Is it a Cookie or a Fry?

In what was a tumultuous few weeks at work, I was comforted and given energy by a strange little treat that came to our office. The cookie fries arrived in a package with a cute little note at our office. Of course being the sweet-toothed fiend that I am, I was given the little package to try them out.

And honestly, how could you say no to a cute, little retro package like this one? I had never heard of a cookie fry before, but with hamburger cakes and cupcakes on the web, I shouldn't have been surprised. With the addition of the red and white diner checkered wrapping, it was an all too intriguing gift.

The cookie itself is a light, shortbread cookie. Not too strong in flavor and the crispy color makes it a great choice for the cookie fry. Unfortunately, the cookie was a little crumbly so it made it a little hard to take a bite out of the fry without making a mess at my desk. Luckily we had lots of paper towels.

The real kicker to this combination wasn't the cookie though, it was the dipping sauce. It came in a little container like you would take home ketchup or other sauces from a fast-food joint. We had both caramel and peanut butter dipping sauces.

The caramel was sweet and classic, at first I thought it would be my favorite since it was the sweeter option. It was thick enough to feel like a real dipping sauce and gave a classic caramel dipped touch. But the real winner was the peanut butter. Typically peanut butter is only my choice with chocolate desserts, but this time it was just what I needed. Something about the crunchy, crumbly cookie fries in the smooth peanut butter made me feel like I was a four year old who will not touch anything unless it has peanut butter on it.

While it wasn't anything that made me race to the store to pick some up for my friends or family, it was a fun invention. They're made by The Cookie Joint if you want to check them out. The cookie fries come in original shortbread, chocolate chip, double chocolate chip, cinnamon spice, and chocolate toffee crunch. I'd love to try the double chocolate chip with peanut butter. But even better, there's more dipping sauces: salted caramel, marshmallow, hazelnut, peanut butter, chocolate, raspberry, and lemon.

It may not be something to grab for an after-dinner treat, but this would be a really fun addition to any retro styled party. They even have deep fryer baskets full of them. So even though they don't have me searching the bottom of the bag for any more fries, they're a fun treat that may or may not have acted as my lunch on a certain day of work.

The Millionaire's Doughnut

Perhaps I'm behind on the doughnut trends, but as much as the kraze for Krispy Kreme has thrived around me, I never completely understood it. I could chalk this up to a lot of things: I tend to only associate doughnuts with police men, The Simpson's, gaining weight, and tired mornings. I can't help thinking how many calories are packed into those little round things, while otherwise sweets are pretty much calorie-less in my mind otherwise. It's something about this conceived notion of doughnuts I've picked up through the media and my life that I'm not as obsessed with them.

This could also be due to the fact that I had never, actually, seen one of the Krispy Kreme stores and only eaten them when my boyfriend got them on sale at the grocery store - only glazed though. He drooled quite literally over them and would eat them at any point in the day, after heating them up just slightly in the microwave of course. While I enjoyed them, it was just another doughnut, plain and simple.

Photo from delinquyent.tumblr.com

Yet, in London, I discovered the reason why Krispy Kreme is the hyped-up, exciting, doughnut fiend of a company that it is.

I truly understood it late one night when, after a trip to the nearest train station to get some Krispy Kremes, I dug my teeth into the "Millionaire's Shortbread" doughnut.

Now, not only have I seen so many different types of doughnuts in one little Krispy Kreme stand, but I have wanted to try them all. I mean, some where shaped like Christmas trees, others were filled with chocolate, there was Java Cake, Cookies and Kreme, Apple Cinnamon, and Strawberry. It was an exciting array, but the Millionaire's Shortbread caught me with it's speckled gold dust on top and pieces of shortbread. I had to have it.

One bite felt like a simple, plain, fluffy doughnut. Nice, but nothing special. It was when I got into the caramel and chocolate filled center that I knew I was in doughnut heaven. I had found it. Millionaire's ate these kind of doughnuts and now that I tasted this bit of joy I couldn't go back. The thick chocolate melting out across the soft pastry and mixing with the gooey caramel was perfect, especially when I got a bit of the crunchy shortbread in a bite. I wanted more. It's going to be a problem resisting.

So perhaps Krispy Kreme has something going with this doughnut thing. I know I'll try hard to not be as judgmental, especially after tasting this little bit. What's your favorite doughnut? Because this might be mine.


- Mollie