Thursday, January 26, 2006

Head to Head: Cookie Joys vs Cookies n Mint

Here it is, I finally have both of them at the same time: Harry London Mint Cookie Joys and Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Mint Nuggets.

I got the Cookie Joys from Crate and Barrel through their excellent post-Christmas sale. The Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Mint were acquired at Sav-On at a lackluster post-Holiday sale (basically the nuggets were on the sale table heralding they were 50% off, but they didn’t ring up that way and were put there “by mistake”).

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Harry London makes the Cookie Joys, but sells them under a few different names, including Botticelli Bites. They also make it in a few different formats, including the Harry London Mint Cookie Bar. A Cookie Joy is minted milk chocolate with chocolate cookie bits. The shape is a little dollop of candy, not really the most attractive or appealing candy shapes, but it gets the job done. I find they’re usually two bites. The bonus in the Crate & Barrel tin is that they were individually wrapped. When I get them in a little tub at Trader Joe’s (it looks like a pint of ice cream) they’re loose and can go stale if not eaten quickly.

A Hershey’s Mint ‘n’ Cookies is also minted milk chocolate with chocolate cookie bits. The chocolate is rather milkier, as you can see in the color difference bewteen these two. The cookie bits are also slightly more regular, like little dots of cookies instead of rather irregular crushed cookie bits.

Now that I have them side by side, I’m able to really compare the two. The Cookie Joy is smooth and not terribly milky, which I like. There are already quite a few flavors going on here, I don’t need some sort of dairy taste intruding. As long as the milk is providing a creamy backdrop I’m happy. The cookie bits give it some crunch and they’re a good dark, toasty flavor (they’re pretty much the cookie part of an Oreo).

The Hershey’s has that familiar Hershey’s milk chocolate tang to it. Think yogurt. It’s not unpleasant, but doesn’t go as well with the mint and cookies. There’s a noticeable grain to the chocolate, but again, it works with the crunchy cookies. The cookie bits seem to be distributed rather unevenly, just on the top of the nugget, but since you’re going to bite it the other way, it probably doesn’t matter much. A Nugget could be eaten whole as well.

In this Head to Head, I’m going to have to go with the Cookie Joys. The chocolate is just better and the even though they look like glossy cow pies, the name Cookie Joys is dead on perfect. They’re joyful little mixes of cookies and minted chocolate. If you like the Girl Scout’s Thin Mints, you may like this chocolatier version, too. There’s no benefit to either in availability either. The Hershey’s are Limited Edition (though they seem to return rather faithfully) and the Harry London’s are only sometimes available at Trader Joe’s and a seasonal item for Crate & Barrel. (Sadly, it seems they are sold out on the C&B website.) The Hershey’s are usually cheaper, but the Crate and Barrel sale puts this one over the edge for me. At 28 cents per ounce for the Cookie Joys versus the 24 cents per ounce on the Nuggets, I’m willing to pay the premium (and I have a tin, too!).

Name: Mint Cookie Joys & Hershey's Cookies 'n' Mint Nuggets
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Crate & Barrel (Harry London) & Hershey's
Place Purchased: Crate & Barrel (online) & SavOn
Price: $4.50 & $2.89
Size: 18 ounces & 12 ounces
Calories per ounce: 140 & 153
Categories: Chocolate, Cookie, Mint, United States, Hershey's, Harry London, Head-to-Head

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:34 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. hi there! just found your blog.  great stuff!  i am also a candy taste tester, though not as methodical as your awesome tests.  if you want to, check out these two taste-tests on my blog.  I’ll be back and keep up the great work.

    mint & chocolate
    http://easilypleased.blogspot.com/2005/12/experiment-you-got-your-mint-in-my.html

    chocolate covered cherries
    http://easilypleased.blogspot.com/2005/03/montreal-super-bon-experiment.html

    Comment by Easily Pleased on 1/29/06 at 11:37 am #
  2. I have loved “cookie joys” for years now, though not so much recently.  Since Harry London was bought out, it seems there are fewer cookie bits in my “mint cookie joys,” starting with the ones made in 2005.  They are also much harder to find.  As I type this, it is 12-28-06 and i’ve just placed my order with C&B for my annual “cookie joys” clearance purchase.  Don’t know what to expect though because they have “peppermint joys” this year which claims to have bits of peppermint in them.  It’s not the same but i’ll reserve judgement ‘til later.  Here’s hoping.  Enjoy your joys!

    Comment by loved them joys on 12/27/06 at 8:14 pm #
  3. Great news! Harry London started selling direct to the public on their website today! I ordered one of each joy type, just to try them all!

    5.5 oz Mint Cookie Joys
    5.5 oz Milk Crispy Joys
    5.5 oz Milk Pretzel Joys
    5.5 oz Peanut Butter Joys
    5.5 oz White Pretzel Joys
    5.5 oz Cappuccino Biscotti Joys

    Yum!!!

    Comment by Laura on 9/19/08 at 3:57 pm #
  4. is the quality good or bad?  i was greatly disappointed when the quality went down when they were sold.  i was shocked at just how bad they were after learning that fannie may candies was the new owner.  please let us know how they are!

    Comment by loved them joys on 9/20/08 at 10:10 pm #
  5. Wishing you guys would bring back the Hershey mint cookie… Loved it all year round.. Please please bring them back

    Comment by ashley on 12/30/14 at 5:40 pm #
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