A Plethora of Snacks Part II: This Time It's Christmas

Without a doubt, I have problems with impulse control. (I mean, how else would you explain that title?) In October I purchased nearly $70 worth of groceries at Target all because they were special for Halloween. Well, now December has rolled around and all of those Halloween treats are gone...replaced with special Winter/Christmas treats. Yeah, I lost all self control again as I began to pile goodies in my cart just because they were labelled "Limited Time Only". (Actually, I showed great restraint as I only spent about $20 as opposed to nearly $100 in October.)

So anyway, here's my thoughts on what I purchased.

Market Pantry Gingerbread Cheesecake Sandwich Cookies
I was excited about these because they looked like the Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake cookies that I bought in October. However, they are not good. The gingerbread flavor is so intense that it burned my mouth. I like gingerbread cookies, and even gingersnaps, but every gingerbread cookie I've ever had has been much sweeter than this one. The cheesecake creme in the middle was really good, tasting almost exactly like it did in the pumpkin spice cookie. But the gingerbread was just too much. After one cookie, my mouth tingled for about fifteen minutes after eating it. That's the kind of reaction you expect when you eat a sliver of ginger on your sushi but not when you eat a cookie. If they weren't spicy, I'd like these but for now, I doubt I'll ever buy them again.


Hot Cocoa Chocolaty Cereal Bars
I'm having a hard time explaining these, mostly because I only got to try one before Mrs. Idiot ate the rest of the box. They're really good; so soft and chewy and very tasty. The chocolate flavor isn't overwhelming. It may look like the flavor is intense but it's actually quite mellow. The bar itself is filled with a vanilla creme, adding another layer of taste to them. What I like best about these is that you can eat them as a breakfast replacement or just as a snack between meals.

Angie's Holidrizzle Iced Gingerbread Kettle Corn
Angie goes far beyond standard kettle corn with the Holidrizzle line. At first glance, it looks like regular kettle corn punched up a little with some cinnamon. The first taste seemed to confirm that. However as you keep eating, it gets to be more delicious. The ginger is subtle, coming in the form of the aftertaste as opposed to kicking you in the tongue like the Gingerbread cheesecake sandwich cookies.

But my favorite part of the kettle corn is the drizzle. There is a thin sprinkling of white chocolate all over the popcorn. The stuff isn't drowned in it but there's enough to provide your mouth a cooling sensation when you find it. The white chocolate adds an entirely new level of flavor to the kettle corn, elevating it far beyond your regular junk food fare. This is the kind of snack you want in a bowl at your next Christmas party. I guarantee you people will be all over it.

Candy Cane Oreo Cookies
I love Oreos but I didn't expect to like these all that much. After trying the first one I was happy to find that they are surprisingly good. I like the presentation of the dual-colored cream, red and white, giving the visual impression of a candy cane. They split it in half so it's not striped like a true candy cane but whatever. It's still a nice touch. The cream is mint-flavored with just the right intensity; it's not so powerful that it tastes like you're eating toothpaste while not weak enough to be barely noticeable. It adds a refreshing kick to each bite and meshes well with the chocolate cookie. Overall, these are some great cookies and I would probably rank them even higher that October's Candy Corn variety.

Market Pantry Candy Cane Milk Chocolate Covered Sandwich Cookies
I was going to group this item in with the other Market Pantry stuff but it seems better off after the Oreos. After all, they are just Oreo cookies covered in chocolate and topped with crushed candy canes. Does that sound good to you? It should because they are. I've had chocolate covered Oreo cookies before so this really wasn't anything new to me but they are absolutely amazing. I can really only say two bad things about them: first, they are so ridiculously sweet that it's hard to eat more than two in a sitting (which probably isn't a bad thing) and two, there's only 10 cookies in the box. But yeah, if you see these on the shelf, grab a box. You'll be happy you did.

Sugar Cookie Flavored Peeps
These are just not good. Unlike the Chocolate Covered, Mint-Flavored Christmas Tree, these just have no real discernible flavor to them. You can kinda tell that they taste a little different from a standard marshmallow Peep, but it's barely noticeable. And it's not good either. What little flavor it does have is so synthetic that it's just not enjoyable. If it wasn't for the chocolate-dipped bottom portion, 2 out of 3 of these little bastards would have just gone right into the trash.