Cracker Barrel Is Selling A Nostalgic Old-School Candy That You Can't Find Just Anywhere

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Numerous nostalgic vintage candies have vanished from store shelves, seemingly for good, but sometimes they resurface in the most unexpected places. Five Below, a retailer seemingly geared toward trendy tweens, sells old school treats like Chick-O-Stick and Zagnut, while Dollar Tree is a haven for discontinued snacks and candies. Cracker Barrel, too, sells all manner of old school candies you may never have heard of, like the liquid-filled wax bottles called Nik-L-Nip and the chocolate and peanut butter-covered pretzels known as Jimmie Stix. Yet another blast from the past you won't find too many places other than Cracker Barrel is a candy called sherbet mints — specifically, the ones made by a Texas company called Lammes Candies.

Lammes Candies has been around since 1885, although the company doesn't share the exact year the sherbet mints entered its lineup. Cracker Barrel has been selling the candies as a seasonal item since 2007, but they're only available twice a year. These round candies are available in pastel shades of white, pink, green, and yellow around Easter; while the red, white, and green ones come out for Christmas. As for the flavor, it can best be described as sweet and creamy with just a hint of mint. (Nothing whatsoever like the interior of a peppermint patty, which are squishier, grittier, and more aggressively minty.)

If you're craving sherbet mints and nowhere near a Cracker Barrel, don't be bummed. Visiting the restaurant's gift shop isn't the only way to get your hands on the product, or at least something similar. Cracker Barrel may be the only national retailer selling Lammes Candies Sherbet Mints, but they're also available on the manufacturer's website and can be bought at its two brick-and-mortar shops in Texas. They're not exactly cheap, though; each box contains about 50 thin candy wafers, and a two-pack costs $39.98. Cracker Barrel and Lammes seem to be the only ones selling the pastel-colored sherbet mints at present, but last year both Miles Kimball and Walmart carried the Christmas ones online.

If you're willing to switch to a similar candy, Amazon sells two pounds of Beulah's Candyland Smooth and Melty Mints for $28.98. These are somewhat thicker than the Lammes mints and are coated in crunchy nonpareils like a non-chocolate version of Nestle Sno-Caps. Pastel nonpareil mints aren't exclusive to a single brand, though, since they're also available from other retailers. Sadly, Russell Stover long ago discontinued its beloved (and nonpareil-less) Rosebud Mints, which to my mind were buttermint perfection (although the sherbet mints from Lammes are a reasonable facsimile).

Perhaps the easiest, cheapest way to have sherbet mints for Easter is to make your own by mixing powdered sugar with butter, corn syrup, and peppermint extract. No need for a candy thermometer since there's no cooking involved. With just a drop or two of food coloring, you can tint these homemade mints to match your Easter eggs.