What Are Dunkaroos and Where Did They Go?

Nothing against the healthy sandwiches, bananas, and little notes reminding me that my parents loved me that were in my brown bag lunches, but I would have traded a whole year of them for just one shot at the other kids’ Dunkaroos. If you have fond memories of actually eating these dippable cookies, then you had one heck of a lucky childhood. For the rest of us, though, who could only dream…let’s dig into Dunkaroos cookies (sadly, not literally.)

What are Dunkaroos?

Dunkaroos are a snack food from Betty Crocker, first launched and made obscenely popular in the 1990s. Its simple packaging consists of a plastic container with separated areas for round cookies and frosting. There are usually about a dozen little cookies and a square-inch of frosting. As the name so awesomely implies, the cookies are meant to be dunked into the frosting. Flavor combinations include cookie varieties in chocolate, vanilla, graham, and chocolate-chip graham, and frosting in vanilla rainbow sprinkle, chocolate, and strawberry. The original advertising featured a cartoon kangaroo named Sydney (get it?) dressed like a “cool kid.”

When did Dunkaroos come out?

The original Dunkaroos were released in 1990. If you took a look at the clothing design of Sydney and the “X-treme!” way in which the product was advertised (seriously, they make dunking a cookie into some frosting look like it’s an event in the X-Games) you would have been able to tell that instantly.

Why were Dunkaroos discontinued?

Dunkaroos were suddenly discontinued in 2012. Many have theorized on the disappearance of the snack, citing a drop in its popularity and constant objections to the brand’s advertising unhealthy, extremely sugary snacks to children. Half the appeal of the snack was the Dunkaroo frosting, which was basically straight up cake frosting. Folks, we simply didn’t know how good we had it…until now! Dunkaroos made a triumphant comeback in 2020 and can be bought in most cookie aisles and, of course, online

Are Dunkaroos vegan?

Dunkaroos unfortunately do not align with a vegan lifestyle due to the inclusion of nonfat milk and refined sugar. Plus, some of the cookies were shaped like little kangaroos, which vegans DEFINITELY cannot consume. (Sorry, but I’m allotted one extremely hacky joke per article.)

So there you have it. Dunkaroos are back, so you don’t have to order an ancient, unopened ‘90s package from eBay and livestream your attempt to muscle down decades-old frosting. But, if you did, I’d not only watch that, but I’d solemnly salute it.


About the Author

Joe Rumrill

Joe Rumrill is a fictional one-eyed spinach-loving sailor created in 1929 by E.C Se- Wait, no, that's not right... Joe Rumrill is a stand up comedian and writer currently based in Los Angeles. His favorite thing about food is a close tie between the taste and the nutrients one gets from it. His least favorite thing about it is the "gritty, dirt-like quality some food has", but he's most likely referring to the time in third grade he was dared to eat playground sand.

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