Tag: Oreo

I imagine there are some of you out there who are absolutely sick of all these limited edition Oreo flavors. You’ve probably left a comment on someone’s Facebook post about a new Oreo variety that was somewhere along the lines of “Enough with the Oreo flavors” or “Oreo needs to stop” or “OreOh no, not moreo Oreos.”

But think of the food scientists who develop these flavors. Oreo is the canvas on which they can use natural and artificial flavors to unleash their creativity. Would you take away a paintbrush from Van Gogh? Would you cut the strings in Beethoven’s piano? Would you smash Hemingway’s typewriter with a sledgehammer? Would you take Chicago away from Dick Wolf?

Without the Oreo cookie, some food scientists might have less fun jobs to do, like coming up with new ways for Nature Valley to use granola or trying to shoehorn Kashi’s seven whole grains into something edible.

The latest flavor that’ll make Oreo haters roll their eyes is Limited Edition Blueberry Pie.

The cookie combines the graham-flavored wafer that comes with S’mores, Strawberry Shortcake, and Key Lime Pie Oreo cookies with a Violet Beauregard-colored blueberry creme.

These aren’t the first blueberry Oreo cookies to enter my mouth. I’ve had blueberry ice cream flavored Oreo cookies from Asia that used chocolate wafers. While they were good, they didn’t make me instantly call Nabisco’s Customer Service line and demand the company bring blueberry Oreo cookies to the U.S. But these Blueberry Pie Oreo Cookies make me want to call the Nabisco Customer Service line and demand they never leave shelves or send me a signed letter from the current Mondelez CEO promising they’ll be back next year.

While I’ve never had a blueberry pie with a graham cracker crust, I’ve mostly had the lattice top ones depicted on the front of the packaging, this Oreo makes me pie-curious. Now I must try a blueberry pie with a graham cracker crust, because I think these are the best fruit-flavored Oreo cookies so far.

The slightly tart blueberry flavor reminds me of what I’d get from a blueberry pie, muffin, scone, or (insert baked good here). Good job, food scientists! The graham-flavored wafers do a great job of complementing the creme. They go together like Cagney & Lacey, Norm & Cliff, and Ren & Stimpy. The wafers don’t heavily dampen the creme’s flavor and there’s the same level of graham flavor as there would be a crust flavor in an actual blueberry pie. It’s a great combination and one that’s surprising because of my previous blueberry Oreo experience.

But there are two minor issues. Even though, these are wonderful cookies, the image of the lattice top pie on the packaging doesn’t represent what the cookies taste like. Also, these are currently available only at Target for a limited time. But again, minor issues.

Overall, I think these Limited Edition Blueberry Pie Oreo Cookies are good enough to make new Oreo flavor haters still hate new Oreo flavors. Yes, haters are going to still hate no matter what. But if you’re a fan of blueberry baked goods, I think you’ll love these.

(Nutrition Facts – 2 cookies – 140 calories, 60 calories from fat, 7 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 15 milligrams of potassium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and less than 1 gram of protein.)

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 10.7 oz.
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 9 out of 10
Pros: Blueberry flavor reminds me of baked goods. My favorite fruit-flavored Oreo cookie. Letting food scientists be creative. Creme and wafers are a great combination. Wafer doesn’t mute the creme’s flavor much.
Cons: Limited edition Oreo haters are gonna to hate these. Blueberry haters are gonna hate these. Limited edition. Available only at Target.

Just like the Earth is going to eventually run out of fossil fuels, Nabisco is going to run out of Oreo flavors. I’m no Oreologist, so I can’t estimate when that’ll happen, but unless Oreo starts going the salmon pâté route, they’re going to run out of ideas.

Every year for the past few years, Oreo has come out with around half a dozen new flavors, and that doesn’t even include brand spinoffs like Oreo Thins. It’s an impressive rate. The creators of these new Oreo varieties must be frantically working with natural and artificial flavors to keep up this pace. I’m talking as frantic as North Korean rocket scientists.

The latest flavor to come out of Nabisco’s DRPK (Development of Really Pleasurable Kookies) is the Limited Edition Strawberry Shortcake Oreo.

You might be thinking, “Isn’t strawberry shortcake a Valentine’s Day and Easter thing now and both holidays have passed.” Yeah, I know. But strawberry shortcake is like Tom Hanks. It can be whatever it wants to be.

At first, the cookies had an aroma that reminded me of the Strawberry Nesquik plume I accidentally inhaled after dumping a spoonful of the powder into a glass. But later sniffs had a more generic strawberry candy vibe.

If you go by what’s on the packaging, the sandwich cookie features a Pepto-Bismol-colored creme with, at first glance, what appears to be a Golden Oreo wafer. Unfortunately, the computer generated image on the package doesn’t accurately portray what the wafers look like in real life. They’re a bit more tanned and that’s probably due to the “graham flour” in it. Yes, it’s the same graham flour found in the S’mores and Key Lime Oreo wafers.

When eaten by themselves they do have a noticeable graham to them, but I’m not quite sure they’re the exact same ones because the other two proudly promoted the fact they had graham-flavored cookies and this flavor doesn’t.

As for the creme, I had a few ideas of how it would taste. After all, there have been almost enough strawberry-flavored Oreo varieties for Buzzfeed to create a listicle of them. There’s Strawberries ’n Creme, Strawberry Milkshake, and Berry Burst Ice Cream. However, after licking the creme, I wasn’t sure if it was from any of them.

