The Good: Delicious, Good aftertaste, Nothing truly bad in it.
The Bad: Not the strongest chocolate flavor, Not exactly nutritious.
The Basics: Ghirardelli Cookies & Creme is a new flavor of chocolate squares that is worth trying, though it does not blend the two flavors of chocolate well.
Of all of the chocolate companies whose products I review, I think Ghirardelli is one of the few I still get excited about when they have new product releases. For the holidays last year, my wife found a bag of a new flavor of Ghirardelli chocolate squares: Cookies & Crème. The Cookies & Crème flavor is good, but it is dominated by the white chocolate flavor as opposed to balancing well the two types of chocolate it is composed of. This is a good flavor, but it’s not the ultimate rendition of the flavor one might hope for.
Even so, Ghirardelli has a chocolate square worth trying with its new Cookies & Crème.
Basics
Ghirardelli Cookies & Creme chocolate squares are one and 13/16” squares of chocolate that are 1/4” thick. Each of the squares comes individually wrapped in a white foil wrapper. It is worth noting that while I usually rail against the environmental impact of such things, it is hard to imagine Ghirardelli chocolate squares not wrapped. This keeps each one clean, unmelted and intact.
Each chocolate square is a seamless square that is essentially a half milk chocolate/half white chocolate patty with the Ghirardelli symbol stamped into the top. In this form, the 4.57 oz. bag, the individually-wrapped chocolate squares are packaged together in a thick foil paper bag. This size has eleven squares and the thick foil paper bag does little to protect the squares. The bag is not resealable, though this matters very little considering that the chocolate squares do not go bad as they are individually wrapped.
One of these bags, even with only eleven squares, tends to run in the $5.00 range, which is a decent deal.
Ease Of Preparation
These are candy, so preparing them is as simple as opening the bag and then opening one of the plastic wrappers around the actual chocolate square one wishes to eat. There is no grand secret to eating Ghirardelli Cookies & Creme chocolate squares. That said, they do need to be kept comparatively cool or these squares will melt.
Taste
The Cookies & Creme Ghirardelli squares have an aroma of chocolate and white chocolate that is distinct and inviting. The lighter scent of white chocolate is actually the dominant scent and it does not have much to it that invites fans of chocolate. Still, it has a very accurate scent very close to the smell of Oreo-style sandwich cookies.
In the mouth, the Cookies & Creme chocolate squares are very sweet and the chocolate flavor is not very strong. Still, the white chocolate flavor of the Cookies & Crème is strong and instantly reminiscent of the filling to a sandwich cookie. The creamy flavor is smooth until the tongue pushes through and encounters the cookie bits embedded in the chocolate. Even with those, the flavor is dominated by white chocolate; the cookie bits are very much a texture as opposed to a rich chocolate flavor. The mild flavor of the cookie bits and milk chocolate blend with the white chocolate, but do not assert themselves enough to truly become a flavor that is a blended flavor. The white chocolate is so sweet it smothers the other flavors, though not in an unpleasant way.
There is a slight dry aftertaste to the Cookies & Creme chocolate squares and it is at that point that the milk chocolate flavor truly comes out. This is one of the few chocolate squares that has a wide flavor range from the moment it hits the tongue until it dissipates from the mouth!
Nutrition
The Cookies & Creme chocolate squares are candy, so it is tough to look at these for something nutritious and then blame them for not being healthy. Ghirardelli chocolate squares have decent ingredients, though, which is probably why they are so expensive. The primary ingredients are sugar, cocoa butter, and whole milk powder. Still, there is nothing unpronounceable, nor unrecognizable in these candies.
A serving of the Ghirardelli Cookies & Creme chocolate squares is considered three squares. From three squares, one takes in 200 calories, 120 of those calories being from fat. There is a subtle amount (2% RDA for the serving) of cholesterol and 2% of the RDA of sodium, as well as trace amounts of Iron (4%), and Calcium (4%).
Honestly, these are candy and anyone looking to them for actual nutrition needs to get a reality check. These are not Vegan-compliant, nor are they recommended for anyone with a nut allergy as they may contain trace amounts of tree nuts. They are, however, kosher.
Storage/Clean-up
The bags of these Ghirardelli Cookies & Creme chocolate squares remain fresh for quite some time. Our bag, bought in late December 2013, had a February 28, 2014 expiration date. Given that it is chocolate, one assumes that if they are kept in a cool, dry environment they will not melt or go bad. It is hard to imagine just what it would take for these to go bad outside melting and refreezing.
As for cleanup, I applaud those who actually throw the wrappers away in socially appropriate places, as opposed to litter. Outside that, there is no real cleanup needed, unless one is eating them in a hot environment. In that case, it is likely one would need to wash their hands. If these chocolate squares melt into most fabrics, they will stain. Getting them to melt, though, is quite a task.
Overall
Ghirardelli Cookies & Creme chocolate squares have a decent flavor, though the milk chocolate is not strong enough to make this truly a blend of milk and white chocolate to make them seem like actual cookies and crème flavored.
For other Ghirardelli chocolate squares reviews, please check out:
Double Fudge Chocolate Squares
Peppermint Bark With Dark Chocolate
Midnight Reverie 86% Cacao
6.5/10
For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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