19 Discontinued Pepperidge Farm Snacks We Miss The Most

Margaret Rudkin knew nothing of baking bread, but tried and tried her hand at making dough, both literally and figuratively, and eventually found a recipe of success, and began offering her quality fare under the name of her and her family's Fairfield, Connecticut home — Pepperidge Farm. Mrs. Rudkin was both a pioneer baker and businesswoman, with an eye for importing great products and ideas abroad, and saw a rise in sales thanks to her offerings in the 1950s and '60s, as she introduced hit cookies like Bordeaux, Brussels, and Milano, fresh frozen pastries and desserts, and scrumptious Swiss crackers with the now ubiquitous name of Goldfish.

Rudkin would sell Pepperidge Farm to Campbell Soup in 1961, staying on the board for a few more years, as the new owners became stewards to a classic American brand, and have honored her legacy ever since. However, for as many hits as Pepperidge Farm has produced, there have been misfires, or perhaps some of their products were either way ahead of their time, or just not beloved enough to hang on at supermarket aisles.

Let's make like bespectacled and boating hat wearing Pepperidge Farm pitchman Titus Moody (Parker Fennelly followed by Charles C. Welch) and remember some of those great bygone products of yesteryear, and of recent years, and pay tribute to 19 discontinued Pepperidge Farm snacks we miss the most. It's okay to hold out faint hope that they may one day return, right? Three words: goldfish sandwich bread!

Pepperidge Farm has been adding flavored swirls to bread as far back as 1983, when they gave cinnamon a whirl as a new product. Four decades on, they've conjured up fun and delicious "swirls and swirls of yummy morning magic" with Swirl Breads flavored in Brown Sugar Cinnamon, Raisin Cinnamon (both in white and whole wheat options), French Toast, and seasonal sensations like Strawberry and Pumpkin Spice.

Blueberry broke out as a beautiful option back in 2013, and despite finding welcome homes after traveling from Pepperidge Farm's oven to customer's toasters, and then salivating mouths, the company stayed true to its package labeling, offering it up as a limited edition item. It hung around for years, but the company confirmed via Twitter in 2022 that Blueberry Swirl Bread was indeed discontinued, further breaking blueberry lovers hearts, following the demise of their Blueberry Turnovers. Customers have had no choice since but to find their own blueberry swirl bread thrills, on some other hill.

Joseph Bucci secured the first patent for frozen pizzas in 1950, and the mass production and consumption of them took off in the 1970s, thanks to pizzerias turned name brands like Totino's and Tombstone in grocery stores. Skimpy toppings and light cheese created both a government and public backlash, which brought about a rise in higher quality and tastier frozen pizza options in the 1980s.

With Stouffer's French Bread Pizza leading the way, other companies, like Pepperidge Farm, wanted a piece of the ... pie. In 1985 they tested a revolutionary union — the Croissant Pastry Pizza — in Texas before a nationwide roll-out. It came in five iterations, including hamburger, instantly won the hearts of Akron Beacon Journal taste testers, and was named to Lempert Report's list of 10 best products in 1986. It was gone by 1989, which was the opposite of what the Pepperidge Farm guy said in its TV ad — "it's totally awesome" (via YouTube).

Not to be confused with Hostess' long lost Choco Bliss, Pepperidge Farm had their own after-dinner indulgence called Dessert Bliss. It was introduced in 2002, alongside such brethren as Giant Goldfish sandwich crackers, microwaveable pot pies, and Texas Toast garlic bread.

In name alone, Dessert Bliss dreams up the kind of eating put on display in their TV ads — where one doesn't even want to leave the cozy confines of the couch, and eat them all day. The bite-size treats were advertised as "unlike anything else in the cookie aisle," and came in three different fillings — Chocolate Almond, Cookies and Creme, and Pralines and Creme. Of the latter, Mr. Tidbit of the Star Tribune, who likened them to little tart pans, praised how the Pralines "stay remarkably crunchy." Perhaps these cookies would have hung around longer had they hired Hall & Oates to rework one of their hit songs for an ad. Just think how catchy (and delicious) "your Dessert Bliss is on my list" would have sounded.

In the pantheon of genius ideas to encourage children to eat sandwiches, bread in the shape of enlarged Goldfish crackers has got to be one of the best of all time. The sea-fare-ing product launched in 2011, with "a familiar smile ... now in the bread aisle," in white or whole wheat, and perfect for kids — crust-free (via The News Journal). A year later, to celebrate Pepperidge Farm's 75th anniversary, brown sugar and cinnamon were two new choices for creative snacking that would surely have made the Earl of Sandwich blush.

