REVIEW: Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Thin & Crispy White Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Thin Crispy White Chocolate Chip Cookies

As you can probably guess, Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Thin & Crispy White Chocolate Chip Cookies are just white chocolate chip cookies. No, reinvention of the snack wheel here.

But, these complete Pepperidge Farm’s Farmhouse chocolate chip cookie checklist. Well, unless there’s another chocolate I don’t know about. Last year, the brand introduced the line with milk, dark, and triple chocolate (milk, dark, and white) chips.

But now the bright white confection is getting a bright white spotlight with a cookie of its own. This is because Christmas and winter are coming up and companies love to use white chocolate this time of year because it’s snowman and Santa’s beard-colored.

If you’re wondering what’s the deal with the “Farmhouse” label, it’s Pepperidge Farm’s way of making products without unnecessary ingredients that you may not know how to pronounce or recreate in a lab. These have nine components: white chocolate, enriched wheat flour, butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, baking soda, vanilla extract, and salt.

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When I smell what’s in the bag, it’s as if I’m snorting a vanilla milkshake. While straws make it easy to do so, literally inhaling the dairy dessert through one’s nose isn’t pleasant, but the aroma that comes out of this bag is. Their delicious smell also translates into delicious cookies. The vanilla extract and brown sugar in the dough combined with the white chocolate creates a heavenly combination that pleased my taste buds.

Sometimes white chocolate can get cloying (I’m looking at you M&M’s), but I didn’t find that to be the case with the chunks in these treats. Because they’re thin and crispy, they have a nice crunch and crumbability. So eat them over a plate, the sink, or, do what I do, munch on them over the bag they came in so that the crumbs get collected, which I can use as a yogurt or ice cream topping. You know how some cuisines encourage eating every part of the animal? Well, I’m like that with cookies.

Look, I could end this review by writing, “Pepperidge Farm’s Farmhouse White Chocolate Chip Cookies are a great option for your kids to leave out for Santa.” But we have done the “leave out for Santa” thing way too many times on this site.

So I’m going to end with this: These are just white chocolate chip cookies. There’s nothing truly unique about them. But if you’re looking to get Santa-sized, these crunchy treats are a tasty way to do it.

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 6.9 oz.
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2 cookies) 150 calories, 8 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol, 150 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.

QUICK REVIEW: Limited Edition Snickers White (Japan)

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Limited Edition Snickers White 1

What is Snickers White?

I’m in Japan – the mecca of novelty junk food! Of course, I sought out some new and quirky offerings. The traditional Snickers candy bar gets a paler makeover with white chocolate coating and lighter nougat filling. When I spied these on the shelf, they seemed so familiar, but I hadn’t seen or tried them before.

How is it?

When I unwrapped the candy bar, I didn’t know whether to bite into it or spread it on my toast. It looked like a stick of butter.

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Once righted, I noticed the white chocolate coating was thin enough that I could make out individual nuts through it. ?
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The caramel and peanuts here are the familiar and delicious Snickers taste combo, but the nougat is different. It’s slightly lighter in color and taste. I couldn’t tell if it was vanilla flavored or just generic “sugar.” It faded away behind the caramel, peanuts and white chocolate. I’m usually a big nougat fan, so this was a bummer.

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The white chocolate in this candy bar was the dominant flavor, and very sweet. Cloyingly sweet to me. I found it a little off-putting. It also melted much quicker than the regular chocolate coating, so I ended up with white fingerprints all over my airline seat.

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Is there anything else you need to know?

Staging an impromptu Snickers bar photo session on a plane will most certainly garner odd looks from the stranger sitting next to you. Be warned.

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Conclusion:

Snickers White comes off as a too-sweet, washed out photocopy of an actual Snickers. Not as exciting as Snickers’

Purchased Price: 140 yen (approx. $1.24 US)
Size: 49 g bar
Purchased at: Family Mart, Shibuya, Tokyo
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per bar) 249 calories, 12.9 grams of fat, 4.9 grams of saturated fat, 280 milligrams of sodium, and 24.7 grams of sugar.

QUICK REVIEW: Sonic Fritos Chili Cheese Jr. Burger

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Sonic Fritos Chili Cheese Jr Burger

What is the Sonic Fritos Chili Cheese Jr. Burger?

Surely you’ve had a Sonic Jr. Burger at least once in your life, right? The Fritos Chili Cheese variation is precisely how it sounds: a small Sonic burger topped (or bottomed, I guess) with crunchy Fritos and mild chili, delicately ladled in a most un-Texas-like fashion for a moderately tasty burger.

How is it?

Growing up in the Lone Star State, just about every ballgame, birthday, and baptism had the opportunity to down a Frito pie or two. So it’s one of the rare things on this Earth that, sadly, I know all too intimately. And while yes, this is Sonic’s attempt to mimic it and call it its own, it isn’t quite there yet, at least when it comes to the whole burger thing.

Sonic Jr. burgers are always a delicious pick me up for just a couple of bites, and the Fritos and chili certainly don’t take anything away. But once you get a good look at how chintzy they are with the cheap chili con Fritos, you might ask why Sonic even bothered.

