Candy Geek

When you have a craving for Girl Scouts cookies, but they’re hard to come by, is there a substitute that’s almost as good? One of my favorite foods in the world is Girl Scouts Caramel Delites, also known as Samoas (depending on where you live). But of course you can’t just go to Walmart and buy Girl Scouts cookies whenever you want. So I tried out these copycat alternatives: Caramel Coconut & Fudge Cookies from Great Value (Walmart’s generic brand) and Keebler Coconut Dreams.

I ended up getting these a while ago when I was looking for the BTS Oreos, and Walmart didn’t have them yet, so I picked these up instead. Then I got busy trying other things (including the BTS Oreos, when I did get them). I know I’ve had one of these before, but it was years ago, and I’m not sure which one it was.

So how do these two compare to each other (and to the Girl Scouts cookies)? Both packages have 18 cookies and cost about $3. The fudge stripes are a lot thicker on the Keebler cookies (bottom row in my picture), but I’m not sure that it affects the taste. The Keebler cookies are softer than Great Value. But for me, the Great Value cookies are the winner — they have an amazing, chewy caramel-coconut taste, a lot like the real Caramel Delites.

I didn’t notice until the third day of eating these that the Keebler cookies don’t have caramel in them! So that’s probably why the Great Value cookies taste closer to Girl Scouts Caramel Delites. Although they’re close, they don’t have as much caramel as the Girl Scouts cookies. It’s been a few years since I’ve had Caramel Delites, but I remember them being pretty gooey!

The Great Value cookies get a 9.5/10 from me, while Keebler gets 8.5/10. My son prefers Keebler, as you can see in the video, but I don’t think he’s ever had the real Caramel Delites!

I’d say either brand would be a very acceptable alternative to Girl Scouts Caramel Delites, but the Great Value cookies are the closest match. They may not be quite as good, but they’re still delicious if you can’t get your hands on the real thing.

I’ve come across a few variations of these Cookie Dough Bites by the brand Taste of Nature. I tried and reviewed Birthday Cake Cookie Dough Bites a few weeks ago, and they were good (9.5/10).

These Red Velvet Cookie Dough Bites definitely aren’t as impressive. The red velvet flavor just isn’t good. It’s pretty artificial tasting and doesn’t taste much like red velvet. The cookie dough flavor underneath is still tasty, though. Only the coating is red velvet, and inside it’s all cookie dough. I give it a 5/10 because of the cookie dough taste.

So I don’t recommend these. I would recommend the original Chocolate Chip flavor (which you can get at Walmart for just $1) or Birthday Cake flavor (which you can find at Five Below) instead. There are several other flavors that I haven’t tried: Peanut Butter, Strawberry, Cookies and Cream, S’mores, Fudge Brownie, Cinnamon Bun, Caramel, and Mint Chocolate Chip. Have you tried any flavors of these Cookie Dough Bites?

Have you ever heard of the BarNone candy bar? I hadn’t until recently, but I’m glad I tried it. I think the wafer is what drew me in… like a KitKat with peanuts? It turns out that it’s not actually much like a KitKat, but it’s good in its own way.

It’s light and airy, which I wasn’t really a fan of. I wanted it to have a bit more substance. But I did not expect it to be so amazingly chocolatey inside. I hadn’t noticed that it said “The Chocolate Lovers Bar” on the side of the wrapper… and it’s right. There are chocolate wafers and a chocolate cream filling, coated in milk chocolate. The best part is that it reminded me of Devil’s Food Cake! That’s the taste that stuck with me for a while.

The peanuts are only in the top layer inside the candy bar, not throughout it. I’m not sure if they really add anything.

I decided on a 9/10 rating when eating the BarNone, but that might be too low considering how much I’ve been craving it since then. I think it could really grow on me if I had it again. It’s too bad it’s hard to find. I got mine at a local candy shop that isn’t too far of a drive. It looks like you can only get them online or in specialty candy shops, or at World Market stores. If you’re lucky enough to find one, try it!

Oreo has these new Campfire S’more Oreos on their web site… they’re fudge-covered with mini marshmallows and graham cracker pieces on top. They sound awesome, but I’m not about to pay $24.99 for 12 Oreos… how about you? 😂

As if the regular S’mores Oreos aren’t godly!🤤

OREO drops limited-edition Campfire S’more cookies.

OREO Campfire S’more features fudge covered OREO cookies sprinkled with crushed graham & mini marshmallows.

