7 Grown-Ass Adults Reveal The Childhood Comfort Food They Still Love

Picture this: it’s a sticky, late-summer afternoon and you’ve just got home from school. You drop your backpack with a thud in the front room, kick off your heavy school shoes, and scream “MUUUUUUM” to check if she’s home. She’s not. Neither is your younger brother, presumably named something like Josh. He stinks.

Anyway! You know this means one thing, and one thing only. You’re alone with the precious snacks. You and your sweaty uniform make a beeline for the pantry, where, packaged and waiting, is… what?

We all had an ideal childhood snack, whether it was our very own after-school concoction, something our mum made for us, or a cereal we refuse to keep in the confines of breakfast time.

For me, it was hotdogs. The really questionable red kind, slapped on white bread and topped with tommy sauce, mustard, and pre-shredded cheese. Bellissimo. I’d arrange them hastily and eat them on my mum’s blue couches while watching something on ABC kids.

And, even though I’m a card-carrying adult with money and access to arguably finer foods, there’s just something about the things I ate when I was young that I can’t seem to quit. And I know I’m not alone.

From dippy eggs to ice cream cake, pink donuts and Coco Pops, we chatted to six bona fide adults about the childhood food they were obsessed with and why they’re not ashamed of hoeing it down to this day.

Coco Pops

“Growing up, I used to plead with my mum while grocery shopping to buy Coco Pops, and would usually just put them in the trolley anyway. Now I’m 25, I realise I can have them whenever I want – and whenever I’m feel like it, I treat myself to a bowl of chocolate-y, crunchy Coco Pops. And yes, I wait to let the chocolate seep through the milk – that’s the best part!” – Jared, 25

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Dippy eggs and soldiers

“Of all the many ways to eat an egg, nothing soothes my soul quite like soldiers. My mum used to make them for me when I was a kid. Now, I pay a café $15 to do it because I simply can’t be bothered to soft boil my own eggs. It’s worth it though.” – Katie, 29

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Salt and vinegar chips

“Salt and vinegar chips are the best snack ever. Their tasty goodness has always been my favourite because they’re that – tasty and good. They were always my go-to for the lunch box and now it’s my go-to for a early hours party snack… Actually, I’m gonna get some on the way home.” – Karina, 26

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Ice cream cake

“Overall, my favourite childhood comfort foods would be salt and vinegar chips, Zappos, Fizzers, and ice cream cake… I still have ice cream cake every year for my birthday. I find the older you get, the less exciting birthdays can be, so it always links me back to the excitement of my childhood birthdays.” – Rhyannon, 26

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Cheese toasties

“For me, lunch order day at school meant one thing, and one thing only: cheese toasties. So simple, yet so satisfying. Sometimes, I’d mix it up with a bit of ham and tomato or a chicken-and-avo situation, but a hot, gooey cheese toasty was always my favourite. More than a decade after I finished school, it still never fails to hit the spot.” – Krissi, 30

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Two-minute noodles

“My comfort food is two-minute noodles, made big and brothy for when you’re too cheap to put on a heater. Mmmmm.” – Brad, 22

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Porridge with brown sugar

 

“Thick stove-top porridge with brown sugar. We used to make on campfires when I was a kid, and even though the stove top doesn’t give it exactly the same flavour, a warm porridge with brown sugar still hits the spot. Add banana if you’re feeling a bit fruity.” – Jules, 27

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“Just like a chocolate milkshake, only crunchy!”

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(Lead image: KAL VISUALS / Unsplash)