Oreo double post! Root Beer Float & Banana Split Oreo cookies!

Wait...TWO NEW FLAVORS OF OREOS?! Yup. And if the rumblings on the Internet are correct we could see another two or three flavors more before the end of the year. Well then, time to get to it, today we review the two newest flavors of Oreo cookies! 

I like root beer. I swear I do. I even enjoy a root beer float every now and then. You know what I don't like? Cookies that are supposed to taste like root beer floats. The last time I was presented with a root beer flavored cookie...well...I had to make an example of it. 

So when I heard Oreo was trying their hand at it, I sighed, lifted the FGFB Bat off it's stand, mounted above the fireplace and took some practice swings. I was fully expecting that these would be the next item to offend the snack world so bad that we would have to film another video. But are they that bad? Let's find out.

Ladies & Gents, I give you...

Limited Edition Root Beer Float Oreo cookies!

Irwin isn't too sure about these...

When you rip back the package to reveal the rows of cookies, you are instantly hit with a strange root beer smell. It's there but it's not overpowering. It was still enough for me to make a sound out loud that was somewhere between, "Ughhhh." and "Hmmm". I'm interested, but expecting to hate them. They went with the golden Oreos for the cookie part, a wise choice if you ask me. After passing one to everyone in the room, I decided it was time to dive in. I twisted the top off to get a good look at the creme, then put it back on and bit the thing in half.

They aren't terrible. Don't get me wrong, I don't really like them and I won't be buying another package, but they are nowhere near as bad as those Ice Cream Shoppe Chips Ahoy. They still definitely taste like Root Beer, but it's not as intense. I think they do a pretty good job of toning the flavor down, so that the creme ends up coming through a bit into you chewing the cookie and that's where the root beer flavor arrives. The next one I tried eating the creme first and that was more intense, but still not terrible. It's almost like root beer is a flavor that they just shouldn't try to put into cookie form. Some flavors just aren't. Then again, Oreo will do weird ass flavors like this but meanwhile I'm still waiting for my damn Coffee Oreos!

So the bottom line on these, is if you're a huge root beer fan, scoop up a bag and give them a try. If you like a root beer every now and then, and don't like weird fake root beer taste, maybe skip these. They aren't good, they aren't THAT bad, they are just a weird unnatural flavor. I'm giving these a C-(The Gentleman's D).

NEXT UP...Banana Split Oreos!

These bad boys were so elusive that we had to have them shipped in from New York City! (Thanks Hannah & John!) We had been getting a ton of emails and messages asking us if we were going to review them but after scouring every store in the area they were nowhere to be found. Luckily we have connections throughout the country who help us out when we run into items like this one. So the moment these arrived in the mail I ripped them open and started gobbling them down. For the review. Obviously.

The second you rip them open all you can smell is banana. So right off the bat I was expecting it to be a strong flavor. These had a great look though! Pink and Yellow frosting with one chocolate and one golden cookie. I'm guessing they are supposed to mimic the vanilla ice cream, and hot fudge, while the two colored cremes are supposed to be banana and strawberry. Yeah they look cool, but did they taste like a damn banana split?!

There's a good look at the Strawbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry creme. 

Well...yeah they do! At first the banana is hands down the strongest taste, but as you're eating it, and the two flavors of cookies meld together along with the two kinds of creme, it all adds up to a pretty damn solid banana split flavor. Maybe a little heavy on banana, but it's a unique flavor in a cookie like this so it isn't bad.
With a lot of Oreos I enjoy taking them apart and eating the individual pieces about half of the time. However, with these I found that they worked much better with all those flavors together. It really combines for an excellent banana split flavor. If I closed my eyes and tried hard enough, I could almost believe I had just spooned up a huge blob of ice cream and banana covered in hot fudge. Almost.

Banana creme, son!

I'm giving these limited edition Banana Split Oreos a B+. If you spot a package in the wild, scoop them up while you have the chance because these things seem hard as hell to find, and they are a unique Oreo flavor that is unlike any they have done in recent memory. We should know, we eat them all. With slightly less banana flavor I would instantly bump them up to an A. They look cool, they taste like what they are supposed to, and they are limited edition! That means they are very worth your hard earned cash.


As always feel free to drop us a line if you have an idea for a product or restaurant you would like us to review. You can reach us by email at fatguyfoodblog@gmail.com. Then if you're on Twitter, give us a follow for mini-reviews and other fun stuff. THEN, if you can't get enough, give our Facebook page a LIKE for updates whenever we post a new review, and some great food/snack news! See you next time!

Review by Rich

Kellog's Jif Peanut Butter Cereal!

