FAST FOOD NEWS: Dunkin’ Donuts Maple Pecan Coffee and Maple Sugar Bacon Breakfast Sandwich

Dunkin Maple Pecan Iced Coffee+and+Maple+Sugar+Bacon Sandwich

To welcome the fall season, Dunkin’ Donuts is offering a new coffee flavor — Maple Pecan. The sweet and nutty flavor is available in hot or iced coffee, espresso beverages, Frozen Dunkin’ Coffee, or Cold Brew coffee.

Two other new additions to the fall lineup include the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread and the Festive Fall Donut. The spread is made with real pumpkin, while the donut features festive red icing and chocolate and orange sprinkles.

Dunkin’ also has a new sandwich for your mornings. The Maple Sugar Bacon Breakfast Sandwich has a double portion of maple sugar cherrywood-smoked bacon on a freshly-baked croissant with egg and cheese.

If you’ve tried any of the new items, let us know what you think of it in the comments.

(Image via Dunkin’ Donuts.)

SPOTTED ON SHELVES: Cookies & Screeem M&M’s

Cookies  Screeem M M s

This Target exclusive features dark chocolate, white chocolate, and the ability to wipe that smug look off of the Red M&M’s face. (Spotted by Stacy B at Target.)

If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email ([email protected]) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. Or reply to us (@theimpulsivebuy) on Twitter with the photo, where you spotted it, and the hashtag #spotted. If you’ve tried the product, share your thoughts about it in the comments.

Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

REVIEW: Nestle Toll House Cookie of the Year Chocolate Fudge Pretzel Cookies

Nestle Toll House Cookie of the Year Chocolate Fudge Pretzel

Hey there, everyone.

For the second year in a row, I’m here to accept the Nestle Toll House Cookie of the Year Award. I’m not sure why the award committee keeps inviting me back to make these speeches on behalf of a cookie. I guess they must believe in the old adage, “you are what you eat.”

*crickets*

Yeesh. Tough crowd.

Let me be clear, folks. This isn’t an envelope mix-up, like that “La La Land” and “Moonlight” fiasco. Believe it or not, Nestle Toll House’s Chocolate Fudge Pretzel cookie dough really did beat out other contenders like PB&J Oreo for the Cookie of the Year award. Sorry, PB&J Oreo. Between you and me, I have a feeling that Nestle Toll House might have rigged this thing.

Nestle Toll House Cookie of the Year Chocolate Fudge Pretzel 2

I’ve got to give a quick shout-out to the crew on this production, also known as my oven and baking sheet. The 11-12 minutes it took to fully bake this project took longer than those “straight-to-plate” cookies, but these guys were nothing but professional.

Nestle Toll House Cookie of the Year Chocolate Fudge Pretzel 3

For all of you drama fans out there, Nestle Toll House Chocolate Fudge Pretzel cookies are set against a dark backdrop…of chocolate, that is. The chocolate cookie dough steals the show with a perfectly rich cocoa flavor. Like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, it’s the kind of role player that you can build a franchise around.

I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of the milk chocolate morsels. They add a sweeter, creamier element throughout. It can be hard to stand out when one of your co-stars is so dominant, but the milk chocolate morsels play off of the chocolate cookie dough really well.

Nestle Toll House Cookie of the Year Chocolate Fudge Pretzel 4

The pretzel pieces are a welcome addition to the cast, too. They’re salty, floury, and retain a good crunch. But if I’m being honest, they can be pretty erratic. Some cookies have a lot of them, and others hardly have any. It would be nice to see some consistency from those pretzel prima donnas.

Some of you in the audience might look at these Chocolate Fudge Pretzel cookies and think, “they could use something more, like caramel.” But I’ve got to disagree with you. Adding another ingredient here would be like Michael Bay’s use of explosions -— excessive.

Nestle Toll House Cookie of the Year Chocolate Fudge Pretzel 5

Once again, the Nestle Toll House Cookie of the Year is a real winner. The chocolate cookie dough, milk chocolate morsels, and pretzel pieces combine to make a formidable cast that puts on a great performance. Congratulations to the 2017 Cookie of the Year: Nestle Toll House Chocolate Fudge Pretzel Cookies.

I don’t know what the 2018 Cookie of the Year will be, but I do know this: it’ll be made by Nestle Toll House…

…and I’ll have to give yet another acceptance speech for a fake cookie award.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 cookie – 80 calories, 40 calories from fat, 4 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 1.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 11 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of sugar, and less than 1 gram of protein.)

Purchased Price: $2.50
Size: 16 oz. (makes 24 cookies)
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Rich, fudgy cookie dough. Sweet milk chocolate morsels add nice variety. Crunchy pretzel pieces. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Cons: Still a totally made-up award, possibly rigged. Uneven distribution of pretzel pieces. Michael Bay.

SPOTTED ON SHELVES (FROZEN FOOD EDITION) – 8/28/2017

Here are some interesting new or limited edition frozen foods found by your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of the products, share your thoughts about them in the comments.

Cole s Plain Bread Middles with Mac  Cheese Filling

Cole’s Plain Bread Middles with Mac & Cheese Filling

Cole s Salty Pretzel with Beef Cheese Filling Middles

Cole’s Salty Pretzel with Beer Cheese Filling Middles

Cole s French Toast Bagel Middles with Sweet Cream Cheese Filling

Cole’s French Toast Bagel Middles with Sweet Cream Cheese Filling

Cole s Plain Bread with 5 Cheese Middles

Cole’s Plain Bread with 5 Cheese Middles

Cole s Plain Bagel and Everything Bagel Middles

Cole’s Plain Bagel and Everything Bagel Middles

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Walmart.)

Banquet Mega Bowls  Country Fried Chicken and Chicken Fried Beef Steak

Banquet Mega Bowls (Country Fried Chicken and Chicken Fried Beef Steak)

Banquet Mega Bowls  Buffalo Style Chicken Mac  n Cheese and Chicken Fajita

Banquet Mega Bowls (Buffalo-Style Chicken Mac ‘n Cheese and Chicken Fajita)

(Spotted by Jason M at Walmart.)

Bridgford Cheesy Pepperoni Pull Apart Monkey Bites

Bridgford Cheesy Pepperoni Pull-Apart Monkey Bites

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Walmart.)

Pierre PB J and PB B

Pierre PB&J and PB&B Sandwiches

(Spotted by Jason M at Walmart.)

Hidden Valley Shredded Hash Browns

Hidden Valley Shredded Hash Browns

(Spotted by Erin K at Cub Foods.)

Furlani Foods Ann s Biscuits  Cinnamon Cream Cheese and Cranberry  White Chocolate

Furlani Foods Ann’s Biscuits (Cinnamon Cream Cheese and Cranberry & White Chocolate)

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Walmart.)

Thank you to all the photo contributors! If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email ([email protected]) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. Or reply to us (@theimpulsivebuy) on Twitter with the photo, where you spotted it, and the hashtag #spotted. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.

Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

WEEKEND READING – 8/26/2017

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Here are a few interesting junk food-related stories from the past week or so. Enjoy.

KFC’s New Employee Training Game Is a Virtual Reality Nightmare (via Eater)

Burger King Is Allegedly Launching Its Own Cryptocurrency (via Munchies)

Zomething Different: The Rise, Fall, and Recent Comeback of Zima (via Mental Floss)

Fast Food Probably Won’t Make You Grow Man Boobs, But It’s Complicated (via Munchies)

General Mills loses bid to trademark yellow color on Cheerios box (via Are Technica)