📲Available now for pre-order at Oreo. com (direct link in comments). They’ll run you $24.99 for a 12ct.😅

(News/Image::OREO, Thanks for the heads up!✊🏻)

Thoughts👇🏻

I was curious about trying the unusual flavor of the new BTS Oreos, a collaboration between Oreo and the Korean boy band BTS. The cookies are purple (for the first time ever), and the two layers of creme are brown sugar and pancake flavors. The flavor is based on a popular Korean street food called hotteok, which is a pancake filled with brown sugar and cinnamon and served warm.

First of all, when I opened the package, the Oreos smelled just like what they are — brown sugar and pancake, but especially brown sugar. My package included all 13 designs (chosen by the band members themselves).

These are quite good! They’re really sweet. Who would have thought pancake-flavored creme could work? Brown sugar, sure, but the pancake flavor was better than I expected. Also, I tasted tiny crunchy pieces of something (I don’t know what) that give the cookies a nice, subtle crunch that makes them even better.

I couldn’t find any information on what flavor the purple cookie part is, but I’m thinking it’s vanilla, like the Golden Oreos. It didn’t taste chocolatey.

When I first tried them, I wasn’t too excited and rated them a 7.5 or 8, agreeing with my son’s opinion that you can see in the video. But on the second day, something interesting happened — they got better (and better and better)! They started getting addicting too. So I upgraded the rating to 8.5. Then on the third day (today), I decided they deserve a 9/10. There unfortunately won’t be a fourth day. 😆

These are only out for a limited time, so if you want to try them, check stores such as Walmart, Target, and Walgreens.

I’ve been on the hunt for some Dubai chocolate to try that isn’t super expensive, so I got these new “Dubai style flavored” candy wafers from Walmart. Apparently I misunderstood because these are for baking, not snacking! I was shopping online for curbside pickup, and when I first saw these I thought “wafers” meant like KitKat wafers. I thought they would look like the pictures on the bag, which look quite tasty. Eventually I noticed the little window on the bag, so I knew what I was getting, except I didn’t realize they were for baking.

These wafers aren’t bad. They’re creamy and taste like pistachios, even though they don’t actually contain any, as far as I can tell. They’re very thin but full of flavor. I can see how they might be good for baking. It’s a unique taste, like the Dubai-style mint cookies & cream bar I tried a couple of months ago. I’m starting to think Dubai chocolate isn’t really my style, but I’d still like to try the real thing instead of just “Dubai style”. (That’s probably the really expensive stuff though.) I give these baking wafers a 6.5/10 for snacking.

I stopped by a local candy shop called Wakarusa Dime Store yesterday with my family. They are best known for their jumbo jelly beans, but they have lots of other unique stuff like unusual sodas and sooo many flavors of taffy, with an old-time candy shop vibe.

So now I have a few new exciting candies to try, along with some things I already had from Walmart (not in the picture). I had a bit of a setback after a storm took our power out for more than a day, but I’m ready to get back to trying candy!

Not pictured: white chocolate nonpareil pretzels (not reviewing since they’re specific to that shop), a novelty soda and jumbo jelly beans that my husband picked out, eight flavors of taffy for my dad for Father’s Day, and my son’s stuffed Bluey “Beanie Bouncer”.

Did you know there are so many flavors of Twix? I decided to try all five flavors that Walmart carries:
Original (caramel)
Snickerdoodle
Cookie Dough
Salted Caramel
Cookies & Creme

I know I’ve had some of these before, but I didn’t remember which ones other than the original. (I think I’ve also had Peanut Butter Twix, but they’re discontinued now.) Of course I didn’t really need to test the original, but it served as a basis of comparison, plus it was on sale in this size.

Cookies & Creme and the original were my favorites. It’s hard to beat the original. But Cookies & Creme was so good and so… cookie-y. Creamy too. I didn’t even miss the caramel.

Cookie Dough was also really good, and it even smelled good! I did kind of miss the caramel though.

Salted Caramel and Snickerdoodle both still have caramel and taste pretty similar to the original, in my opinion, just with an extra kick (saltiness or cinnamon). Snickerdoodle was my least favorite of the five flavors, but I’d still rate it at least 8/10. I guess I’m not a big fan of cinnamon.

My son tried all the flavors and liked them all too.

Conclusion: All flavors of Twix are delicious! 😄

Burger King has a new Firecracker Cookie Pie for a limited time. I tried it tonight, and it’s delicious!

Burger King describes it as:
“A chilled pie that combines a soft, velvety creamy layer and a crunch of sugar cookie crust topped with red and blue star-shaped sprinkles.”

It’s so sweet and creamy! Maybe a 10/10, but I would need to have another one to decide. It just went too fast!

Here’s what I’m currently taste-testing! 😋 A different flavor each day… but I think I’ll skip today because I’m too full from supper at Taco Bell. 😄