12 Best Old-School Candies To Buy At Cracker Barrel, According To Customers

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

When Cracker Barrel introduced its modernized rebrand last year, fans howled in outrage until the restaurant agreed to retain its original logo and branding. The controversy only confirmed what many of us had long suspected: Cracker Barrel's main attraction isn't its food or its road-trip-friendly locations, but its ability to transport guests to an imagined version of the past. The virtual time travel starts when you enter the country store at the front of each location: Before you even get the chance to order your cheesy hash brown casserole, you're greeted by a treasure trove of old-fashioned goods ranging from toys to household décor.

But most compelling of all for many visitors is the store's assortment of vintage candies, many of which are difficult to find elsewhere. For some of us, these may bring back familiar flavors from childhood, but for others, their unfamiliar shapes and flavors may be a surprise lesson in culinary history. Here are some vintage favorites that fans make a point to seek out when they find themselves in Cracker Barrel's country store. Be aware, however, that not all Cracker Barrel locations carry the same inventory – so consider the hunt part of your adventure.

Kids of generations past saw malted milk balls as one of the little pleasures of everyday life. You'd buy a box to munch on during a movie or nibble them from a bowl in front of the TV at home. These vintage candies — gumball-sized, chocolate-covered rounds with a sweet, crunchy center — got their distinctively toasty, toffee-like flavor from a once-ubiquitous flavoring: malted milk powder, a mixture of powdered milk and partly germinated, toasted grain. Originally developed as a nutritional supplement in the 19^th century, the sweet, toasty powder became a favorite add-in for milkshakes and other fountain drinks by the 1920s, and by 1936, Forrest Mars incorporated it into a candy — the first malted milk balls.

Just as malted milkshakes fell out of fashion, so did malted milk balls. But being unfashionable makes them no less tasty, and they are often a happy surprise to young people trying them for the first time. And these portable, shareable candies make a great road trip snack — which may be another reason you can find them at Cracker Barrel.

Pecan logs — thick rolls of sticky nougat coated in caramel and toasted pecans — are an old-school treat often found at roadside markets and farm stands in the South. Today, road-trippers are more likely to travel along an interstate than a dusty country road, and Cracker Barrel has taken over the role of the farm stand, offering up rustic vibes and pecan logs to tired travelers. Cracker Barrel manufactures its own pecan logs, which come in two sizes: The 7-ounce log, the size of a large log of goat cheese, is intended to be sliced and shared with a crowd, while the 2.5-ounce log is perfect for one or two hungry sweet tooths.

While pecan logs may well be an orthodontist's worst nightmare, they're a childhood favorite for many, and the version offered by Cracker Barrel ticks all the boxes for longtime aficionados. "This taste is the exact same as I remember as a kid, delicious," a fan noted on Cracker Barrel's website. Other fans complimented their softness and freshness, even for logs ordered from Cracker Barrel's online store.

Not everyone gets into coconut. But those who do enjoy it ferociously, which is why the old-school three-colored coconut slice is a top-rated candy in Cracker Barrel's online store. The simple confection, a slender slab of coconut candy with chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla coconut stripes, gets high marks for its moistness, freshness, and flavor. The stripes aren't just there for looks; they really do taste like chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla (and, of course, coconut). Fans also appreciated just being able to obtain them at Cracker Barrel — many noted they had been unable to find them anywhere else.

And for others, they're a moment of time travel in a plastic wrapper. Numerous reviewers commented on how the taste of these candies brought them back to their youth. "Gift for my oldest sister who is 92 years old," a reviewer on Cracker Barrel's online store wrote. "She loved the coconut candy as a child. So it brings back a lot of precious childhood memories."

These vintage sweets bear little physical resemblance to ice cubes, apart from their blocky shape. Instead, these treats, first introduced in the 1930s, are creamy confections of milk chocolate and hazelnut paste. Fans love them for their creamy texture and distinctive flavor, which one Redditor observed was reminiscent of many European chocolates.

This, it turns out, is no coincidence. Ice Cubes were actually invented in Germany in 1936, and are considered a seasonal treat for Christmas in Denmark and Sweden. And some fans have noticed another connection between Ice Cubes chocolates and their namesake object, besides their blocky shape: their creamy mouthfeel is somehow also cooling, even if the candy hadn't been refrigerated. 

