Snickerdoodle is having a moment right now. We have these Oreos, a limited edition Pop-Tart, and a those new Little Debbie's Snack cake.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but Snickerdoodles are just sugar cookies rolled in cinnamon, right? (It's how I've always made them.) If true, are these items just cinnamon flavored?
I guess we'll find out.
This new Oreo came out, I bought it, and then I went to put it away and found this box of cookies from Aldi that were a different take on the same thing. In fact, they're an Aldi twist on a Neapolitan Trader Joe-Joe's item that's been around since at least 2018.
I figured I'd take this opportunity to compare the two and see who did it better. Oreo? Or Aldi?
Birthday Cake Oreos were released in 2012 for their 100th anniversary and it was kind of a big deal. This was back when the bags had roll-down and twist-tied tops, instead our modern front--peel packaging. (Which I hate.) It was also before we were all burnt out on fancy new Oreo flavors. (Or is that just me?)Upon their original release, this flavor was limited edition, but since then it has become a staple of the line-up, with a Mickey-themed Disney release added in for good measure.So, for their 110th anniversary, they rereleased their centennial product and added a layer of chocolate creme. That's it. Same classic chocolate cookie, same "birthday cake" creme, but with added chocolate. I didn't feel like that was anything special, and with my irrational annoyance at "Birthday Cake" themed products and marketing, I was going to skip this...but then I was given a package as a gift. So, here we are. Happy Birthday!
Here we have the legit, Oreo-branded, limited edition Ultimate Chocolate cookie. I was going to skip this one, because it's just chocolate, how different from the normal, year-round, chocolate could it really be? But then I had a rough day at work and went to Walmart for cat litter and next thing I knew, my cart was full of junk-food. Oops. Then it ended up in the blog back-log pile with all my other cookies. So, was this worth buying and is it different than normal?
Latte Crème Cookies - Aldi
I hope you like cookies, because I have a LOT of cookies.
There are currently 12 different flavors of cookies in my stash, which is strange, because I always say I don't like store bought cookies. After this I might have to change my tune.
Why do I keep buying them? It's the blog's fault. There was this unspoken competition amongst junk food bloggers years ago to see who would announce new Oreo flavors, or be the first to find them on the shelves or to review them. And even though cookie posts are no where near my most popular, my brain feels compelled to buy flavored cookies. Even off-brand ones. My blogger-brain is like, "This is what the people want." But really, looking at my views, you guys would rather read about various forms of octopus and really basic Aldi products.
Enough rambling, I have a lot of cookies to eat, and Coffee is a good place to start. Let's check out this knock off coffee Oreo from Aldi.
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?
Strawberry Frosted Donut Oreos - GiftAnother Oreo I was going to skip, because I was pretty sure this was more gimmick than anything else, but a friend bought these and demanded I try them, so here we are. Was my assumption correct? Or will these blow my mind?
Brookie-O Oreos - Target
Oreo has dropped three "new" flavors, Java Chip and Chocolate Hazelnut, which are permanent additions to the line-up, and this limited edition Brookie-O.
Good News: We already have three new flavors of Oreos for 2021.
Bad News: They're mostly repeats/rebrands, AND Pistachio Oreo Thins are discontinued! (Apparently they were discontinued in 2020, another strike against a terrible year.)
Java chip is a coffee and chocolate mashup, similar to the previously released Dunkin Donuts Mocha, or Tiramisu, or Oreo Thins' Latte, and Chocolate Hazelnut is a re-release of the 2018 Chocolate Hazelnut, but the golden cookie was swapped out for classic chocolate. This could be the start of a trend, where limited edition flavors could have the potential for permanency, but I think "permanent" is too strong a word. Similar to most of the Lay's Do Us a Flavor contestants, I give it a year or two before they fade into oblivion. (Honestly, I don't know why Carrot Cake or Red Velvet have lasted as long as they have, especially when flavors like Reese's were so. damn. good. )
Then we have these Brookie-O's, which are the only limited edition flavor of the bunch. They are a mashup of classic Oreos, 2014's Cookie Dough Oreos, and 2015's Brownie Batter Oreo. While the combination of all three at once is new, each of these flavors has been done before. Are they worth the buy?
Suddenly, I have a bit more time on my hands (imagine that!), and there's no better way to dust off the ol' food blog than with a new Oreo review.
I have a few backlogged Oreo flavors I still need to type up, like caramel coconut, mystery, marshmallow moon, and maple creme (lot of "m" names...), but I wanted to push all those aside and talk about this flavor in particular.
Chocolate Marshmallow Oreos don't have very fancy packaging, and visually, they aren't much to look at, but what they lack in shock-value, they more than make-up in flavor payoff.
Oreos have done marshmallow before, but never like this.
Are you even a food blogger anymore if you don't try weird new Oreos? What was once fun, rare, and unique has now become a monotonous status quo. A food blogger blinks, and Oreo releases three more flavors. Can you keep up with it? And more importantly, are they even worth it?
