Hostess Still Makes Pies, But Fans Desperately Want This Vintage Flavor Back

Hostess pies never really disappeared from store shelves — you can still find the fruit-filled versions in convenience stores today — but ask longtime fans, and you'll hear a different story. For them, the glory days of Hostess weren't about apple or cherry, but about a short-lived line that swapped fruit filling for pudding. These gooey, over-the-top creations hit shelves in the mid-1980s, and their disappearance has cemented them on the list of Hostess snacks we desperately want back.

What made them stand out wasn't subtlety. The pies were chocolate- or vanilla-filled sugar bombs, sold in shiny wrappers and backed by flashy commercials that promised more fun than a lunchbox snack should probably deliver. They were messy, indulgent, and unforgettable — the kind of treat kids either devoured in one bite or cracked open to scoop out with a spoon.

Even decades later, fans can describe them in perfect detail. One joked they tasted like "industrial chemicals and love." That indulgent appeal gave the pudding pies a cult following that still lingers. Hostess has a history of vaulting items in and out of production, but this one-and-done experiment remains the brand's most intriguing loss — and fans haven't stopped talking about the day it'll return.

The Hostess pudding pies didn't end quietly. After debuting in 1986 with chocolate and vanilla flavors, the line got one last marketing push through a partnership with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. These limited-edition pies replaced the standard chocolate coating with a green glaze meant to resemble slime and were filled with vanilla pudding — a perfect fit for the early-'90s Turtle craze. Marketed as "mutagen"-filled snacks, the now discontinued Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pies leaned hard into the cartoon tie-in, turning every bite into a small act of sewer-level heroism.

There weren't many variations beyond those chocolate, vanilla, and TMNT versions, but they made an impression. Even fans who never tried the green pies remember seeing the bright packaging in gas stations and lunchboxes. It was the final big experiment before the pudding line disappeared entirely — another example of Hostess chasing novelty just before retiring a product.

While similar hand pies exist today — from JJ's to small regional bakeries — none have captured the same cult status. And because Hostess has re-launched fan-favorite snacks before, collectors still hope the pudding pies, slime-green and all, might someday make a return from the vault.