While they're not well known among American candy lovers, those who are familiar with Ice Cubes are hugely fond of them. "If I had to pick just one candy for the rest of my life, it would be ice cubes," one fan wrote on Reddit. Ice Cubes fans have also reported that the chocolates can be difficult to find, so if you see any at Cracker Barrel, be sure to grab a few.

By modern standards, Big Cherry is a strange candy. Open the package (a palm-sized pink envelope), and you'll find a lumpy, irregularly shaped chocolate-covered mound studded with chopped peanuts. Inside the lump is pretty pink nougat and a whole candied cherry. The candies look dated, kind of kitschy, and almost homemade — and as a Redditor observed, "They look like something that would be sold at Cracker Barrel."

Another Redditor immediately confirmed that they are indeed sold at Cracker Barrel, and that they're nothing short of amazing. Other fans confirm that the mixture of crunchy nuts, creamy chocolate, and fruit works, and enough of them keep buying Big Cherry to have kept it on the market since it first launched in the 1930s.

"Cracker Barrel is bringing the heat — this is magical," an Instagram reviewer raved upon tasting the Big Cherry for the first time. However, devotees also report that getting their fix takes some hunting; they note that when Big Cherry is sold or marketed at all, it's positioned as an old-time throwback candy. So if you're in the mood for a simultaneously fruity, chocolaty, and nutty taste of the Victorian era, the Big Cherry might be just what you're craving.

Sometimes, the best candies are the simplest ones. Among the top-rated favorites at Cracker Barrel's online store are its classic sanded candies — hard candies with a powdery sanded-sugar coating, the sort of thing your grandparents probably saw in little glass bowls on their own grandparents' coffee tables. Meant to be slowly sucked and savored rather than crunched down, they're clearly a candy for grownups. They're also a good choice for long road trips, providing tired drivers with a gentle sugar buzz without leaving crumbs, grease, or sticky residue on the upholstery.

None of this would matter, however, if they didn't taste good. On that count, reviewers give these old-school candies strong reviews, both for flavor and the nostalgia they evoke. "Just like the ones I ate 55 years ago," one five-star Cracker Barrel review read. They're available in old-fashioned flavors including lemon, cherry, cinnamon, and horehound — the latter, according to reviewers on Cracker Barrel's online store, is not only wonderfully soothing for coughs, but a great flavoring for moonshine.

As anyone who's tasted it can confirm, salt water taffy doesn't taste salty, and no, it's not made from seawater. But for generations of candy lovers, no trip to the beach was complete without at least a few pieces of the chewy, wax-paper-wrapped candies, which came in a range of pretty pastel colors that (in principle) matched their flavors. Even more hypnotic for many was the sight of the stretchy candy being pulled and stretched by machine as it was made. This aerates the sticky candy, giving it its distinctive fluffy texture and soft chew.

The candy's odd name originated in the 1880's as an attempt at a joke. As the story goes, Atlantic City candy store employee David Bradley was busy cleaning out ruined merchandise after a storm flooded the shop when a young girl came in and asked for candy. He offered her some taffy, explaining that the "salt water taffy" was all he had left. The name stuck, and since then, salt water taffy has become indelibly linked to lazy summer days on the boardwalk. 

It's also become a favorite among shoppers at Cracker Barrel, which offers decorative boxes of salt water taffy from another longtime Atlantic City candymaker, Fralinger's, which has been making souvenir boxes of taffy since 1885. You can also find simple little bags of taffy from Sweet's, another century-old confectioner.

In the mood for something sweet but not sure if you want a cookie, a bit of cake, or a chocolaty candy? Grab a MoonPie. These vintage treats, introduced in 1917, can best be described as the love child between a Whoopie Pie, a s'more, and a candy bar. These soft, coaster-sized sandwich cookies filled with marshmallow cream and covered with chocolate or other sweet coatings are compact enough to be portable and easy to eat out of hand, but big and filling enough to satisfy any sweet tooth.

According to MoonPie's website, this was precisely why they were developed: A hungry Kentucky coal miner told a bakery sales rep he wanted a snack "as big as the moon." The sales rep took the request back to the bakery, and a lunchbox favorite was born. If you want to enjoy this old-time treat in an old-timey setting, you can find MoonPies in Cracker Barrel's country store. Connoisseurs say they taste even better after a few seconds of heating in the microwave. For an even more extreme sugar buzz, do as Southerners do and wash down your MoonPie with RC Cola.

