PEEPS OREO COOKIES

If you were among the unlucky few to try one of Nabisco's last limited edition Oreos...the Swedish Fish...it is understandable that you might have decided to swear off Oreos forever.  Or fish.  Or IKEA. Or ABBA.  Or anything else that could possibly remind you of that abomination.

In its continuing quest to see if it is possible to combine one great and one bad taste, or two mediocre tastes, and make something special, Nabisco has now turned its gaze upon that stalwart of Easter baskets everywhere--the granulated sugar-covered unnaturally colored marshmallow Peep.

Now, before you get too excited, or disgusted, the "bad" news is that the creme filling is not simply a Peep squashed flat between two cookies...which probably would have made them very difficult to package.  There are sugar crystals in the creme, however, which I suppose were meant to simulate the slight Peep crunch.  Unfortunately, they are almost imperceptible...definitely not as noticeable as the rice cereal pieces in the Fruity Crisp Oreo creme.  And the "marshmallow" taste?  Also imperceptible.

So, I guess the good news is that these cookies taste much like a Golden Oreo...which is fine with me.  But the bad news is that these cookies taste much like a Golden Oreo...which means that there is nothing interesting or unusual about them, apart from the day-glo pink creme filling, that is.

So, Nabisco, as long as you are going to continue down the Oreo + [non-chocolate candy] route, I have a few suggestions:  Red Vine Oreos, Sour Patch Kids Oreos, Good 'N Plenty Oreos, Hot Tamales Oreos, Junior Mint Oreos or Mike & Ike Oreos.  Just promise us that you'll embrace the flavor without wimping out.  Who knows?  You might accidentally come up with an amazing success...but if not, at least they are guaranteed to be spectacular failures!

RATING:   3/5
  






 

DUNKIN' DONUTS VANILLA LATTE POP-TARTS

DISCLAIMER:  I don't drink coffee and I've never eaten a Dunkin' Donut donut in my life (seeing as how the only donut chain in my West Coast neighborhood growing up was Winchell's).  But I do enjoy the aroma of coffee, and I must admit that I know my Pop-Tarts.  Sadly...

I've seen a lot of strange Pop-Tart flavors out there, but this one ranks up there as the most unusual.  It's not only based upon a warm beverage instead of a fruit or dessert flavor, it's based upon a very specific flavor of coffee made by a very specific donut shop.  This is about as specialized as they come...at least until we see Marie Calendar's Rhubarb Pie Pop-Tarts.

Seeing as how most people grab a Pop-Tart if they want something sweet and sugary...and care very little about their health...is a more bitter coffee flavor going to fit the bill?  Even with the added vanilla?

Surprisingly, yes!  At least for me...

There's no mistaking the coffee flavor when you take a bite...unlike the so-called "bacon" flavor of the Maple Bacon Pop-Tarts.  Or the so-called caramel apple flavor of the Caramel Apple Pop-Tarts.  Or the so-called...but I digress.  The bottom line is that this snack passes my first test: it actually tastes like what it is supposed to represent (a vanilla latte).  The frosting provides just enough sweetness, and the pastry keeps the sweetness from becoming too overwhelming.

That said, I have no idea who the market is for these things.  If you are the sort of person who likes drowning your coffee with cream and sugar or French Vanilla Coffeemate, why add the additional sweetness of a Pop-Tart?  Even for those who take their coffee black, I cannot see anyone eating these alongside a cup of java...otherwise, why not just get a vanilla latte?  And I don't think that anyone is going to eat these as a "substitute" for coffee either.  It's not like there isn't a Starbucks within a mile radius of 90% of the adults living in North America.

No, I guess these are strictly a novelty snack item for those who enjoy the taste of coffee...or for those, like me, who like the aroma of coffee.  It's definitely not for everyone, but I have to give Kellogg's credit for thinking outside of the Pop-Tarts box and trying something unusual which actually manages to compare favorably to the taste they are trying to mimic.

RATING:  4/5 

GIRL SCOUT S'MORES COOKIES

Here's another first for the IrrCal Blog: reviewing a newly-introduced flavor of Girl Scout cookie.  But seeing as how the Girl Scout "Thin Mint Cookie" has already become a licensed flavor for everything from granola bars and ice cream to Nesquik, Coffeemate and cereal (Honestly...Google it!), I think it is an appropriate fit.

Girl Scouts selling cookies have become a fixture of American culture and are currently the second most popular reason for not answering your doorbell...not far behind Jehovah's Witnesses.  Their cookie sales are, of course, the biggest fundraiser they have, and boxed cookies with the Girl Scout logo have been around since the 1930's.  Thin Mints are by far their most popular flavor, but they continue to move other recipes in and out of the rotation from time to time.

This year, enter S'mores.  Apparently this is an old cookie flavor that has been brought back for their 100th anniversary.  (The Girl Scouts are turning 100, not the cookies...although with the amount of preservatives in these things, who knows?  But shouldn't the Girls be Great-Grandmother Scouts by now?  But I digress...)

For the camping illiterate, S'mores consist of a "sandwich" of graham crackers with toasted marshmallows and a chocolate bar in the middle.  Therefore, any snack purporting to be "s'more flavored" needs to approximate those three tastes.  Unfortunately, the Girl Scout cookie version does not quite deliver.

Although the filling is certainly colored like chocolate and marshmallow, it tastes just like a chocolate creme with almost no marshmallow taste (and definitely no sticky marshmallow texture).  The cookie itself is lighter than a graham cracker in both color and taste.  It's not quite the usual shortbread recipe, but it doesn't taste like a graham cracker either.  It's somewhere in the middle.

The result is a pleasant chocolate creme cookie that is fine in and of itself, but which doesn't live up to the "S'mores" name.  To me, it seemed identical to the Oreo S'mores cookie.  Those looking for something more authentic should stick with Mallomars or just make their own with a Honey Maid graham cracker, a Hershey bar, and some miniature marshmallows.  You can even microwave one rather than building a campfire...it's not that hard!

RATING:    3/5

UPDATE:   I knew that certain Girl Scout cookie flavors were only available in certain regions (looking at you, Lemonades!), but I was unaware that two entirely different cookies might share the same name in different regions.  But then I ended up purchasing a box of S'mores from a neighbor which was completely different from one I purchased at work.

I don't know or care if the chicken came before the egg, and likewise I don't know or care which S'mores cookie came first.  So, I'll just refer to this one by it's size.  Unlike the oval-shaped shortbread-ish cookies I reviewed earlier, this version is a chocolate-covered graham square.  The covering makes it a lot messier to eat, without adding anything positive to the taste.  Indeed, the "chocolate" is the same thin sheen that covers other Girl Scout cookies and doesn't taste at all like real chocolate.  Inside, there is supposed to be a thin layer of "creme"...so thin I neither saw it or tasted it...over a graham cookie.  Now, I will say that this tastes more like a graham cracker than the shortbread-ish cookie of the other S'mores, but it's still not quite there.

So, to summarize, the end result is a cookie which doesn't taste like graham, with a supposed creme layer that doesn't taste like marshmallow or anything else, underneath a coating that doesn't taste like chocolate.

As with the prior S'mores cookie, you are better off making your own.      

RATING:    2/5