Only the dedicated food scientists at Nabisco could create a chocolate and cream cookie that tastes slightly different from another chocolate and cream cookie. Or maybe a cupcake? It’s hard to say.
Originally published 3/17/2016
In this video cautionary tale about shaving completely just before recording a Snacktaku review, unaware that you’ve cut yourself twice and also look like a mutant without facial hair, we explore the laziest variation on the Oreo theme in ages.
Oreos are chocolate cookies with white cream (or creme) in the center. Filled cupcakes, at least the ones Nabisco is trying to channel here, are chocolate cake filled with white cream (or creme.) I appreciate the swirl of chocolate frosting on the package, but we all know what they really mean when they’re talking about filled cupcakes.
Hostess’ iconic filled cupcakes were the target here, which is both a pity and a missed opportunity on Nabisco’s part. The joy of going to a real cupcake bakery is spending a half-hour trying to decide which of the combinations of cream and frosting you’d like to put in your mouth. When I think filled cupcakes, I’m thinking a wide variety of colors and flavors. When Nabisco thinks filled cupcakes, they’re thinking lowest common denominator.
I am impressed at how much different the Filled Cupcake Oreo tastes compared to the traditional cookie. The white island in the cream packs a strong vanilla flavor that serves as a bright counterpunch to what otherwise may have been overwhelming chocolate.
That said, the whole thing winds up tasting like a bowl of milky Cocoa Puffs. You know, after the milk has turned chocolaty? That’s the overall effect. Oddly enough it tastes a bit more like a traditional Oreo when dunked in milk..
Filled Cupcake Oreos would have worked much better with a different flavor of cupcake. Or many different flavors of cupcake. Imagine opening up a pack of Oreos to find a colorful assortment of creme and cookie combinations staring back at you with their beady little cookie eyes. That would be glorious. Also, creepy.
In closing, I am never allowed to shave again.
Snacktaku is Kotaku’s take on the wild and wonderful world of eating things, but not eating meals. Eating meals is for those with too much time on their hands.