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Lightly dripped on the bottom bun with a small handful of Fritos, you’d do better to just order at Sonic Jr. Burger and go across the street to the convenience store and add a quarter bag of Fritos and some free cheese from the dispenser.

Is there anything else you need to know?

Even though the Sonic Fritos Chili Cheese Jr. Burger is a slightly delicious dud, the chain is also offering, for 99 cents each, a small Fritos Chili Pie and a Fritos Chili Cheese Jr. Wrap. While they look a bit more suitable for the Frito/chili/cheese product, due to their low price point, it’s probably more than likely they’ll have about as much junk (or lack thereof) as the burger.

Conclusion:

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For a $1.99, it’s mostly alright for the sparseness that you get. Sure, it’s something they’d kick you out of Texas for if the good ol’ boys in Austin ever find out, but until something with more Fritos and even more chili comes along, I guess it’ll have to do, partner.

Purchased Price: $1.99
Size: N/A
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: Not available at press time.

QUICK REVIEW: Lindt Limited Edition Snickerdoodle White Chocolate Truffles

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Lindt Limited Edition Snickerdoodle White Chocolate Truffles

What are Lindt Snickerdoodle White Chocolate Truffles?

In search of a seasonal treat that didn’t involve pumpkin, spices, peppermint, or any of the usual suspects, I came across Lindt’s Snickerdoodle White Chocolate Truffles. After years of spiced lattes and eggnog mochas, I’m ready for something different.

These truffles have a snickerdoodle-flavored white chocolate ganache center surrounded by a white chocolate shell with cookie inclusions.

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How are they?

Clearly, these won’t appeal to the white-chocolate-isn’t-really-chocolate-and-shouldn’t-exist crowd, but those grinches would probably object to snickerdoodle being called a seasonal flavor in the first place.

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Both the shell and center have a flavor reminiscent of speculoos cookies, which are like fancy European snickerdoodles made with brown sugar and spices. The cookie pieces remain crispy and add a bit of crunch, something I usually don’t care for in my chocolate. In this case, it brought to mind the eponymous cookie, so I didn’t mind.

Is there anything else you need to know?

Pro Tip: Maximize your enjoyment of these truffles by not munching down on them like they’re M&Ms. Pop one in and let your body heat melt the outer shell. By the time that happens, the ganache center will also have begun to melt, and then burst out in a flavor avalanche. Yes, I’ve put too much thought into this, but I’m serious about my chocolate.

Conclusion:

These truffles don’t taste like grandma’s snickerdoodles, which might disappoint some. Personally, I’ll take the deeper, more complex flavor of a speculoos over an ordinary snickerdoodle anytime. (Sorry, Grandma.)

Purchased Price: $4.49
Size: 6 oz. package
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (3 truffles) 220 calories, 17 grams of fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 35 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 15 grams of total sugars includes 12 grams of added sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

QUICK REVIEW: Hershey’s Milk Chocolate & Reese’s Pieces Bar

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Hershey s Milk Chocolate Reese s Pieces Bar

What is the Hershey’s Milk Chocolate & Reese’s Pieces Bar?

The love child of a Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar and Reese’s Pieces, or as the Hershey’s marketing folks put it “the ultimate celebration of the top two iconic chocolate franchises that will melt your heart to pieces for a once-in-a-lifetime epic treat.”

How is it?

Hershey s Milk Chocolate Reese s Pieces Bar 2

Based on the aforementioned tagline, I was fully prepared for a life-changing, out-of-body experience that I would eventually tell my grandchildren about. Sadly, the little yet-to-be-born rascals will instead have to listen to other stories, like the time I saw The Rock at the airport. But despite not quite living up to the WWE-style marketing hype, this is a tasty treat.

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The Reese’s Pieces stand out nicely from the milk chocolate and provide a solid crunch that is obviously absent from a plain chocolate bar. The candy also adds a light peanut butter flavor that complements the creamy chocolate perfectly without making you think you are just eating a flattened peanut butter cup.

Is there anything else you need to know?

Hershey s Milk Chocolate Reese s Pieces Bar 4

If the photos don’t give it away, the Reese’s Pieces are actually minis. There is also a king size version of this, but I didn’t have any luck finding it. If that one has a thicker bar with full-size Pieces, it might offer a bit more crunchiness. Also, whoever designed the wrapper apparently doesn’t believe in equality in the candy world, because the Hershey’s part covers much more than half.

Conclusion:

At first glance, I figured this wouldn’t be much different than just chucking some Reese’s Pieces in my mouth along with a bite of a Hershey’s bar, but having the Pieces embedded in the chocolate takes this to the next level. It might not be an epic candy creation — like Reese’s Pieces were — but it’s a nice change of pace from the standard chocolate bar.

Purchased Price: $1.29
Size: 1.55 oz. bar
Purchased at: Walgreens
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 bar) 220 calories, 12 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 66 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 25 grams of sugar and 3 grams of protein.

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