Snack Review: Whole Foods Gigantic Cookie Sandwiches
Those of you who, like me, are ancient kids of the early ’90s, may remember a toy called the Dr. Dreadful Laboratory. The commercial featured a wild-haired scientist-type touting goodies that “look gross but taste great!” Why anyone would take slimy, cockroach-shaped gummis from a mad scientist is beyond me – yet, I ended up begging my mom for one of the good doctor’s gummi labs. While concocting the candy was fun enough, I found most of it tasted only marginally better than it looked.
What dredged this memory from the annals of my subconscious was my discovery a few days ago of a sort of reverse-Dr. Dreadful Laboratory. At Whole Foods, undoubted champion in the battle of the overpriced grocery stores, I came across a slew of gigantic store-made cookie sandwiches. They looked great, but tasted gross!
With one glance I internally drooled in anticipation. Not only are these babies between four and six ounces apiece, each is ornately designed. The baking/marketing masterminds at Whole Foods know their stuff – a well-placed swirl or flourish can do wonders to entice the unwitting consumer. Anyway, a few minutes and ten-odd dollars later, I was out the door with a bag of four oversize, temptingly-named (Dulce de Leche! White Chocolate Hazelnut! PB-Chocolate Ganache! Chocolate Star!) treats.
I hadn’t eaten all day, so my hunger-induced poor judgment led me to make a dinner of my cookies. They looked fantastic and were convenient, plus I know I’d never have room for them after a meal. Thus, upon my arrival home, I tore open the cookies’ wrappers and began my feast. First up was the Dulce de Leche. I found the caramel center of this cookie sandwich decent, if a bit too sweet. Thankfully, it made up 70% of the cookie, because the coconut-meringue encasement was not my cup of tea.
I reasoned the cookies would get better, and if the Dulce de Leche was the worst of the lot, Whole Foods was doing fairly well. I was wrong. When all was said and done, I actually found the Dulce to be the best of the bunch. All of the cookies in my selection of sandwiches suffered from dryness, and all but the peanut butter cookies in the PB Chocolate Ganache sandwich were hard. This might be fine for snackers who prefer a crunchier cookie, but I love the old-fashioned goodness of soft-baked. The Chocolate Star, easily the worst sandwich tasted, featured chalky cookies tasting of sawdust, surrounding an unfamiliar jam with an alien floral scent. The White Chocolate Hazelnut was pasty and unmemorable.
It’s unclear whether these gigantic cookie sandwiches are made in-store or mass-produced in a factory. If they’re made in-store, my experience may have been uncommon. I could have unwittingly purchased day-old cookies, denying me the pleasure of the usual fresh-from-the-oven gourmet goodies. However, I did not enjoy my experience with Whole Foods gigantic cookie sandwiches. From personal experience, I’d say save your money and buy a Dr. Dreadful lab. At least then you won’t be fooled by appearances.
4 Comments
Alley on August 5th, 2008
Whole Foods is a great store, but they can’t get their desserts right. The bakery department is dead to me.
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I E on August 4th, 2008
Thanks! I’ll know to avoid these if I see them at Whole Foods