While we may be many years removed from the peak experimentation that delivered divisive flavors like Swedish Fish and Cotton Candy, Nabisco has yet to miss releasing a new Limited Edition Oreo during the first week of January for as long as I can remember. This year’s theme seems to be, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, with the introduction of the Ultimate Chocolate Oreo.
Following in the tradition of last January’s Brookie-O Oreo, Ultimate Chocolate ups the ante of Oreo’s iconic creme filling via a triple stack that pushes it beyond the density of Double Stuf. The layers have three distinct colors, although the actual cookie has much less separation between the tones than the packaging implies. The stack goes from light-ish brown to brown to black.
When thinking of chocolate types, my brain goes to milk, dark, and white, which Nabisco claims these flavors to be, despite the clear absence of a white creme. I also don’t really get a directly sweet white chocolate taste, but rather chocolate with varying bitterness levels. The package proudly boasts a massive chocolate cake slice, and as someone who just had a birthday and ate four cupcakes for breakfast, I think that’s spot on. The layers remind me of a cake with three types of chocolate – a standard chocolate sponge, a lighter chocolate buttercream, and a richer darker chocolate ganache topping.
There’s not nearly as much nuance in an Oreo cookie as there is in an actual slice of layer cake, but the beefed up creme filling sandwiched between two bittersweet wafers draws a fairly accurate comparison for a five-dollar bag of cookies. All the cremes become one concentrated flavor, and if I had to guess, I would say the stack is Oreo’s regular chocolate creme paired with the excellent dark chocolate creme and one we haven’t had before.
The squishy filling oozing out against the firm and crumbly cookie conjures memories of diving my fork into the end of a cake slice with the perfect concentration of rich frosting. It’s delicious. Even better yet, take the top wafter off and you’re talking a legit 2-1 creme-to-cookie ratio, heading into double dark chocolate Dunkaroo territory (Betty Crocker…let’s work!)
What these cookies lack in originality or newness, they make up for with their decadent satisfaction. No matter how hard companies try to experiment with new flavors, and don’t get me wrong, I LOVE creativity, there’s nothing quite like chocolate, and this cookie proves sometimes it pays off to simply play the hits.
Purchased Price: $4.49
Size: 13.2 oz
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2 cookies) 180 calories, 9 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 17 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.