Halloween Treats: Cookie Sandwich Co.

The Cookie Sandwich Company sent me five of the eight flavors they currently have on their website.  Seven of these are continuous flavors and one, Spooky” is for Halloween and this become our first Challenger in the “Baked Treats” category for the haunted holiday.  The company is offering you, Sisters and Brothers, a 20% discount if you type in coupon code “tcp20” on your order and place it by October 23, 2009.  Now let’s see if these are cookies you should be ordering for Halloween or any other occasion.

All of them are approximately 2.5 inches in diameter, about 1.6 thick 0.5 of that as the filling center.  Sadly I don’t think my photographs will do them full justice but I hope they help.  A dozen cookies in total came in this box packed inside another box with some Styrofoam peanuts that I can take to a mailing center not far from me to reuse.  There were three Spooky, Red Velvet cookies, and Peanut Butter types with two of the strawberry shortbread and one mint brownie variety.  Each was slipped inside a plastic bag and sealed with a simple paper label with their name.  No nutritional information was included but on the website I found the list of ingredients for each type I was sent, each has something chocolate in it either the cookie itself or in the filling.  None of the ingredients are artificial though there is food coloring in the Spooky and Red Velvet variety.  My initial thought, Sisters and Brothers, was “How the heck do I get one of these into my mouth to take a bite?”

On the website, the Spooky Cookie is supposed to have sprinkles on the frosting’s edges but mind didn’t for some reason.  In terms of flavor they should add more sugar and of course the an extra texture as you chew.  Without them, the cookie’s filling is light orange from food dye sandwiched between two cocoa cookies that smell a bit like brownies.  Inside the filling are visible semi-sweet chips that add a touch of bitterness to the otherwise sugary and creamy filling.  Also there is a light pumpkin spice that builds up with each bite but never outweighs the chocolaty sweet essence of this treat.

The Red Velvet cookie sandwich is the second cookie with a food coloring but this is to be expected if you know anything about the cake this is named for.  The question for me, Sisters and Brothers, is very simple: Do the chocolate and other flavors overcome the taste of the dye?  The ingredients list two types of chocolate in this treat.  The first is white chocolate chips that I see in the cookie itself and the second is cocoa.  The scent is what I’d hope from a red velvet cake: simply cake without the dye.  In the first bite I can taste the sugar, cream, and white chocolate, no dye and but no cocoa either meaning that those two flavors are balancing each other to the point of cancellation.  Perhaps someone can explain it to me but I’ve never understood the point of adding this much dye to a chocolate cake.  That said, for red velvet anything, I’m pleased if I can’t taste the dye and the chips add that necessary chocolate component.

The Mint Brownies is the only one of the five flavors of cookies sandwiches The Chocolate Cult received that has nuts in it so unlike the others, I won’t be getting second opinions from the Milk Chocolate Acolyte on them.  Like the Spooky variety this smells like chocolate brownie but this has a light green colored center that must be from the crème de menthe only since no coloring is listed in the ingredients.  Inside that green I can see what should be semi-sweet chocolate chips.  With the very first bite the coolness of the mint floods my mouth but quickly it is followed by the cocoa of the cookie and the slight bitterness of the chips.  It all blends well leaving a nice, crisp aftertaste that makes me desire more.  In the second bite I can sense out the walnuts in both texture and crunch as well as their earthy added flavor.  I think I like this cookie the best of the bunch.

The Peanut Butter cookies smell almost exactly like the last cookies of this flavor we made in my house late last spring.  The filling is a pale tan color and has some semi-sweet chips in it but I can’t taste those much as I chew each bite.  I can feel the oats as I chew and the principal essence is really peanut butter followed by cream, sugar and butter.  Not really enough chocolate to satisfy that cocoa craving but a good cookie nonetheless.

The Strawberry Shortcake type smells like sugar cookies and I can see grains of sugar on the cookie parts.  Cutting it open, I can see red flecks in the center which is a strawberry cream cheese flavor.  When I take a bite and chew, the fruit’s sweetness overcomes the cream cheese’s sourness just a touch.  In the sugar cookie I can feel and taste the white chocolate chips.  With white chocolate I expect a smooth flavor that helps highlight other flavors or calm them down.  This is exactly the purpose the chips seem to serve in these cookies.  The end result is a fruity, sweet cookie that isn’t too sugary. 

All of these cookies from the Cookie Sandwich Company were exactly as advertised and each had excellent flavors and textures to offer me.  Remember, if these cookie sandwiches sound good to you, you can use the 20% discount by typing in coupon code “tcp20” on your order and placing it by October 23, 2009.

Sisters and Brothers, may you too take the time to slowly appreciate what the Divine and human ingenuity have offered you in chocolate.