Chick-O-Sticks have been around since at least the 1950s, which is a bit of a miracle, considering how confusing their name has been to generations of potential eaters. Numerous Redditors recall refusing to eat them as children, believing they were made of (or flavored like) chicken. Fortunately for Chick-O-Stick's manufacturers, the candy is tasty enough to win over any doubters brave enough to try it. 

Fans describe the crispy, nutty candies as similar to the interior of a Butterfinger bar, but with added crunch and flavor from coconut. The absence of chocolate was intentional: the candies were designed to be sold during the summer months, when chocolate coatings would melt. So it may not be a coincidence that several Redditors shared fond memories of buying and eating them at their neighborhood pool as children.

Today, you can find this nostalgic treat at Cracker Barrel, and fans say it still tastes as good as they remember from childhood — sweet, a little salty, with a clear peanut flavor and satisfying crunch. As one Redditor said, "0% chicken 0% stick 100 % nom."

Cracker Barrel built its business model around travelers and their needs, and its country store subtly reflects this. For instance, the store formerly had an audiobook rental service that let travelers borrow a recorded book at one store, listen to it on the road, then return it at another store. (This service ended in 2019, when audiobook listeners had switched from physical media to streaming.) Cracker Barrel's candy offerings are also largely traveler-friendly — compact, individually wrapped, and easy and fun to eat on the go.

Among its road-trip-ready offerings are Goetze's Cow Tales (and yes, it's Tales, not Tails). Introduced in 1984, these individually wrapped, 1-ounce sticks of caramel with creamy fillings in different flavors seem strategically designed for lunch box and back seat munching. Even children can enjoy them without trashing the car, and as one Amazon reviewer noted, they "stay fresh for ages." Most importantly, however, they're wonderfully satisfying to eat. "There's just one problem. I eat too many!" one fan noted (per Goetze Candy).

The Charleston Chew has nothing to do with the city of Charleston. Rather, it was named after a wildly popular dance of the 1920s, when the chewy, chocolate-covered vanilla nougat bar was invented. Though not terribly exciting by modern standards, Charleston Chew's familiar, appealing flavors contributed to its survival. Unlike many other candies of its era, it survived the Great Depression of the early 1930s by offering a bit of simple, affordable comfort to stressed-out and cash-strapped consumers.

Though they've never been trendy, Charleston Chews continue to have a loyal fan base today. The brand has expanded its offerings over the years, offering chewy bars in flavors including strawberry and banana, as well as the same candies in miniature bars. Connoisseurs share that freezing the bars until they're solid enough to break into bite-sized pieces makes them even better. But longtime fans note with regret that the burdens of age have put their childhood favorite out of reach. "I used to love [Charleston Chew]. But my dentures just can't handle them," a Redditor said.

The 70's were a transgressive era. Decadence was de rigueur, and giving in to hedonistic pleasures was practically a national mission. Even those too young for the 70s party scene had their own, not-so-secret substance for sensory pleasure: Pop Rocks. No self-respecting kid would leave home without a little packet of the tiny, irregularly shaped hard candies. They came in standard hard-candy flavors (orange, grape, and cherry) — not that anyone cared. What mattered was that the little candies literally exploded on your tongue. They were essentially carbonated candy, with bubbles of trapped gas that would pop in your mouth as the candy dissolved.

This made them irresistible to kids. Rumors that the popping candy was dangerous and could cause one's stomach to explode (spoiler: it can't) may have made them even more enticing to rebellious tweens. Their parents, though, weren't taking any chances, and Pop Rocks took a huge reputational hit. The brand was discontinued in 1983. But an idea that enticing can't stay dead — Pop Rocks re-emerged in the 2000s (now in a bigger range of flavors) to delight a new generation of sweet tooths. Today, fans of the original can not only enjoy a taste of their own childhood, but can also enjoy the look of bafflement and surprise on their grandchildren's faces as they experience the sweet little explosions in their mouths for the first time.

Tastes in food are deeply personal and subjective, so obtaining a truly objective ranking of candies would be difficult, if not impossible. (For instance, eaters will all have their own criteria for what makes one candy better than another.) But for the purposes of this list, I used quantitative online ratings when available to identify customer favorites. In addition, I identified candies with dedicated fans through qualitative reviews on Reddit, social media, and other sites. Though far from a scientific ranking, this gives a decent snapshot of the vintage candies with the most devoted fans.