Oreo must be stopped. I get it, they're "Milk's favorite cookie." (Debatable.) But things are just getting out of hand. Adding less than a dollar's worth of Oreo pieces to pretty much everything does not magically turn it into a premium product. It's a waste of money is what it is! Sprinkle one or maybe two cookie's worth on top of a doughnut, all of a sudden that plain doughnut is twice the price. Mix a cookie or two into cream cheese? BOOM! Fancy! I get it, but, I don't get it.
You know how I have a tenancy to buy things and post the reviews long after the item has left shelves and lost it's relevance? Yeah, me neither.
Anyway,...here are those Carrot Cake Oreos!
Let's skip the (mildly) dramatic build up and reveal. After all, the title completely gives my opinion away. This year, Oreo released festive Valentine's Day cookies with lots of great gimmicks, and a vague flavor description, "Sweet and Tangy." Thanks, Oreo. I hate it.
I am kicking myself. I have a jar filled with real pistachios sitting right on my kitchen counter that would have made these photos look fantastic...but I completely forgot about them until I was editing this post. I flirted with the idea of re-shooting just to satisfy my perfectionist nature....but we both know I barely blog as it is. If I buy another brand new unopened package just to re-shoot these pics...this is never getting written up.
So, for my sake, imagine delicious pistachios, both shelled and un-shelled, sprinkled about these photos making me look like a domestic foodie goddess I aspire to be, not the frazzled sometimes-foodie I actually am. (Really living up to the name the past 2 years...)
With today's review, the title completely gives my opinion away, so there's no use dancing around it now. These are the best Oreo I have eaten all year.
That's right, this flavor suggestion came from a teacher who resides in, you guessed it, New Jersey! Who else is from America's lovable-armpit? Me! So that's it, this is the winner. Everyone else can go home now.
I kid, but of the three flavors announced, this one did seem the most palatable. Kettle Corn had the potential to be the buttered popcorn bean of cookies, and Cherry Cola could have ended up a medicinal nightmare, but piña colada? It's pretty hard to get that wrong, so it was the safest bet of all three flavors. However, playing it safe doesn't make for a guaranteed win, so let's see if these Oreo Thins are a slice of paradise, or if they taste like the floor of a Rupert Holmes concert.
Obligatory link to Savage Garden's 90's hit, I Want You. One of the first CDs I ever stole from my mom's collection. (She has good taste.) Such an under appreciated band and song!
If I ever review something cherry cola themed and do NOT link to that song, just know that I have been replaced with a robot or body snatcher.
Now that the song-nostalgia-gods have been appeased, let's take a closer look at these Cherry Cola Oreos.
I blink, and Oreo releases a boatload of newabominationsflavors.
I was going to ignore them (since I suck at blogging and all) but I had to run to target today to grab some ice cream sandwiches for my boyfriend. (It's a long story, but the short version is, Aldi was sold out.) I walk into Target, all determined to run to the freezer aisle, grab the sandwiches, and get our before my groceries in the car melt...and there it is.
A big ol' display with all three of the newest releases front and center. Their calorie-crushing siren song worked, and my 60 day diet has officially been drowned, but hey! I'm blogging again! (Woo!)
So let's find out if these gimmicky contest cookies are worth the calories!
This combo may sound strange to some, but I'm no stranger to cinnamon Red Hot candy in cookies. Whenever Christmas rolled around my mom would make a bunch of cookies, and one of my favorites was her almond press-cookies with cinnamon red-hot candies mixed in. When baked, they melted into stained-glass-looking ornaments and added a wonderful crunch as well as cinnamon-y flavor.
That being said, I'm kind of shocked that there aren't actual candies mixed into the cream for added texture. Part of the cinnamon-candy experience is the texture...but I'm excited for these nonetheless.
That's right! It's a Déjà vu-Round 2 of Limited Edition Peeps Oreos.
Last year's take on this seasonal sweet used the golden cookie base with a bright highlighter-pink marshmallow creme flavored filling, and even though I bought several packages of it last year, and definitely photographed them, but I guess I never wrote them up? (Which isn't surprising, 2017 was a very VERY bad year for my blogging habits.)
Anyway, I thought they were pretty good, sickeningly sweet and sugary, but good. However, my boyfriend's daughter LOVED them. Of all the Oreos I've dragged into our pantry over the years, these are her favorite so I made sure to buy several packages. I did a quick search online to see what my fellow foodies thought of the neon-pink pucks, and it turns out reviews weren't so favorable? That's news to me!
Happy New Year everyone!
A lot happened in 2017: I got a new job, bought my first house, my boyfriend, his daughter, and I moved in together, we got a chinchilla, and I de-mosquitoed our above-ground swimming pool. (There is hilarious footage of me with trash bags duct taped to my legs, wading into the water to drain it.) One thing that didn't happen....was blogging.
2017 was my worst blogging-year to-date and I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to keep up with it, but there's no better time to get my blogging-butt in gear than today. My goal for 2018 is to get back into daily blogging, and to jump-start that goal I have several reviews scheduled for this week! (Hooray for planning ahead!)
It's official! Daily reviews are back starting today, and there's no better way to start than with a food-blogging staple, "new" Oreos! (I put "new" in quotes because, like always, I'm late to the party, but they're still new, so it counts.)
