Twinkies, Drakes cakes making a sweet comeback

America's sweet tooth will be getting a dose of high-calorie satisfaction in the coming weeks as Twinkies, Ding Dongs and some Drake's snack cakes make a post-bankruptcy comeback.

The brands, formerly assets of debt-saddled Hostess Brands, were sold off in March in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York in White Plains after the company failed to reach agreement to restructure its union contracts.

A spokeswoman for Metropoulos & Co., which teamed with Apollo Global Management to pay $410 million for most of the Hostess snack cake business, said it will bring back Twinkies, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and Donettes on July 15.

"America wanted Hostess back -- they wanted the original," Daren Metropoulos, principal of Metropoulos & Co., said in a statement. "Very soon consumers will once again be able to enjoy Twinkies, CupCakes and other great Hostess snack cakes. A comeback by any other name could never be as sweet."

On his tumblr website, Metropoulos displays a "Zombieland" poster of Twinkies, which figured prominently in the 2009 comedy horror movie. ("Oh, this Twinkie thing; it ain't over yet," says Tallahassee, a character played by Woody Harrelson.)

A company website, hostesscakes.com, displayed a countdown clock until Twinkies and the other snacks return to store shelves. (About 487 hours as of Monday afternoon.)

A Metropoulos spokeswoman said in an email that the partners would roll out the full slate of Hostess confections nationwide. She said Twinkies will return to major retailers, convenience stores and dollar stores at the same prices as in the past.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for McKee Foods, which acquired Hostess' line of Drake's snack cakes in the March bankruptcy for $27.5 million, said it will roll out Drake's "core brands" in the late summer or early fall.

The company, however, declined to say precisely which snacks from the old Drake's line -- which includes Yankee Doodles, Ring Dings, Devil Dogs, Yodels and Drake's Coffee Cake -- would be included in the revival. McKee also makes Little Debbie brand snacks, which have competed against Drake's in the past.

Bread maker Flowers Foods, which bought Wonder and other bread lines in the March bankruptcy auction, is awaiting antitrust approval from the Department of Justice to close on its purchase.