?
If you dined at Cracker Barrel in 2012, sometime between mid-January through the end of February, chances are you saw or even ordered sweet potato pancakes off the menu. According to a press release published that year (via FSR Magazine), the entree was released alongside a handful of other "classic and brand new comfort foods," such as apple chicken salad, roast beef, and pineapple upside-down cake. A Facebook post published around the same time also announced that the sweet potato pancakes would be available for purchase as a boxed mix at the Cracker Barrel store.
Based on the comments on the Facebook post and many others on Twitter, the sweet potato pancakes were a generally well-received, tasty addition to the menu. Even despite positive feedback however, the breakfast dish was only available for less than two months before Cracker Barrel decided to pull it, leaving fans craving the yam pancakes and wondering why their existence was so short-lived.
Why did Cracker Barrel discontinue its sweet potato pancakes?
It isn't uncommon for restaurants to discontinue menu items due to poor sales or in favor of new and exciting alternatives, but neither was the case with Cracker Barrel's sweet potato pancakes. The truth is that the restaurant had simply planned for the dish to only be available for a limited time. It was technically considered part of the "winter menu" as stated in the press release (via FSR Magazine), but it was also released in conjunction with National Sweet Potato Month which falls in February, per Cracker Barrel's Facebook post.
There have been some instances where restaurants will extend the run of promotions, for example when Taco Bell turned the temporary comeback of its Mexican Pizza into a permanent one (via Nation's Restaurant News). But while Cracker Barrel's Sweet Potato Month promotion was successful in getting customers to come to Cracker Barrel in February, the popularity of the pancakes still wasn't enough for the restaurant to forgo its original plan of releasing them for a set time frame.
Will sweet potato pancakes ever return to Cracker Barrel?
Cracker Barrel's sweet potato pancakes have apparently had a lasting impact on its customers, because years after their release, folks are still wondering if they'll ever return to the menu. Cracker Barrel has yet to respond to the most recent Facebook comments from hungry patrons, nor have they made public mention of the sweet potato pancakes since 2012. In summer 2022, the restaurant teased fans by adding a "Build Your Own Homestyle Breakfast" feature to its all-day breakfast menu (via Penn Live), but while it did allow you to customize your breakfast, there was no option to add sweet potatoes to your pancakes.
Fortunately, upon its original release, Cracker Barrel had revealed two of the other ingredients in the sweet potato pancakes — brown sugar and cinnamon — so if you happen to have an insatiable craving, you may be able to recreate it. A 2012 food review from The Breakfast Menu also shared that the texture was denser and more cake-like rather than fluffy. Perhaps these clues will be enough to help you make a copycat version of the fan-favorite dish, but otherwise, it seems that Cracker Barrel won't be bringing back its sweet potato pancakes, at least for the time being.