Playing catch-up before we are bombarded by a slew of new Oreos.
Are apple cider donuts a universal fall item? I always thought it was a niche east-coast-thing, so I was surprised this flavor had such a wide release. Growing up we always associated cider donuts with local farms and pumpkin patches, and as a kid I just thought they were stale cake donuts dipped in cider and sugar to give them a refresh and apple flavoring, but that is obviously not the case (otherwise they would be soggy.)
These were released fall 2021 and while I do have a fondness for cider donuts, I usually hate Oreos take on apple flavoring. (I find it chemically and gross.) I wasn't going to go out of my way to find these flavor, and then they popped up at Aldi of all places. With it being right there I thought, why not?
The packaging and press releases don't seem to specify what should tastes like what. Is all the flavor in the filling itself or did they change up the cookie too? Is the cookie a normal golden cookie? Is it graham? At a glance, I think this looks slightly darker than a classic golden cookie, but it has been a minute since I have had one so I could be wrong. Looking at old photos it could be entirely normal vanilla cookie after all.
Eating the cookie on it's own, it's sweet, and a little oats/graham-like, and some apple flavoring. I don't think the apple flavoring is meant to be from the cookie itself, I think the filling kind of rubbed off on the cookie giving it this ghostly, slightly artificial, green apple flavoring that I don't completely hate, but it gives me a weird fake after taste I don't love. On it's own, the cookie is actually a pretty fair representation of a cider donut, with is lightly apple flavored, sweet, and cake-y, but then we have the creme.
The filling is a creamy beige-color, almost matching the cookie base, and it has flecks of brown and some large sugar crystals. The texture of the crystals really evoke the sugary coating of a classic cider donut, but the flavoring isn't quite right. I have sweet Oreo creme, cinnamon, sugar crystals, and apple flavoring. Initially the apple flavoring is spiced and mild, and I was actually really into it, but it did the thing Oreo apple always does for me. It fades away into a weird chemical aftertaste.
First bite and impression is great, and if you keep shoveling them into your mouth to avoid the aftertaste, I would say these would have my seal of approval. But when I stop, all the sweetness fades away and I am left with this kind of fake sour green apple flavor that makes my mouth water (in the bad way) and makes me feel like I sprayed perfume or a cosmetic in my mouth.
Combined, the cookie mellows out that chemical aftermath for me, but not enough for me to safely say that I like these and would willingly buy more for myself.
These are better than I thought they would be, and are my favorite version of Oreo apple-flavoring to date, but whatever makes me hate fake apple flavoring is still present here. Remember back when people all talked about their ability to taste Red40 dye and how it made things taste gross to them? I guess I have that, with whatever makes fake green apple flavoring. (It's always green.)
If you like apple things, like previous Caramel Apple Oreos or Apple Pie Oreos, you'll love these. In fact, I wish I still had some apple pie Oreos, because I'm pretty sure they're quite similar. (Maybe these are slightly more cinnamon-heavy.)
Fans of these would also like: Apple Pie Oreos or Cookie Butter Oreos.
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