Yum! This week I’ve been munching on 4 of the 9 different varieties of the new line of Whole Foods Market cookies. What a treat! They are small enough that you can indulge a little, but packed with enough flavor to satisfy your sweet tooth. Sweets and desserts are some of the biggest battles in my home. I have a huge sweet tooth, I’m not going to lie. Unfortunately my daughter has inherited that tooth. I try to find items that she will enjoy as an occasional treat or dessert, yet not contain too much sugar. Even more difficult is to find sweets that won’t contain some of the other hidden culprits: artificial sweeteners, corn syrup, GMOs, dyes, etc. I do not want to deprive her (nor myself), so I do my best to teach her about moderation and the effects of sugar and other harmful ingredients. These cookies are a great option! They are all natural and contain no trans fat. They are also made with non-gmo unbleached flour, regular cane sugar, natural coloring and flavors, even an organic soy lecithin emulsifier is used. Depending on the variety, a serving size (3-5 cookies) contains anywhere from 6-11 grams of sugar. I can deal with that. My “little” is perfectly happy with 2 cookies….I tend to crave the third. With 9 varieties to choose from, there is definitely something available for everyone. So, I sat down after dinner with my daughter, hubby, and mom who was in town this week, and took tasting notes as we each sampled all four of the cookie flavors below:
First up: Oatmeal Raisin Crisp – 4 cookies contain 140 calories and 7 grams of sugar. You’ll get 1-2 raisins per cookie, which is perfect for the size. (Each cookie is a little bigger than a silver dollar.) My mom and the hubbs agreed that this was their absolute favorite flavor of the bunch. I’m a chocolate fan, but I have to agree that this might very well be one of the best tasting oatmeal raisin crispy cookies I’ve had. The “little” thought they were pretty good too. They had a nice cinnamon/nutmeg kick to them that blended perfectly with the oats and raisins.
Second: Meyer Lemon Chocolate – 5 cookies contain 150 calories and 6 grams of sugar. The cookies are topped with a light dust of powdered sugar and chocolate drizzle. I am not a fan of lemon in my dessert at all, but mom and hubbs are and well, the chocolate helped. Mom and hubbs were a little disappointed. Hubbs thought they tasted like grass. I can sort of agree. However, the “little” loved the taste. She said it was lemony and her 2nd favorite of the bunch. 😉
Third: Dark Chocolate Almond – 4 cookies contain 130 calories and 11 grams of sugar. For being little cookies, they sure gave them some big chocolate chunks…and I’m not complaining! The dark chocolate is light, not too dark or bitter. Everyone agreed that the chocolate overpowered the almond taste though, but again, I’m not complaining. Hubbs and mom thought they were ok, but not memorable. They were my favorite and my daughter agreed that they were pretty good. What a great alternative these are for popular conventional brands of chocolate chip cookies.
Last, but not least: Caramel Chocolate Chunk – 3 cookies contain 130 calories and 11 grams of sugar. This cookie reminded me of a Chips Ahoy. While it was definitely good, and bigger in size than all the others, the chocolate overpowered the caramel taste. The result was a great chocolate chip cookie taste. This was my daughter’s favorite of them all. It came in a close second for me. Hubbs and mom were a little disappointed as they are both caramel fans but agreed that it was still a good cookie.
While opinions and personal taste are going to differ, we all agreed that we were pretty impressed with all four varieties of the cookies. Whole Foods Market has done a great job, once again, of offering a healthier alternative for the whole family to enjoy. Best part of all, they are definitely affordable at $3.69 a tub! ENJOY!
Other flavors include: Sweet Ginger Snap, Classic Chocolate Chip, Classic Almond Windmill, Caramel Corn, and Raspberry Thumbprint.
The Little Green Playpen 