If you've ever read a post here on Fatguyfoodblog, chances are you know that if there's one thing we love, it's peanut butter. We never stop running our mouths about whatever new snack has a peanut butter version, from Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Oreo's to Any new Ben & Jerry's that has a peanut butter swirl in it. Well when I heard that Kellogs was releasing a JIF cereal I practically sprinted out of my house and down the street like Forest Gump. 

That being said, when I got to the store they didn't have them. Nor did they have them in any other store in our area, until finally one day I got lucky. So here's our review of the new Jif Peanut Butter Cereal! 

First thing I noticed when I cracked that box open is the peanut buttery aroma that wafted out. Alright, Jif cereal, you've got my attention. The cereal pieces themselves are a little square with the center cut out. Nothing too special there. Of course I popped a few in my mouth to see how they were dry. Was I blown away? Not really. My first thought is that they kind of taste like the non-marshmallow pieces in Lucky Charms, but covered in a sweet powdery peanut butter flavor. Tasty, but nothing to write home about.

So I poured a bowl so big that would even make the Rock's eyes go wide on his epic cheat day, and added a healthy portion of milk. Now here is where Jif cereal really shines. When the milk and cereal meet, it really brings out the peanut butter flavor in the cereal. I like to think that powder coating on the cereal pieces mixes with the milk to make it seem almost like some of the cereal has actual peanut butter on it. Needless to say, I took down this giant bowl with great ease. For a few moments my legendary hunger for all things peanut butter was calmed. But when that time was up, I took a stroll to the kitchen for another bowl. Yep, it's that good.

In the end I would have to say if you're a peanut butter lover, there's no reason you shouldn't be running out to score a box of Jif cereal. It's decent to eat as a snack, dry, but man, when you add the milk it skyrockets to the front of the pack of peanut butter cereals. Is it as good as Cap'n Crunch's Peanut Butter Crunch? Reeses Puffs? I'm not sure where it lies in the list of peanut butter cereals because I didn't have them all on hand to try. I realize now that I have failed you as a food blogger as far as this goes. BUT, I'm still telling you this is a delicious peanut buttery cereal that you should probably jam your mouth full of, as soon as possible.
I give Jif Peanut Butter Cereal a solid A!

As always, if you would like to drop us a line about a product or restaurant you think we should review you can reach us by email at fatguyfoodblog@gmail.com . You can also follow us on Twitter for mini reviews and on location live tweeted restaurant reviews at twitter.com/fatguyfoodblog . THEN, if you really want to get connected to us, you can give our Facebook page a LIKE at facebook.com/fatguyfoodblog where we post fun things and let you know about new reviews. Do it. DO IT.

Review by Rich!

Hannahmax Baking presents: Cookie Chips!

I've never heard of Hannahmax baking before.

If you asked me what "hannah max" was, I'd guess either a disney cartoon superhero or a porn star. Well, it is the name of a facebook bot, so I was close. But no, apparently it's either a newer company who is starting out by selling "cookie chips," or they've existed forever (the bag says "since 1993") and they're really going for it with these. There's a link on their site to wholesale desserts that look amazing (that only restaurants can buy), but either the site is broken or they haven't gotten to that point yet, since no matter what I click, I was sent to cookie chips, cookie chips, cookie chips. Either way, I got ahold of the entire cookie chips line, and Hannahmax has certainly gotten off to a good start (or taken a step in the right direction after 21 years). 

Cinnamon Sugar, Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip, Original, and Sea Salted Peanut Butter. Time to eat some cookies. That are kind of like chips.

I started out with what I figured would be the worst one, Original. 

Opening up the bag, I realized that this company wasn't messing around. Dem some thin ass cookies!

I mean, they're so thin, they don't even look like cookies. They almost look like... I don't know, maybe.. chips?

actually, they look like round wheat thins, but "round cookie wheat thins" doesn't sound as good

I'm not a fan of crunchy cookies. Well, that's not true- Oreos. But other than that, I'd say 2 of my all time favorite cookies are Mrs. Field's white chocolate macadamia nut with frosting added to it (yes, you can do that- make sure they give you the light blue), or Au Bon Pain's oatmeal raison cookie. Both are soft and chewy. They're REAL cookies, cooked perfectly, not burnt into some weird cracker chip.

I mean, look at this thing held up to the light! It's practically see-through!

Well, I bit in and my first thought was that man, these were crunchy, and man these were thin. But then I got over myself and actually thought about what they tasted like, and sweet holy heavens, this stupid cracker/chip made of cookie tasted like a truly incredible cookie. 

