I’m something of a junk food connoisseur.
I try not to indulge too often, but I can’t resist a loaded up hotdog, warm Krispy Kreme donut or Old Bay coated French fries.
I have not been shy in sharing that I have a special place in my heart for marshmallows – whether they be stale peeps, the gourmet version or just a plain oversized one that I can shove on a stick and roast in my fireplace.
Well, I decided to do some self-improvement and branch out a little bit… with cookie butter.
Apparently cookie butter is where it’s at. I’ve heard about it for months and it’s gotten to be such an “it” item that there were rumors that Trader Joe’s was only offering a small amount for sale each day. On pinterest there are a ton of recipes that use this elusive buttery beast and there are even Facebook fan pages dedicated to its awesomeness.
So as you can imagine, when I was recently cruising the aisles of Trader Joe’s and saw a big display of their Speculoos Crunchy Cookie Butter I grabbed a jar to try for myself. I wasn’t really sure HOW to eat it though, so I asked for suggestions on my Facebook page. According to my followers, the best ways to eat cookie butter are…
- On your finger
- On a spoon
- On everything
- With chocolate
- On toast or pancakes
- On ice cream
- On graham crackers or cookies
- On a marshmallow (of course!)
With your suggestions in mind, I took one for the team and tested the cookie butter. Yes, it was hard work, but I survived. The Trader Joe’s cookie butter has the texture of slightly crunchy peanut butter. It has a sweet taste which makes it work well with dessert recipes. Although I didn’t have a chance to try it, I think it would probably also be really good on top of freshly baked brownies!
My tasting range goes from 1 (just okay) to 5 (back up from my cookie butter or I’ll cut you!):
Although the cookie butter wasn’t terrible on things like marshmallows, cookies and crackers… it was just so much better on a spoon. Whether it be alone or with a dollop of Trader Joe’s Cocoa Almond Butter (like Nutella , but with almonds instead of hazelnuts).
Truth time: the container of cookie butter lasted in my house for exactly 5 days. I didn’t share with anyone and I ate that whole darn thing by myself. I also may have a second jar hiding in my pantry (so my husband can’t find it) for emergencies.
Around day 2 of testing, I thought long and hard about whether it would be inappropriate for me to hide the jar in my purse for an afternoon treat. The evening of day 3 I noticed that my jar was in the front of the pantry and not where I had left it (hiding behind the peanut butter) and threatened my husband that if he wanted to keep his wife he would not eat any of MY cookie butter.
I think I have a cookie butter problem.
Have you tried cookie butter? Do you randomly threaten your family members to stay away from MOMMY’S SPECIAL SNACK if they want to keep their dingle dangles in working condition!?
Disclaimer: Trader Joe’s did not provide me with the cookie butter or ask me to review it. However, I would not be against having them send me some cookie butter with maybe another jar of their cocoa almond butter… for testing purposes, of course.
So what does it taste like? I’m imagining cookie batter but that’s probably not right.
It tastes like someone put cookies in the blender (specifically some kind of cookie called a Speculoos) and mushed them up into a paste.
I think your instincts about shameless junk food consumerism is butter spot-on. And your Cookie Butter Tasting Chart should be used as the rubric for living life well. Now, I’m off to Trader Joe’s and I thank you Oh Wise Woman.
Gosh, I should get some kind of kick back for this… 😉
I am definitely going to have to try this stuff. The other night I heated up some Nutella in the microwave and put it on some vanilla ice cream. Delish. Maybe you will want to try that with the almond butter.
YUM! I will be doing that tonight. The almond butter is also super yummy on a healthy freezer waffle — toast it and when it’s hot slather on some cocoa almond butter and fold it in half like a taco. Um… it’s not healthy anymore. =)
See it’s things like this that make me kinda happy we don’t have Trader Joe’s up in Canada. Cause seriously? Let’s just smear that stuff on my thighs like sunscreen.
I hear that there are other brands out there too, like biscoff spread…
LOL I found a recipe to make your own. This could be dangerous.
I have never heard of this magical substance before, which is really making me question every life decision I have ever made because I should be in a position where I am among the first to know when something like cookie butter comes into existence.
I will be finding a jar of this stuff and a brownie as soon as I leave work tonight — it must happen!
Sounds like a plan!!
I’m really confused by this whole concept. So somewhere someone went to all the trouble to bake cookies just to smush them into butter? I don’t understand the physics of it! Are they the oiliest cookies ever? HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!
I know, it’s flabbergasting. And tasty.
I am slightly addicted to Biscoff spread and may or may not have some in my desk at the office. 🙂
Now this information would have been much more helpful if I knew it when we worked together.