Thursday, February 14, 2013

A Fun Treat For The Movies: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites!


The Good: Tastes wonderful and exactly like what it is supposed to!
The Bad: No nutritional value, Comparatively expensive.
The Basics: Taste Of Nature Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites are a fun treat, though the box always makes it look like there should be more in there!


I swear, sometimes lately, the best benefit of my going to the movies with my loving wife is to be able to enjoy fun treats, either that are reminiscent of my young adulthood – like the Sour Patch Kids (reviewed here!) – or are new-to-me, like the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites from Taste Of Nature. I bought a box of these for myself and another for my wife when we went out to see Les Miserables (reviewed here!) and I was somewhat surprised any remained after the film was over (smart me; I filled us up with a good dinner prior to the movie and sugary snacks!). As it is, it allows me to take the time now to review them!

Basics

Capitalizing on the popularity of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and chocolate chip cookie dough in general, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites are half-inch spheroids made of chocolate and soft cookie dough filling. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites come in a 4 oz. bag inside a box that makes the serving look almost twice as big as it actually is. According to the nutrition facts, a serving of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites is 40 grams and there are approximately three servings per container.

For those who have never had a cookie dough bite before, cookie dough bites are soft chocolate-coated spheres that contain a center of an eggless chocolate chip cookie dough. Moisture - or saliva - dissolves the chocolate coating, after a few moments. The insides are just like chocolate chip cookie dough and anyone who likes that as a treat will recognize and appreciate the flavor.

The coating of the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites Cookie dough bite is a slightly-waxy soft milk chocolate. The coating is strong enough to prevent the candy from getting crushed and soft enough to melt easily in the mouth. This is most like the chocolate found on chocolate-covered raisins. The chocolate is a little closer to the mass-produced waxy chocolate one finds in chocolate that is less expensive. As a result, the chocolate-covered raisin analogy works in general, but this chocolate is a little softer than that type chocolate usually is.

Ease Of Preparation

Well, it's candy so preparation is pretty much limited to opening the box and the bag and popping candy into one's mouth. Do not try to swallow all of the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites whole and you'll be fine!

Taste

First, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites smell strongly of rich milk chocolate. For such a soft, somewhat waxy chocolate, it is astonishing how inviting the initial scent of these Bites is! This is easily one of the most impressive aromas for a dollar candy I can recall!

Popping one in my mouth, the taste of Taste Of Nature milk chocolate begins as the dominant flavor. This has the more generic chocolate flavor as opposed to the more firm and chocolatey flavor of a chocolate bar. The soft chocolate tastes like a typical milk chocolate. It does not light the tastebuds of a chocolate fan on fire, especially those who have a love for darker chocolate, like me. The cookie dough bite's milk chocolate coating is simple and somewhat bland. It tastes sweet and mildly chocolatey.

As for the center, these taste exactly like chocolate chip cookie dough! They are soft and chewy and have the flavor of flour and sugar that one expects from cookie dough. The chocolate from the coating and the minute chocolate chips within the dough further flavors it like the promised chocolate chip cookie dough! These have a slightly dry aftertaste to them.

Nutrition

Well, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites are candy, so one ought not to be living off it. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites are made primarily of sugar, cocoa butter, and whole milk powder. There are, surprisingly, no unidentifiable ingredients in these confections.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites have 200 calories per serving, 90 of which are from fat, though it is tough to stick with the somewhat nebulous serving size of 1/3 of the box. The 10 grams of fat represent 15% of the recommended daily value of fat and that's 34% of the daily recommended saturated fat. As well, there are 65 milligrams of sodium and 27 grams of sugars. There is a gram of protein in a serving of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites, but there are no other real nutrients in these.

These are not nutritious, so if you were thinking of living off them, you might want to reconsider.

Storage/Clean-up

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites store just fine in their bag in their box and as long as they are kept in a cool, dry (preferably dark) place they ought to last for quite some time (I've never had a cookie dough bite of any type go bad). The box we bought a few months ago had an April 2014 expiration date, so they do not easily go bad.

Unless one sticks these in their pocket or another warm place, cleanup ought not to be an issue. If it becomes an issue, consult a fabric cleaning guide. Chocolate stains might be a problem, but again, it only becomes an issue if it gets melted.

Overall

Taste Of Nature Chocolate Chip Cookie dough bites are a fun treat. I liked having them for snacking at the movies, but this is a harder sell for me when I am in the mood for a serious treat. They are filling, but they are neither as sweet, nor as “zesty” (unique or distinctive) than I might hope for. It is, however, one that it is very easy to recommend as an occasional, truly fun treat.

For other candies, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Cadbury Screme Eggs
Jelly Belly Tabasco Jelly Beans
Ferrara Milk Chocolate Peppermint Chocolate Orange

6.5/10

For other food or drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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