Pepperidge Farm Banana Nut Cookies - Target: Cherry Hill, NJ
Pepperidge Farm Banana Nut Cookies - Target: Cherry Hill, NJ
I've said this before, but The Pumpkining is upon us! Which means that my 2014 Pumpkin Gallery will be starting up very soon. Those of you who have followed this blog (or the Sometimes Foodie tumblr) for a while, know that I do this every fall. So far I have two galleries full of pumpkin items from 2012 and 2013. (With 53 different pumpkin items reviewed!) To prepare myself for the onslaught of pumpkin and fall themed foods headed my way, I am working my way through my current foodie stash, so today I'm going to finally try these cookies that have been sitting in my "to review" pile for about a month. (First world food blogger/hoarder problems.)
I've reviewed a few of these Pepperidge Farms cookies, even some Pumpkin Cheesecake ones (which are back on the shelves this year), and while they always photograph beautifully, they don't always taste so great. After being disappointed by their cookies so many times, I come to ignore Pepperidge Farms' new flavor releases, but this one is banana! My love for banana and banana flavored things won, and into my cart these went.
The packaging is the same as the other Pepperidge Farms cookies from this Bake Shop/Coffee Shop line. It's a foiled paper bag with a sophisticated coffeehouse photo of the product. This package appeals to adults with a sweet tooth, and while I can't say I've enjoyed the taste of every Pepperidge Farms product I've ever had, I've always loved the packaging.
Inside the bag there are two fluted cups that divide the cookies into two sections of four. (Meaning there are 8 cookies total in the bag.) Personally, for 8 cookies, I think this is pretty expensive. I get that Pepperidge Farm portrays itself as a higher-end grocery store cookie, but that's still a pretty steep price for what you're getting. What if I wanted to put these out at a party?
The initial aroma is sweet and nutty, but the scent of walnuts tends to overpower the banana-aspect of this cookie. Overall the smell reminds me of banana bread, but it's a little too weak in the banana-department. (But I like my banana flavoring pretty strong.)
Visually, the cookies are gorgeous as always, and they photographed beautifully. (I wish I had some ripe bananas on hand to use as a photo prop.)
I took a bite, and the cookie was dense and chewy,similar to a soft molasses cookie, but I found the banana flavoring to be pretty weak. If any of you have ever had banana flavored instant oatmeal, I feel like this tasted a lot like that, but in cookie form. The banana flavoring is noticeable, but it definitely isn't the star of the show. It might just be the bag I bought, because batches can vary, but the walnuts in these cookies were really strongly flavored. When everything was said and done I was left with a pretty strong walnut-aftertaste, and while I enjoy walnuts, I was really looking forward to the banana aspect of this cookie.
I really wanted to like this cookie, but it did not meet my banana expectations. If you like your banana bread with a lot of walnuts, you might enjoy this cookie, but if you're looking for something delicious and banana-y, you might be as disappointed as I was. I wouldn't buy this cookie again, but I could see a lot of people enjoying it, and it is a nice change of pace from the everyday chocolate chip, but if you're looking for a bold banana flavored cookie, this isn't it.
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