Strawberry Shortcake Oreo Cookies!

Listen, at this point, nobody out there is surprised to see another Oreo review from the gang at Fatguyfoodblog. At this point we have reviewed so many that we have to review ALL of them. But after my last review I saw something online and I vowed to talk about it before the next Oreo review. So here we go. 

You know what I noticed looking at other folks on the internet reviewing new flavors of Oreo Cookies? Complaining! Not reviewing. We all know they can't all be a home run. No, no, this was complaining that Oreo does all these wild flavors and it's pleading with them to stick to the original and that's it. To those folks, I say this: STOP WRITING A FOOD BLOG THAT REVIEWS JUNK FOOD! You don't deserve it! You should praise innovation and risk taking! In a world full of the same old crap, one cookie company wants to try something new every damn time you turn around, and you're going to complain about it? WEAK. You'll never hear that crap from us. That's what makes us the greatest food blog on the planet. 

Luckily the folks at Nabisco don't listen to the haters. Instead they are probably over at their head offices like:

Then they release another wild flavor and go back to dancing. Here's what they are throwing at us for the beginning of summer 2016! Strawberry Shortcake Oreo cookies! I can't believe they haven't done this one sooner. A classic summer dessert now reimagined as a sandwich cookie. But does it deliver the promised flavor, like the Cinnamon Bun Oreos, or do they fall flat like the Fruit Punch Oreos?

I was expecting these to be very similar to the Strawberries n' Creme Oreos that came out back in 2013, but from the moment I ripped open the package and the aroma of them filled the air, I knew they were going to be different. It was a pleasant, sweet, fake strawberry flavor and within minutes it was like I just lit up a giant Strawberry Yankee Candle because the entire room was bathed in it.

Before I even take a bite I'm taking away points for one little oversight. The package isn't resealable. In this day and age that blows my mind. For those of us who try not to destroy a whole package of Oreos in one night, well, this puts us in a spot. Because on one hand, I like to enjoy them a couple at a time here and there. If I can't reseal the package, I'm looking at a couple of days tops from when I open them to when they are stale as crap. Therefore, it forces me to have to eat way more than I want. Even though I do really want to, when it comes down to it. But still. I expect this kind of thing from Keebler, but not you, Nabisco.

 But the cookies themselves? They are great! The strawberry creme in the middle is fruity but not tart. It's sweet strawberry frosting sandwiched between two golden-ish Oreos. My brain tells me they taste slightly of angel food cake, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. My brain cannot be trusted here. The strawberry creme and cookie combination is fantastic and when I ask myself if they nailed the flavor as I'm eating one of these, I lean towards yes. But the only downside is that one of the best part of having a real Strawberry Shortcake is how fresh it tastes. Fresh berries all sliced up, with whipped cream on top of fluffy fresh angel food cake. It's one of those desserts that you eat and it reminds you that every dessert doesn't have to just be chocolate/caramel/peanutbutter/ sugar blasts. Some can have fruit! So damn fresh! Unless you are a white trash monster who uses frozen strawberries.  In that case, you might as well just deep fry it all.  But that's really the only downside here.

Here's an awkward picture of me holding out a mangled cookie. Just because. 

In the end, I give these a solid B! For a fruity summer offering, I think the Oreo wizards did a great job this time around. They capture a tasty fake version of a beloved summertime dessert. Chalk another win up to these guys! The hilarious part is that there are new flavors being released in a month! So we can't even joke about how soon we'll get new Oreo cookies because it's already happening! Fruity Crisp and Blueberry Pie! As soon as we get our grubby mitts on them, expect to see a review!

Review by Rich Brunelle, who currently resides in a pile of homeless people called Seattle.

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Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter & Cookies!

Every time I start thinking it's been a while since I've seen a new Ben & Jerry's flavor, I end up looking in the freezer section the next time I'm in a supermarket and end up finding one. That's exactly what happened with their new limited batch, Peanut Butter & Cookies. I had just gotten done talking to one of the fellow writers of this very website when this one jumped out at me and you can bet I bought it without a second thought! 

Sounds so good, right?

Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter & Cookies boasts Sweet Cream Ice cream with chocolate sandwich cookies and a crunchy peanut butter swirl. So basically, everything awesome that you could ever want in an ice cream, right? Alright, maybe not EVERYTHING. But still. Sounds pretty solid! If it's half as good as Milk & Cookies it will be a home run for sure! (If you've never tried Milk & Cookies, take a quick look at this review from the FGFB archives by our ex-writer Mike. God bless his poor soul.) 

After peeling the lid off, things were looking good. It definitely looked like Milk & Cookies, but with some peanut butter swirls. The best part of Milk & Cookies is that there was no bite that was just ice cream. Every single inch of that ice cream was loaded with cookie crumbs. This looked the same!

Looks like I'm trying to sip it like fine wine. 