It has an artificial, but pleasant and mild strawberry flavor with a hint tanginess. I also got a slight milkiness at the back end, which I guess could represent the whipped cream of a strawberry shortcake. Its flavor reminds me of a particular strawberry candy, but I can’t exactly put my tongue on it after a dozen licks.

As a whole, the creme goes nicely with the graham wafers, but these Limited Edition Strawberry Shortcake Oreo Cookies were a slight letdown. I mean, they’re not bad cookies by far. I enjoyed them and I think most of you would like them.

But the sandwich cookie doesn’t make me think of strawberry shortcake. The cookie has the strawberry part, it obviously has the short part, and it might even have the whipped cream part, but I’m not sure it has the cake part. When I think of strawberry shortcake, graham doesn’t come to mind. I know there are recipes out there that use a graham cracker crust, but does the strawberry shortcake image on the packaging look like it uses one? Maybe Golden Oreo wafers would’ve made more sense. But, again, I’m no Oreologist, so I don’t know if that would’ve made a difference.

(Nutrition Facts – 2 cookies – 150 calories, 60 calories from fat, 7 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 15 milligrams of potassium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, less than 1 gram of protein.)

Purchased Price: Purchased on eBay at a significantly higher price than retail
Size: 10.7 oz package
Purchased at: eBay (but it’s a Walmart exclusive)
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: A decent Oreo flavor. Strawberry creme has a slight tanginess and milkiness. Getting more use out of those graham flavored cookies. New Oreo varieties coming out at an impressive rate.
Cons: Doesn’t make me think of strawberry shortcake. Pepto-Bismol colored creme. Strawberry creme might be from a previous flavor. North Korean rocket scientist reference.

The year was 1922 when Sir Leonard Woolley began his excavation of the Mesopotamian city-state of Ur. It was here where he found a pair of dice dating back 4000 years, thus proving that humans have been degenerate gamblers since the ancients.

And it looks like Oreo is here to carry on the gambling legacy.

Indeed, diving headfirst into max-capacity, all-hands-on-deck lunacy, Oreo follows the shadow of its perfect cinnamon bun predecessor with a take on the original Hostess Cupcake, a nostalgic (if sometimes dry) packaged good with a highly specific flavor and repute of great renown.

No matter your thoughts on the Hostess chocolate cupcake itself, there’s no denying its very specific, mildly chocolate-y, super sweet, slightly preservative-twinged taste. To take on such a classic calls only the High Rollers to the gambling halls, but do you hear the wind? That’s the whisper of an Oreo accepting a challenge.

The chocolate cookies are of the classic disc form, providing the crisp, dark, earthy, almost French-roasted-coffee chocolate flavor that toes the line of sugary charcoal briquettes while still avoiding tasting like you’re gnawing on your grill grates.

The chocolate frosting is dark and sugary as well, but also slightly muted, like dark chocolate that got sent through the car wash. It wants to harken back to Brownie Batter Oreos, but lacks the same fudgy, dark chocolate pudding-like flavor. No biggie, though. It’s really just a protective circumference for the dollop of white frosting in the center.

Hyper-sweet like the classic, yet also gooier that regular Oreo creme, the cookie’s center dab of white floof strikes a special place between Betty Crocker Frosting and Toaster Strudel Decorative Icing. What’s more, its unobstructed sugar balances out the roasted dark chocolate cookie with a texture and flavor that revives the cookie from the dull chocolate frosting, harkening back to the contrasts that gave the original cookie its reputation: the bitter with the sweet. The crunchy with the creamy. The Surrealist experience with the Euclidean Geometry of cookie design. That’s real life mathematics.

For a company that’s constructed its status on how to eat sandwich cookies, these new biscuits present new horizons. Sure, you can still chomp, twist, nibble, and dunk, but you can also eat just the creamy white center separately. You can have the icing all in one go. You can twist and dip your cookie in the white floof like a nacho. You can stack, dissolve, crush, crumble, and cure the common cold. (This statement has not been approved by the FDA.)

What with their apparent skill at taking gambles, it’s a wonder that Oreo hasn’t launched a car line, lifestyle website, and competitive TV series. While some of Oreo’s efforts have seen immediate demise, this new spin does a moderately good job. The hyper-sweet frosting coupled with the surrounding dark chocolate harkens back to the flavors of its Hostess inspiration. Unfortunately, the humdrum chocolate frosting alongside the notably small number of cookies given in the limited time package mutes the experience a bit.

All in all, though, I can’t be too disappointed: the floof of white crème, crispy cookie, innovative construction, and capacity to be a massive Dunkaroo brings them up past Average to Enjoyable. They’re sugary, slightly chocolate-y, and do a respectable job at mirroring their inspiration. Heck, if you pay close attention, you can even taste the whisper of preservatives at the end. That’s detail.

(Nutrition Facts – 2 cookies – 140 calories, 60 calories from fat, 7 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 95 milligrams of cholesterol, 50 milligrams of sodium, 50 mg of potassium, 20 grams of carbohydrates, Less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 13 grams of sugar, and Less than 1 gram of protein.)

Item: Limited Edition Filled Cupcake Oreo Cookies
Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 10.7 oz package
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Crispy chocolate cookie. Floofy, sweet white frosting. Potential to be a massive Dunkaroo. Mimics Hostess Cupcake flavors well. Geometry in real life. Ancient Mesopotamian city-states.
Cons: Not much different than an original Oreo. Chocolate frosting got sent through the car wash. Package is significantly smaller than standard Oreos. Not yet proven to cure the common cold. Lifestyle websites.