CARROT CAKE OREOS
It's official. As sure as pumpkin spice is the official flavor of Fall, peppermint is a staple of Christmas snacking, and strawberries and chocolate are associated with Valentine's Day, carrot cake is now the junk food flavor of Spring. I don't know why these cookies were released in mid-January, however, but seeing as how I could have bought a Christmas tree the day before Halloween, I no longer question holiday marketing.
I still have difficulty comprehending why certain well-known snack foods (Twinkees, Oreos) are trying to capture the taste of other desserts (cinnamon rolls, blueberry pies, carrot cake) because, frankly, it is just as easy to eat that other dessert instead. It would be the same as if Sprite made a version of its soda flavored like Coca-Cola. But here at Irresponsible Calorie headquarters, my job is not to ask why. My job is to simply eat and report.
The most interesting thing about this particular cookie is that it is not the "creme" which is carrot cake flavored. That would seem to be the more obvious choice, as I imagine the difference between the standard Oreo cookie creme and cream cheese frosting atop a carrot cake is probably an easier gap to bridge...as opposed to changing the ingredients of the standard chocolate, vanilla or graham Oreo cookies.
To Nabisco's credit, the cookie does taste a lot like carrot cake and not like one of their other "spice" or graham flavor cookies, as I was expecting. I just wish they had been bolder by adding food coloring to make the cookie less tan and more orange in color. The cream cheese-flavored creme doesn't taste that different from the standard Oreo creme if you compare them taken out of their cookie coverings, but together the combination works really well. This cookie definitely reminds me of carrot cake, except without the annoying vegetable or raisin pieces or the worry that your cake is not moist enough.
The fact remains, however, that if you like carrot cake you would be better off making your own or picking one up from the local grocer. But if you just want a good reminder of carrot cake, in a handy non-sticky circular form, Carrot Cake Oreos will do just fine.
RATING: 4 / 5