Opening up the bag, I smelled a pretty strong smell that I could only describe as burnt butter, which actually, when you think about it, is exactly what you should smell when dealing with a product such as this. It's hard to describe the flavor of these. They're buttery and sweet but in a way that's different from most store bought cookies. I read the back of the packaging, and here's how it reads: "Pure brown sugar goodness fills every delicious bite.... we only use whole ingredients, just like you would if you baked them at home." "No trans fats, no preservatives, no GMOs, no artificial flavors or colors." "Ingredients such as milled cane sugar, creamery butter, whole eggs, & real vanilla."

And suddenly the odd taste made sense- these are what cookies taste like when you bake them from scratch. I've been buying pre-packaged cookies or the store bought kind that you just cut and put on a pan forever. There's nothing particularly special about these cookie chips- they just taste like what your mom would make if she had a really great recipe for cookies and actually made them from scratch. And then made them really thin and cooked them longer than normal.

I wonder what they'd taste like in chewy form, but these work really nicely as cookie chips. They're small, crunchy and are great as just a few or a handful of 10. They're not gimmicky, they're just really nice tasting cookies that I wanted to eat a whole bag of instantly. I have to give them an A.

Next up were chocolate chip, a flavor I assumed would only improve upon the already high mark of Original. 

Sadly, they didn't. I don't know what it was. I don't know if it's the chocolate chips being just dark or bittersweet enough that they make just enough of the sweet brown sugary flavor go away a little bit, or if these were actually made with a different mix. They're good, and they still manage to have a surprising amount of chocolate chips in them, especially for such a thin cookie. But they aren't on the same level as Original. There's just something not quite perfect about them. 

C.

Next up was Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip. 

These were definitely better than regular chocolate chip, but they were a little too dark chocolatey for my taste. If you're a dark chocolate fan though, these will probably be your favorite. Crunchy, just bitter enough dark chocolate with just enough chips. This flavor worked really well as a crunchy cookie too, maybe the best of the bunch.

B-.

Next up was one I was really excited about- Sea Salted Peanut Butter.

You never see sea salt in peanut butter stuff- it's always mixed with caramel. I was curious as to how this would work. 

There are big chunks of nuts in these. Well, as big as there could be.

But, sadly, no salt. 

Go back and look at the picture of the bag. I thought I'd be breaking my teeth over huge salt lick-level salt chunks. Nope! None to be found!

But that's ok- we still have peanut butter. Kind of. 

Yea, these were really disappointing. They kind of just taste like very slightly peanut butter flavored cookies with nuts, and that's not what anyone wants. You'll note there aren't any new peanut butters out there boasting "More nuts! Less flavor!" They have a slight saltiness to them, but I really honestly only noticed when I tried to taste it. I may have made it up.

I really wanted to like these, but they were the worst of the batch by far. In fact, I don't even care about eating more of them. To the free shelf they go.

D-.

Alright, so this review started out pretty glowingly positive, then sadly went downhill with some surprisingly subpar cookies. Could the last kind save it? These were the other ones I was most excited to try: Cinnamon Sugar. 2 things I love.

These did not disappoint. 

Look at that sugar!

These were exactly what I wanted them to be. They have a solid cinnamon taste that isn't too strong, and they are COVERED in cinnamon sugar, giving you that perfect mix of sting, sweet, and buttery cookie chip goodness. These were the first to go in our house, and I'm still sad about it.

A.

So there's not much more to say about cookie chips. You could just say they're really thin cookies, but that'd be selling them short. The just ok ones were still neat because of their snackability (putting them in a bag helps too), and the good ones were so good that they could come in any form and I'd want them. The Cinnamon Sugar cookies made me think of my Grandmother's Christmas cookies I'd get excited for every year. And really, all of these remind me a bit of those cookies. Hannahmax has managed to make me demolish cookies and at the same time, miss my Grandma. Well done.

They look great as a platter too, even if you feel that you've eaten too many and decide to take the picture with halves. 

I think I ate 3 more after taking this pic

These are in some stores, (Whole Foods is the only one I've even heard of, so we may be out of luck in the northeast if they aren't there), but you can buy them online too. The minimum you can buy is a 4 pack of 6 oz bags for $23.96, and you can only buy 4 of the same or a mixed pack of 4 or 5 (the 4 pack excludes chocolate- racist much?), so options are pretty limited, but hopefully they'll expand and let you buy single packs soon. If you're curious about these, your best bet is the 5 pack of every bag for $29.95 (all of these prices include shipping), or, if you want to take my word for it, just buy a 4 pack of Original or Cinnamon Sugar. I thought these would be pretty plain and would get old after I got tired of making jokes about how these are cookies, but like, cookies in chip form- but I was wrong. I already wish I had more Cinnamon Sugar and I think I may just finish off the Original when I get home. And I will absolutely be buying more of these.

Recap: 

Original: A

Chocolate Chip: C

Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip: B-

Sea Salted Peanut Butter: D-

Cinnamon Sugar: A

-review by Mike