Which Little Debbie snack was the first commercially produced snack cake by McKee Foods?

Which Little Debbie snack was the first commercially produced snack cake by McKee Foods? The answer is Oatmeal Creme Pie.

Oatmeal Creme Pie was McKee Foods' first commercially produced Little Debbie snack cake. It consists of two soft oatmeal cookies sandwiching a sweet, fluffy creme filling. Although commonly called a snack cake, its construction is closer to a soft cookie sandwich than to a layered sponge cake.

The product traces back to Oather “O.D.” McKee, who developed it in 1935 during the Great Depression. McKee and his wife, Ruth, had acquired a Chattanooga, Tennessee, bakery, and he adapted its oatmeal-cookie recipe into a softer sandwich filled with creme. The original item sold for five cents, compared with one cent for the bakery's individual cookies.

The Little Debbie brand began in 1960, named after the McKees' four-year-old granddaughter, Debbie. Oatmeal Creme Pies were then sold in family-size cartons for 49 cents, and more than 14 million were sold during the first ten months. That history distinguishes the snack from later Little Debbie products such as Cosmic Brownies, Zebra Cakes, and Swiss Cake Rolls.