Bob Batz Jr. of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette perfectly summarized the novel bread saying it "adds new meaning to 'fish sandwich.'" And it wasn't just for kids, as kids at heart were joining in on the fun, making grilled cheeses, melts, or just sharing photos of the bread as is, to raise a smile. It's long overdue for the smiles to return, as taiyaki just doesn't cut it.

Products with exclamation points in their names always stand out on a shelf, and for Pepperidge Farm, their Jingos! crackers were a part of the company's plan of "moving forward with gusto" in the second decade of the 21st century, as noted by Denise Morrison, president and chief executive officer of Campbell Soup (via Food Business News). Jingos! were available in three "amped up flavors" — Lime & Sweet Chili, Parmesan Garlic, and Fiesta Cheddar. Pennsylvania-based WNEP held a taste test where the Lime & Sweet Chili kind won the crown, and had one tester thinking of summer pairings, saying it "would be great with a margarita."

The crackers also marked a new path for Pepperidge Farm and the use of social media. They signed up brand ambassadors that were as excited as the actors in the TV ad (via iSpot.tv), decked out in Jingos! T-shirts, and with oodles and oodles of Jingos! boxes on hand to spread the word of the new product's "bold flavors" and "snappy crunch." Sadly, their hard work to #MakeItJingos was all in vain!

Pepperidge Farm had collaborated with McCormick spice company for a Goldfish x Frank's RedHot mash-up in 2021, which became one of the most buzzed about crackers that summer, and would go even bolder for their next act. Taking a cue from their customers who were already making their fusions at home, in 2022, Goldfish got lathered up in Old Bay seasoning.

Old Bay is no stranger to seasoning other things besides Maryland blue crabs, as they've been sprinkled on potato chips, popcorn, beer, and even vodka. But the holy, yet limited edition union with Goldfish proved to be a real winner, notching a billion media impressions within two days of life, and selling out after only nine hours of existence. If any one item on this entire list screams of being worthy of permanent status on the Pepperidge Farm roster, it would most definitely be Old Bay Seasoned Goldfish.

Goldfish Sandwich Bread was an ingenious option for the kiddos, and the adult equivalent was their line of Party Breads, which were essentially tiny slices of bread, perfect for any group-snacking occasion. Possibly in existence by the early 1950s, they were in wider popular consumption by the mid-1960s.

In 1966, Nancy Norton of The Boston Globe championed the offerings of Pumpernickel Slices, Rye Slices, and Cheese Bread as "bite-size tidbits [that] will enhance guests at a poetry reading or break ice at the most sophisticated cocktail party." A year later, The News' Recipe Box column praised even their pleasing aesthetic look as "so attractive when carefully arranged on a handsome wooden tray." They were also promoted for use by Enid Borden in her cookbook, "Made With Love: The Meals On Wheels Family Cookbook."

Sadly, the Party has come to an end for these tiny Pepperidge Farm breads. Those who loved using them to construct their "hanky pankies" are now looking for a hankie to wipe up their tears (via WCPO).

Not to be confused with their stellar Snack Mixes, although they would be a great addition to them, Pepperidge Farm's Snack Sticks were a crunchy snack attack all their own that eaters put up very little defense against. Launched in 1978 (via The York Dispatch) with three options — Wheat, Sesame, and Pumpernickel — they were sold on the dream of "a crisp pretzel, a tasty cracker, and a crunchy bread stick ... all in one!" 

In the next century, the Sticks fell under their Baked Naturals line, alongside Wheat Crisps and Pretzel Thins, with two options to crunch on — Toasted Sesame with a hint of garlic, and Artisan Cheese, made up of Asiago blue, sharp cheddar and Romano cheeses. One fan took to Twitter to elevate the latter as "sophisticated Cheez-its," and The Supermarket Sampler's (via Daily Press) Carolyn Wyman praising Pepperidge Farm's triumph "in elevating the humble bread stick from an Italian restaurant stomach-filler into something to look forward to."

The union intersection in a Venn diagram between the sets "Star Wars" and "cookies" equates to the no-brainer product of "Star Wars" Cookies. While "Star Wars" was a phenomenon in film, marketing, and tie-in products since its 1977 release, Pepperidge Farm wouldn't cash in on the craze until 1983's "Return of the Jedi."

Pepperidge Farm's Willard, Ohio plant was tasked with producing them before the film's release, and George Lucas not only oversaw the line to ensure their quality, but to prevent leaks of new characters like Jabba the Hutt, Admiral Ackbar, and Max Rebo from being revealed in advance (via News-Journal). The cookies came in three flavors, Rebel Alliance vanilla and peanut butter, and Imperial chocolate, and buying all three boxes qualified customers for a set of four drinking tumblers. While fanboys dream of tasting them again, Adam Richman actually got to do so for his show "Eating the 80s," which made quite a way for him to break his Yom Kippur fast (via The Sun).