You can almost see the wonder in my eyes. I was so sure that this was going to be incredible. Everything my cookie and peanut butter loving brain could ever want. But, alas, I was wrong. Peanut Butter & Cookies was actually not that good at all. What was the problem? The "chocolate sandwich cookies", that's what. The actual ice cream was okay and the crunchy peanut butter swirl was tasty and added a nice crunch here and there, as well as some saltiness to battle against the sweet. But those cookies are TERRIBLE. I literally unearthed an entire cookie in the middle of this pint. It hadn't been smashed or shredded or anything. The entire thing was there like some Mayan artifact dug up by a gang of thieves in the jungle. I stared at it in awe but when I spooned it into my mouth I might as well have popped a cleverly disguised piece of cardboard in there instead. Bland. Barely any taste at all. Then I realized that all the cookie pieces were like this.  Those cookie pieces that are in every single bite.

If you look back through our history with Ben & Jerry's flavors, there are very few that we've ever given bad reviews. We love those guys. But this time there's no saving it. I, for one, am happy this is a limited batch because it doesn't deserve to stick around. I would say bypass giving this one a try and grab up one of your old favorites instead, like Chubby Hubby, or Phish Food! Otherwise you're going to get a generic sweet ice cream with salty peanut butter swirls and big gobs of tasteless fake cookies.
Hey Ben, Jerry, I know you're trying to save a few bucks on ingredients and all, but I know some guys over at Nabisco who do a pretty good chocolate sandwich cookie. Perhaps you should team up!

Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter & Cookies: D-

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Review by Rich Brunelle, who currently resides on the West Coast, until Mt. St. Helens decides to erupt and set off a chain reaction that dumps the entire left side of the country into the ocean.

Ben and Jerry's Limited Batch: New Belgium Salted Caramel Brown-ie Ale ice cream!

It's been a while since we've been able to get our hands on a limited batch Ben & Jerry's. So long, in fact that when I saw this one in the freezer section I plucked it out so fast that I hadn't even really registered what it was. "SALTED CARAMEL BROWNIE....Wait...BROWN-IE...ALE?" Yep. This is the latest from those insane flavor wizards in Vermont and this just might be THE weirdest flavor they have ever done. But is it good weird, or bad weird? Let's find out. Ladies and Gents, I give you, The Ben and Jerry's New Belgium Salted Caramel Brown-ie Ale ice cream! 

There's a lot going on with this label. Soak it all in. BEER ICE CREAM. 

The idea of beer flavored ice cream is not one that excited me at first. I just couldn't imagine a way that it could be good. I've never taken a sip of a beer and said to myself, "Damn, imagine if there was ice cream flavored like this?" It's just unnatural. But I guess that's what makes ol' Ben and Jerry special because they know how to think outside the box. So they teamed up with Colorado based New Belgium Brewing and created one of the weirdest ice creams ever. This has New Belgium Brown Ale ice cream with fudge brownies and salted caramel swirls. There's a lot going on here and I have to tell you...it's pretty damn good. 

Irwin was unsure about it, but in the end he wanted to taste that caramel swirl. 

 When you first taste the ice cream you really don't taste much of the beer flavor. But a few moments later it hits you as a pleasant aftertaste. Seriously, it's great. Just tasting the ice cream part, it's basically what I would imagine a beer ice cream float would be like. I know people do this, but I have not had a chance to try it so this is a foreign concept to me. Right off the bat I was sold on at least the ice cream itself. Like sweet beer you eat with a spoon! I think this was a great way to do this ice cream because I think beer lovers will enjoy the flavor, but I don't think it's so strong that if you don't enjoy the flavor of beer, you might still REALLY like it.

 The Brownie chunks are nothing special. They are those weird, fake, tiny brownie rectangles that you can find in other Ben and Jerry's ice creams.  More like little chewy blobs. But the real star of this show is the Salted Caramel Swirls. Notice that it's "Swirls", plural. Because this ice cream is LOADED with gooey liquid caramel with that noticeable salty tang. Some parts had such massive deposits of it that I had to put some back otherwise entire spoonfuls would have been just that.  Yup, this isn't one of those ice creams that hold back on the ingredients, there's a bounty of brownie chunks and salted caramel to be found in here!

FYI: That caramel goes alllll the way down. 

I gotta say, every time I doubt Ben & Jerry's, they somehow blow my mind. I would have liked to have other pictures to go along with this review, but to be honest, I was so into it that the second time I sat down with this pint I finished it off and never looked back. It's that's good! That's why I'm giving it an A! I was weirdest out at the thought of it, but it ends up being a very complex, multi flavored medley that works on every level. I bow to the greater wisdom of the Ben and Jerry's flavor wizards.

Now for those of you who ARE into beer, don't forget the flip side of this! New Belgium actually made the beer version!

This team up between the two companies was to help raise awareness of climate change among the snow sports community through an organization called Protect Our Winters. Sounds like a worthy cause and just shows how awesome both of these companies are. Trying to make the world a better place while taking our taste buds on one hell of a ride. You can bet that the second I spot New Belgium Salted Caramel Brownie Brown Ale, I'll be picking up a six pack. How could I not?

To keep an eye on what Ben & Jerry have going on, check out their: website: http://www.benjerry.com/
And for you beer fans, don't forget to visit New Belgium online: http://www.newbelgium.com/

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REVIEW BY RICH!