During quarantine, I made countless batches of salted chocolate chip cookies, and got into the habit of adding crushed up potato chips to them as well. So when I saw that Oreo was getting in on the trend, by salting their classic cookie, I had to taste the results for myself.
When opened, the cookies smell dark and chocolatey, pretty much like classic Oreos, but with a hint of salt and kind of a coffeehouse caramel-scent. (Think caramel Frappuccino, where it's mostly sugar and little to no coffee.)
On it's own, the cookie tastes like a classic chocolate Oreo, but with a healthy amount of salt. Which is really addicting, even without the creme filling. But I have always been a cookie-person, not a creme person. I was really worried that the visual salt crystals on the cookie would be all for show, and taste mild, but these are saltier than I expected, and I mean that in the best way possible. They're sweet, salty, and have that deeper classic Oreo chocolate wafer flavor. I love it.
Inside, we have two different fillings, a caramel-colored creme and a dark "brownie" creme. I was able to separate them to try them on their own.
Brownie Creme - I feel like it isn't as authentic as previously released Brownie Batter Oreos, but it is recognizable. It's sweet, chocolatey, but in that richer, canned cake frosting or Hershey syrup kind of way. It's distinct from normal chocolate-filling Oreos, and pretty similar to brownie batter themed mix-ins you'd find in Ben and Jerry's ice cream. A win in my book.
Caramel Creme - The caramel aspect of this cookie is the only part that falls a bit flat. This tan-colored creme is sweet, and kind of caramel-like, but it's rather weak in execution. Kind of like the white creme filling you'd find in a Cow Tale, it's sweet, soft, sugary, gritty, and you get a hint of something caramel-like, but it doesn't read caramel on it's own. When it's combined with everything else it's easily lost.
Speaking of combined, when eaten as a whole, the saltiness balances the sweetness of the cookie and and creme making these really addicting. I think I would be able to guess this was a salted brownie, or perhaps a salted chocolate fudge flavor, if I tried these totally blind, but the caramel is very easy to miss. I don't think I would have picked it up at all without the power of suggestion making me look for it.
Therefore it doesn't quite live up to it's namesake, but I don't find myself missing the caramel. The complexity of the chocolate flavors and added salt are enough to make this cookie stand out from previous releases, and it's really addicting. Especially with a cold glass of milk for dunking. (I did find that this cookie more-so than other flavors separated during the dunking and snacking process. Which was not annoying enough to stop me from dunking more cookies. Just be sure to have a fork or spoon handy to fish-out lost cookie bits.)
How about adding them to a batch of brownies?
This "World's Best Fudgiest Brownies" recipe by Cafe Delites has been my go-to as of late, I've used it four times now, and it is great, but not quite perfect. Which could be my own fault.
I follow the recipe, baking for the 30 minute duration, but I use Hershey's baking cocoa and Tollhouse chocolate chips, because I have big wholesale sized containers of them I am trying to use up. They aren't the finest of ingredients, and I find my finished brownies always lack the chocolatey punch I crave. I tried adding some instant coffee to the recipe, to amp things up, and that does help, but it's still not as death-by-chocolate as they look. I am sure if I used a better quality cocoa, and chopped high-end chocolate bars, they would be truly perfect, but I'll need to use up what I have first before buying fancy baking supplies.
So, does adding these Oreos make the brownie recipe better? Yes. A million times, yes.
The added salt is a nice touch, the cookie adds lovely texture, there's additional decadent sweetness from the filling, and it's all surrounded by a chewy brownie.
Grab a brownie-slab and a cold glass of milk, and you're in for a real treat, but don't worry. If you don't feel like baking, these are still absolutely delicious straight from the package. If you see this one, and you like salted sweets, be sure to try it before it disappears!
Fans of these would also like: Fudge Brownie m&m's, Brownie Batter Oreos, Brookie-O Oreos, Peanut Brownie Snickers, or this Brownie Mix Cookies Recipe
Once you use up your Toll House, I think Trader Joe's choco chips are really good (if you have one available). I've been looking for these and haven't found them yet (though did finally find the apple cider yesterday).
ReplyDelete